Letters To The Editor

This refers to your report, 8216;War room leak: CBI raids in 4 cities8217;. The war room leak and its connection with the alleged Scorpene deal story hit the headlines months ago.

Great escape

8226; This refers to your report, 8216;War room leak: CBI raids in 4 cities8217; IE, June 24. The war room leak and its connection with the alleged Scorpene deal story hit the headlines months ago. Some naval officers were dismissed from service last October, as you reported. A key accused slipped away from the country. No government agency thought it fit to stop him, a la Quattrocchi. Much water has flowed down the Yamuna but our great investigating agencies seemed to have perfected the modus operandi of acting after the horse has bolted. Does the CBI expect the smart cookies suspects in the case have high connections leave evidence lying around?

8212; M. Ratan, New Delhi

Leave them alone

8226; Sushma Swaraj8217;s statement 8220;we can do without the army vice chief8221; reeks of arrogance. General Pattabhiraman has worn the army8217;s uniform for 42 years, and when he says something we should listen, because he has a stake in the well-being of the army. Nehru said something similar to Cariappa in 8217;51 when he presented a plan for the defence of NEFA. Krishna Menon had similar views in 8217;59, when Thimayya sent to him a paper prepared by Thorat on the defence of NEFA. We know what happened later, in 8217;62. It8217;s time politicians left soldiers to get on with their jobs.

8212; Maj Gen V.K. Singh retd, Gurgaon

8226; Lady officers are second to none at headquarters and static establishments but in units they face some problems like improvised bathrooms in canvas lacking privacy. Dealing day and night with soldiers 8212; predominantly rural 8212; for some of whom taking orders from someone their daughter8217;s age poses adjustment problems. The vice-chief8217;s reference to 8220;comfort levels8221; was not perhaps from an elitist officer8217;s perspective as made out by media but from factual reality. These problems are transitory and will be overcome soon.

8212; V.R.P. Sarathy, Chennai

Return of Pandits

8226; One more bus service from Poonch to Rawalkot has been started with much fanfare in order to facilitate divided families to meet each other. When will the government start a bus service across Jawahar tunnel to take back four lakh Kashmiri Pandits to their motherland? Also, despite repeated requests, not one Kashmiri Pandit has been allowed to visit the Shrine of Sharda in PoK.

8212; Rashneek Kher New Delhi

Defanging exams

8226; Sandeep Pandey8217;s 8216;The tyranny of examinations8217; IE, May 17, was one of the most significant articles published recently. It assumes more importance, given the spate of suicides brought about by 8216;the tyranny of examinations8217;. Exams conducted by most schools/universities are outdated and need urgent reform. Hundreds of innocent lives can be saved by resorting to an objective cum written exam system. In this regard the CBSE8217;s experiment is commendable but it can be improved by allotting more marks to the objective section.

8212; Sadhana Singh Delhi

Budhi remembered

8226; With the passing away of Budhi Kunderan, India has lost a fine player of yesteryear. But for politics he would have contributed more. He not only opened the batting but the bowling too in Test matches. A rare achievement for a keeper. His 192 against MCC at the Madras Corporation Stadium was a treat to watch. Without any protective gear, players like Kunderan played some immortal cricket.

8212; Vasudevan, Navi Mumbai