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• In his column, ‘‘Sheathing the sword of global jehad’’, Sudheendra Kulkarni rightly observes that ‘‘the sword is yet too much in evidence among the Mussalman’’. I am reminded of Bernard Shaw’s quote, ‘‘Islam is the best religion but its followers are the worst’’. Many followers of Islam are fanatics, fundamentalists and aggressive. They want the entire world to be ruled by Islam’s religious dogmas. They want lives to be regimented according to the tenets of Islam. In fact, jehad is a clash of civilisations.
—Sudhir Trivedi

• Kulkarni has not spelt out what he means by the essence of Islam. There is no doubt that Islam is endowed with a number of positive attributes like unflinching devotion to God, principle of brotherhood and compassion for the poor and needy. But it is also a fact that verses after verses of the Holy Koran incite hatred and violence against the kafirs. A non-Muslim may treat such offensive verses as irrelevant to the present times and just a natural reaction to the hostility faced by Prophet Muhammad, but a Muslim considers it the word of God. And herein lies the roots of Islamic fundamentalism and Islamic terror.

—S K Chatterji, Mumbai

• N K Singh made certain pertinent points in his column, ‘‘The battle for knowledge economy’’. The standard of our education has nosedived. But it would be unfair to paint everyone with the same brush. A few hallowed institutions definitely carry high esteem and their output is among the best in the world with the students enjoying global recognition. But what about the rest? Besides, there must be adequate sustenance of productive and need-based research.
—Amit V Sengupta, Kolkata

• Tavleen Singh’s description of the fringe benefit tax as a foolish tax in her column, ‘‘Nothing fringe-like about this tax benefit’’, is rather controversial. A tax can be either equitable or inequitable. However, it can never be described as foolishÿeven if one does not like it. I believe the fringe benefit tax is an equitable tax. However, her objection to political parties being given exemption from theÿsaid taxÿisÿentirely acceptable.
—Narendra M Apte, Mumbai

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