Great interview

8226; Apropos of Shekhar Gupta8217;s excellent interview with Narendra Modi 8216;The riots took place when I...

8226; Apropos of Shekhar Gupta8217;s excellent interview with Narendra Modi 8216;The riots took place when I was in power, so I know I can8217;t detach myself from them8217;, IE, April 13, as someone from Gujarat who has been very aggrieved over the last two years over the Gujarat violence, I had myself wanted to ask Modi the very same questions that Gupta put to him. I hope he regrets those incidents of violence and will not allow them to be repeated again on his watch. This interview was a great public service.

8212; S. Patel On e-mail

8226; Regarding Modi8217;s comments on the Gujarat riots, well, he should have followed Prime Minister Vajpayee8217;s advice to follow his rajdharma. This would have meant utilising the full force of the law against the rioters, irrespective of creed. Instead, Modi chose to follow electoral compulsions and consolidate the 8220;Hindutva8221; vote in Gujarat by first turning a Nelson8217;s eye to the riots and then appointing VHP members as prosecutors. Even the families affected by the Godhra tragedy have complained of the biased system of justice.

8212; Devaki Khanna On e-mail

Cricket policy

8226; Mani Shankar Aiyar8217;s piece, 8216;A foreign policy for the polls8217; IE, April 13 will as usual draw flak in your columns because of his vitriolic style. But I tend to agree with him and say that not only do we now have a foreign policy for polls, we even reinforce it with 8220;cricketing8221; policy. The prime minister did indeed take a U-turn at the SAARC summit. But, more importantly, the government mixed sports with politics via cricket. Recall the huddle into which the BJP think-tank got into before Team India was sent to Pakistan. It was realised by the NDA that apart from the financial penalty which the BCCI would have to bear if the tour was called off, there was the sure chance of the Pakistanis, nay all the cricketing nations, dubbing us as cowards.

8212; Mukund B.Kunte On e-mail

8226; I would like to inform Aiyar that foreign policy is designed according to the country8217;s interest and not according to a party8217;s interests, as has been done by the Congress governments in the past. The Bombay blasts, which took place under a Congress government, happened when the underworld don, Dawood Ibrahim, was sitting in the Sharjah stadium watching cricket openly. It was a shame that that the government could do nothing. At least this government has restricted the movement of the don.

8212; Jatin Gosalia On e-mail

8226; I agree with Aiyar, that the BJP is dealing with peace with Pakistan for pure electoral gains. A past of more than 50 years can8217;t be undone in five months. Pervez Musharraf8217;s recent statements are indicative of this.

8212; Sudhir Sharma On e-mail

8226; Aiyar8217;s article is pathetic. It is always easier to preach when you are not in the decision making seat. What prevented Aiyar and his party from implementing what he is saying today? After all they were in power for over 50 years and the problems with Pakistan have their roots in that period.

8212; Vijayraghavan On e-mail