Hold your fire

The Bush administration should have concentrated on providing relief instead of decrying Myanmar8217;s junta.

8226; The Bush administration should have concentrated on providing relief instead of decrying Myanmar8217;s junta. The junta is tyrannical. But when thousands have died in a catastrophe, and many more lives hang in the balance, the time is not right to make a regime, already paranoid about the outside world, even more suspicious of intervention 8212;especially since the West is trying to push relief workers and supplies into Myanmar. Any criticism of the regime must wait till the country is back on its feet. Once the disaster had already occurred, it was pointless to focus on whether the government had issued adequate warning. Given the junta8217;s reluctance and secrecy, US rhetoric is only going to antagonise it further.

8212; Mohd. Salahuddin

Mumbai

Easy targets

8226; It is shocking that investigation agencies and politicians point the finger of suspicion at Islamist militant groups before they even begin a proper investigation. Is it not possible that others, such as the Naxalites or right-wing Hindu outfits, were behind the Jaipur carnage? While such speculation is expected from the prejudiced Indian politicians and media, the investigation agencies should refrain from making such irresponsible statements. They have no facts to support these but only the dubious pretext of an 8220;established pattern8221; to these blasts.

8212; Sandeep Ghiya

Mumbai

Cynics Inc.

8226; In a knee-jerk reaction to the Jaipur mayhem, the BJP has blamed the 8220;weak policies8221; of the Union government for the tragedy. That the blasts occurred in a BJP-ruled state did not bother the party, and that the state government8217;s responsibility is just as much has been conveniently forgotten. The BJP should have realised that incidents such as these require the country, its people and its political parties to stand united. Our politicians should learn from the simple but enlightened man on the street as to how one deals with a national crisis.

8212; Anil P. Bagarka

Mumbai

English to the rescue

8226; This refers to Kumar Ketkar8217;s 8216;Uncle, nephew, people8217;. Ketkar has made an insightful analysis of Maharashtrian politics and of the language and culture equations. If the state8217;s political leaders are concerned about the welfare of the 8220;Marathi manoos8221;, they should work at improving their lot instead of targeting other communities. They could teach English to people unable to afford English medium schools, thus empowering them to find better employment. And learning English needn8217;t be at the cost of the Marathi tongue.

If locals are sufficiently equipped for jobs, there will be less communal friction.

8212; Malsawmi Jacob

Mumbai