• There is widespread dismay at the desecration of the home of heritage, the Bhandarkar Institute. The Sambhaji Brigade not only destroyed priceless historical items but also an idol of Goddess Saraswati. Who are really behind this attack? Were the writings of James Laine just an excuse to damage the idol? Filing a police case against Laine is just eyewash. Why have the office bearers of this Sangh not yet been arrested and another case filed against them for hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus? — S.C.N. Jatar Pune Clearing the way? • Saeed Naqvi castigates Sonia Gandhi for a lacklustre performance and weak leadership (‘Vajpayee clears the way’, IE, January 16), but in the next breath pontificates that India cannot tolerate both Sonia, a Christian and Abdul Kalam, a Muslim, occupying the two top posts in the country. Give us an able Christian and see if s/he can become the PM or not. But the mindset of Saeed Naqvi cannot be discarded, even though he talks of others’ mindsets. — Vaman Rao On e-mail • Thanks for the article, ‘Vajpayee clears the way’. I have two things to say to our leaders and press. One, is there any country where the two top positions (PM and president) can be occupied by a citizen like Sonia Gandhi who was not a citizen of this country 10 years ago? If not, then the question of Sonia’s foreign origin is valid and should be settled once and for all. There are hundreds of leaders in Congress who are sincere, honest and have contributed immensely to India. Why can’t they lead the party? — P. Luthra On e-mail • This tendency to attach a religious lable to a person’s name is not right. While religion is important, it should be kept out of politics, as the mix of religion and politics has become an explosive issue. Naqvi in his article kicks the Congress president around as if she is his personal football. Is there no respect for a person who is the widow of an Indian prime minister? — Arvind Amin On e-mail • Saeed Naqvi has hit the nail right on the head. The Congress lacks vision, leadership, and is a collection of inept, unelectable leaders clinging to the Nehru/Gandhi name for survival. — Vidyadhar Akkaraju On e-mail • I find Naqvi’s statement, “I doubt Indian society has reached a point whereby it will accept a foreign, Christian leader”, to be myopic at best. It suggests that a foreign but Hindu person would be more acceptable if there were one. I believe a person who belongs to the minority community, who is competent, experienced and steadfastly loyal to India, could very well occupy the two highest offices in the country. — Suhas Mengale On e-mail Chimes of hypocrisy • The IE is a waxing eloquent about banning books (‘Chimes of Unfreedom’, IE, January 16). Pray why the deafening silence when Taslima Nasreen’s book was banned by the Marxist government of West Bengal at the behest of Islamic fundamentalists? — Ramana Murthy On e-mail The reader is requested to refer to our editorial of ‘West Bengal’s lajja’ (IE, December 1). — Editor
