Letters To The Editor

India must refuse to concede the demand of the ruthless Taliban to leave Afghanistan — and on the contrary, it should encourage more Indians equipped with weapons and training to go to Afghanistan.

— K.G. Acharya, Mumbai

• The brutal killing of K. Suryanarayan clearly shows that the Taliban had no intention of negotiating with India. Their only objective was to intimidate the Indian government. They had the experience of the Kandahar hijacking in their intent to humiliate India.

Let us not just blame the Taliban or their Pakistani supporters for their nefarious deeds. The more serious question is what have we, as a nation fighting terror, done to safeguard our interests in Afghanistan? In November 2005, the same fate was meted out to R. Maniappan. What has been our official and diplomatic reaction? Just lodging a formal diplomatic protest and securing an apology from that government? Our policy against terror, whether internal or supported and perpetrated by foreign players, has been ad hoc.

— Ved Guliani, Bangalore

Again, ad hoc

• The finance minister has also come out in support of Arjun Singh on the issue reservations for OBCs. It is a great pity that our politicians continue to be far removed from ground realities, especially about the miserable living conditions of the have-nots. Sixty years was a long period to uplift the lot of our poor but, alas, the ruling class has just done nothing except shout in support of their votebanks at election time.

Basic education and reasonable living conditions for the poor alone will solve the problem and no amount of reservations in schools or higher institutes of learning or in jobs (either in public or private sector) will ever make a dent.

— Pushpa Indernath, Vadodra

Basic truths

• This refers to the article ‘Some thoughts, some reservations’ by Fali S. Nariman (IE, May 1). He has rightly suggested that meaningful opportunities may be given for better education of all sections of our society, particularly the economically backward classes.

— Karan, Chandigarh

Friend of India

• In the passing away of John Kenneth Galbraith, the world has lost a polymath, who excelled in several fields — economics, politics, art and diplomacy. We in India have lost a genuine friend whose love for India knew no bounds.

Galbraith had a remarkable sense of humour and he wielded his pen with supreme felicity, and it has always been a pleasure to read anything written by him.

A story is worth recounting. It appears in Ambassador’s Journal. When he reported to India as US ambassador, the staff at the embassy at New Delhi arranged a distinctly unusual welcome. They baked a cake resembling the US embassy building in Chanakyapuri. Galbraith was deeply moved and wrote, “The cake was architecturally magnificent but highly inedible.”

— P.P. Ramachandran, Mumbai