Letters To The Editor

Home truth8226; The blasts at Jama Masjid and in Srinagar have once again brought to light the poor running of the home ministry. The intel...

Home truth

8226; The blasts at Jama Masjid and in Srinagar have once again brought to light the poor running of the home ministry. The intelligence agencies had alerted the Delhi Police about the Jama Masjid being on terror target. With Shivraj Patil as the home minister, we have seen increased terror attacks and the rise of Naxalism along the 8216;red corridor8217;. It is no secret that Pranab Mukherjee was not made the home minister in order to prevent him forming an alternate power centre. The mantle fell on the 10 Janpath loyalist Patil. The PM should appraise the performance of the present home minister and put national security before loyalty to the powers that be.

8212; Karan Thakur, New Delhi

Post-POTA

8226; The Friday8217;s blasts are obviously aimed at disturbing peace and communal harmony in the country. The government must take a lesson from the spate of bomb blasts at regular intervals for the last two years and must bring pressure on Pakistan and Bangladesh to stop all terrorists training camps there. The UPA government must review its decision to revoke POTA, which is so essential to destroy local support to terrorists, without which bomb blasts are not possible. It must also distinguish between law-abiding nationalist Muslims and pro-Pakistan elements. It must let Muslims live as Indians by adopting genuine secularism and not mixing it with religion.

8212; K.G. Acharya, Mumbai

Peace appeal

8226; The Catholic Bishops8217; Conference of India CBCI condemns the bomb blasts on the Jama Masjid premises. It prays for the speedy recovery of those injured in the blast and also appeals to the authorities to take strong measures to curb such incidents in future. 8220;It is unfortunate that places of worship have been targetted by unscrupulous elements in society and this disturbing trend needs to be collectively addressed,8221; said Archbishop Stanislaus Fernandes, the Secretary General of CBCI.

8212;Babu Joseph, New Delhi

Blackbuck passed

8226; Rajeev Shukla may have a fan8217;s right to express anguish at the 8220;unnecessarily harsh judgement8221; passed on Salman Khan for killing blackbuck 8216;Front Foot8217;, IE, April 15. But it is laughable for Shukla to demand that 8220;the judiciary ought to explain why deer hunting is heard for eight long years.8221; Surely Shukla ought to know that the case dragged on because Khan himself exhibited utter contempt for the process of law during that time. The actor repeatedly sought adjournments of the case by months at a time on flimsy grounds, and refused to respond to court notices asking him to attend hearings when they were held. The five-year jail sentence is eminently justified; indeed, Khan8217;s arrogance brings home the point in the adage that we would all be better off if more actors and less films were shot.

8212; R.P. Subramanian, Delhi

Edit edge

8226; Your editorial 8216;Fight, but talk8217; IE, April 8 is perhaps a rare one. It has really concluded well, saying it might be possible to have national government minus the BJP or the Congress in view of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chandrababu Naidu8217;s latest political efforts, and then very aptly wondering, supposing a national government minus BJP and Congress be there, where would the political/policy centre of gravity of such a government be.

8212; Singh Ram, Ambala