Let146;s see it

8226; Justice Nanavati has submitted his report about the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 to the Centre. ...

8226; Justice Nanavati has submitted his report about the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 to the Centre. Now this report should be made public and its recommendations must be implemented. I suggest three changes that must be made in the Commission of Inquiry Act 1952. One, there should be a specified time frame for the conduct of an inquiry, to be fixed in consultation with the concerned judge. Two, it must be mandatory to make the report public. Three, the recommendations made in the report should be made binding on the government.

8212; Pranav Sachdeva New Delhi

The big picture

8226; This refers to Pratap Bhanu Mehta8217;s 8216;Baby Elephant Walk8217; IE, February 11. I couldn8217;t agree more. We can become a smart country only if we have smart politicians and smart bureaucrats.

8212; Vignesh Wellington

Look inside prisons

8226; According to an estimate, there are over 20 lakh people in our jails who are not supposed to be there at all. Most of them are suspected of committing crimes but have not been charged or tried for years. If they were tried and convicted, they would have done their time and gotten out by now. Then there are those who have done their jail time but their release orders are not issued due to the high-handedness of jail officials. Thirdly, are people who broke no law. They were put in jail with a view to extort money from their families. They don8217;t appear on police records. Many of the people in jails are poor and illiterate and unable to afford legal help. I would like the chief justice of the Supreme Court to explain.

8212; Parmod Goel Kaithal

Go slow, Aiyar

8226; Apropos of your editorial 8216;Aiyar8217;s peace pipe8217; IE, February 11, while it is good to have kept the Indian babus away from the peace pipeline deals, Mani Shankar Aiyar may have bitten off more than he can chew. Pakistan has been trying for a Turkmenistan gas pipeline since 1999 yet with all its natural advantages, it is unable to set a time table or get a serious parner for the deal. Also, bringing Turkmenistan into the picture at this juncture may not be such a good idea, as it will certainly harden Iran8217;s position, which has already committed to a gas pipe deal with Pakistan with or without India. Iran does not want Turkmenistan to emerge as one more competitor 8212; already it has Qatar, which has many logistical advantages over Turkmenistan. So India should go for the Qatar option.

8212; Sidharth Sydney

Just a minute

8226; On November 2, 2004, when the presidential election was held in the US, I visited a couple of polling centers/booths in Delaware state and found that not a single policeman was present. I inquired about the security and safety at the centers and found that they didn8217;t worry about it. In Bihar, the Election Commission asked for repolling in several booths because of widespread irregularities and violence during the first round of polling. Repolling is common in our elections due to violence. Our leaders often talk about our accelerating economic development and that our nation will become a super power soon. Along with economic development, we need to establish a corruption free atmosphere, and discipline in every walk of life. Only then will the predictions of imminent greatness come true.

8212; Divyesh Raythatha On e-mail