Letters To The Editor

Kargil in hardbound8226; Every general writes his war memoirs to justify his role 8216;Musharraf, Bound8217;, IE, September 26. After d...

Kargil in hardbound

8226; Every general writes his war memoirs to justify his role 8216;Musharraf, Bound8217;, IE, September 26. After defeat at the hands of the Chinese in 1962, half a dozen of our generals wrote books defending their role in the war. It would have been foolish to expect the Chinese government to react to what they wrote. So there is no need for the Indian government to rebut Musharraf8217;s claims of 8220;victory8221; in the Kargil conflict. As for our own victory in the Kargil war, young officers and jawans sacrificed their lives to retake our land occupied by the Pakistanis. But what about our intelligence, bureaucracy and military brass who were responsible for letting the Pak incursion happen? Their 8216;war8217; started after the military action when they started blaming one another for the negligence. The government may succeed in getting an ambiguous report from K. Subrahmanyam in the usual strategic jargon. But the real story of how the commanders fared can be had only if the government releases Lt. Gen. Reddy8217;s inquiry findings on the conduct of the Kargil war. But that would be too much to expect from a government that has not made public the Henderson-Brooks Report on the India-China war even after more than four decades.

8212; N. Kunju, Delhi

Pack off the coach

8226; Greg Chappel should go. We are still stuck in the Ganguly-Wright era of making excuses about form and trying to get off by saying that the next game should be better. Playing around with the batting order to rattle batsmen of the order of Sehwag and Kaif, apart from ensuring that players of the potential of Pathan burn out faster than normal, seems to be a deep game plan that Chappell is playing out in the interest of Australia. On its day, the Indian team is a world-beater and the coach is supposed to iron out this irregularity and guarantee perform-

ance. I can8217;t understand why Chappell needs a home break just before the Champion8217;s Trophy. Given India8217;s dismal performance in Kuala Lumpur, was it not his duty to be present for the Challenger8217;s Trophy, which will decide the final squad for the Champion8217;s Trophy? If we had a local coach, such contingencies could have been handled.

It is time we pondered whether Chappell8217;s being there as India8217;s coach is good for us or for Australia with the upcoming World Cup 2007. Do we have a mole in our midst to help Australia? Not that the Aussies need it, though.

8212; S. Kamat, Alto Betim Goa

Inzy ban

8226; Inzamam Ul Haq guilty of bringing game into disrepute? That is just not the right verdict. Only Hair deserves to be punished. His earlier controversial decisions should be investigated. His bias against Asians is an established fact now. Inzy8217;s decision not to appeal against the four-match ban itself shows his respect for the ICC. By reciprocating his gesture, the ICC should revoke its decision.

8212; Naveen Laiker, Ludhiana

Labels on vehicles

8226; While welcoming the ban on use of the word 8216;Press8217; on vehicles, I would urge the authorities to also enforce non-use of descriptions such as 8216;Police8217;, 8216;Central Govt Undertaking8217;, 8216;State Govt Undertaking8217;, 8216;Mantralaya8217;, 8216;Metropolitan Magistrate8217;, etc. The Motor Vehicles Act should be enforced strictly with regard to the display of registration marks in the English language only. There is a growing tendency to use such official descriptions, which is prohibited by the law. This must be stopped immediately, especially on government, police and municipal vehicles.

8212; Phiroze Amroliwalla, Mumbai