• The article by Y.P. Rajesh on terrorism points out the facts and circumstances prevailing in our country. In the recent blasts, when the families of victims were trying to cope with their untold miseries, a senior BJP leader made observations that were meant to score points over the UPA. The leader is more interested in drawing political mileage than expressing solidarity with security agencies and the state government.Effective counter-terrorism measures, where the citizens also play an alert role, can definitely combat the century’s biggest menace.Our nation is a global economic power, with notable achievements in science, technology and defence. Did we not win the war on terror in Punjab? That was possible because no minority-majority appeasement was involved. There should be no distinction on the lines of UPA-ruled or NDA-ruled states when it comes to our response.— K.P. UdayabhanuNew Delhi• I was pained to read in your editorial that a BJP leader of the stature of Sushma Swaraj should accuse the Central government of engineering the blasts in Ahmedabad to divert public attention from cash-for-vote in the Lok Sabha. In contrast, Chief Minister Narendra Modi was seen cooperating with the prime minister on his visit to Ahmedabad after the blasts.The need of the hour is all-party coordination in anti-terrorist action plans, with the involvement of voluntary organisations and the formation of citizens’ vigilance committees that include inter-faith members. It will be a tragedy if we communalise or politicise so grave a national threat.— Parimal Y. MehtaMumbaiEarthy measures• The RBI and our economists are still under the old illusion that inflation can be tackled effectively by controlling repo and CRR rates. These are only partial and costly measures, with adverse effects on economic growth owing to high cost of capital resulting from such noose-tightening. The real effective solution lies in scrapping wasteful populist programmes like employment guarantee schemes, free electricity schemes in some states and loan-waivers. To these must be added the rightsizing of security personnel used in VIP protection. The issuance of new currency by the RBI needs better control. Infrastructure problems need to be addressed, but certainly not in the manner of loot by contractors.— Satwant Singh KalkatLudhianaBridge crossed• The Centre’s decision to study Alignment No 4 for the Sethusamudram shipping canal is a welcome move. There is no point in arguing about the faith-related aspects of Ram Setu, based as they are on religious books. With the government now agreeing to an alternative to Alignment No 6, the issues of faith have been, wisely, kept out. Now remains the socio-environmental impact assessment, which one hopes will be ably done by a committee of eminent experts.— P.G. HarikumarKaiga, Karnataka
