Letters To The Editor

The article,8216;Strike when iron is cold8217;, can also be summarised in the words 8216;appease at your peril8217;.

India8217;s Munich?

8226; The article,8216;Strike when iron is cold8217; IE, July 15, can also be summarised in the words 8216;appease at your peril8217;. Perhaps that is what K.P.S. Gill was trying to convey to Shekhar Gupta long ago in the Police Mess at Bahadurgarh. We have been making the same mistake repeatedly, as Gupta points out, in Nagaland, Andhra, Assam. As a nation we need to send out a clear message to all terrorists and separatists and their supporters that the integrity of India is sacrosanct. People who swear to protect the Republic and its Constitution have no business breaking bread with people who vow to do just the opposite. Chamberlain thought that he could buy peace for Europe by giving 8216;Sudetenland8217; to Hitler. Let us not repeat 8216;Chamberlain8217;s Munich8217;.

8212; Satish Dayal, New Delhi

Peace pipe

8226; Even after the Pak-sponsored terrorist attack on 11/7, New Delhi announced officially that the new date for the 8216;peace talks8217; at the secretary level will be decided later on. Why is the government interested in peace talks yet? Is there any pressure from the US? If there is, it should be ignored because in the last four decades the number of the innocent Indians and the securitymen killed in the Pak-sponsored proxy war far cheaper than a regular war is much bigger than the number of Indian and Pakistani soldiers killed in three Indo-Pak wars.

8212; Hansraj Bhat, Mumbai

Economist8217;s blind spot

8226; If only the government had woken up to the reality of terrorism following the 1993 blasts in Mumbai apart from terror attacks in J038;K and prioritised its policies, the cycles would not be repeating itself. It appears our PM8217;s training as an economist is also taking us away from India8217;s pressing priority. Is not the baggage of his 8217;91 success deciding most of the steps he is taking, his gaze having no other focus than economic growth? Can8217;t he, who sets so much store by his foreign policy with the US, emulate America8217;s example of security consciousness after the 9/11 attack, which has kept further attacks at bay.

8212; H.R.Bapu Satyaaarayana, Mysore

Boomerang coming

8226; Thousands of our policemen are still engaged in tracing the bombers in the Mumbai blasts and SIMI is under suspicion. But Mulayam Singh Yadav, sitting in his chambers, has already discovered that SIMI has no hand in the blasts! He is trying to use the tragedy to consolidate his minority vote bank 8212; a strategy sure to boomerang.

8212; S. Rajagopalan, Chennai

Chink in ethos

8226; New York once, London once, Madrid once 8212; but Mumbai has been bombed many times. Why? Why is this failure to ensure minimum security of the country? I think a caste-ridden, divisive, corrupt, money-minded and sleaze8211;laden society cannot rise up to the challenges of Islamic terrorism. That8217;s why terrorists have a field day in here.

8212; Ashok Kumar Das, Kolkata

IT payload!

8226; There can be no surprise that the GSLV flight had to be aborted, given the state of ISRO. Existing staff are getting extensions and newly-trained staff are leaving because of poor salaries and perks. Unless talent is retained, the exodus is bound to continue. If our software engineers can be paid so handsomely, why aren8217;t our space technicians compensated adequately?

8212; K.T. Chary, Chennai