Letters to the editor

Run ends8226; CONGRATULATIONS to Delhi High Court for convicting Manu Sharma, who is now found guilty of murdering Jessica Lall 8216;Manu...

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8226; CONGRATULATIONS to Delhi High Court for convicting Manu Sharma, who is now found guilty of murdering Jessica Lall 8216;Manu Sharma convicted for Jessica murder8217;, IE, December 19. After the wait of seven years, the victim8217;s family have finally got justice. In fact, the verdict is not only a victory for the victim8217;s family, but also for Indians. Justice to Jessica Lall was what people across the country had wanted. They had agitated against the judgment of the trial court in innumerable ways. With this declaration of the court and Manu Sharma8217;s surrender, an important chapter comes to an end.

8212; M. Mudassir Alam, New Delhi

8226; HEARTIEST greetings to all fellow citizens, especially the people who had fought for justice. Jessica can now sleep in peace. The person who deprived her of her life were worth less than the peg of whisky he had demanded before shooting her down. Goodnight, Jessica.

8212; Bharatram Gaba, Mumbai

Trial slipstream

8226; THE Jessica Lall vedict is an eye-opener. Much has been spoken and written on the need for amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code. There has also been a great deal of talk about the witness protection system but nothing has been done on the issue yet. The recent amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code and the ones being proposed demonstrate the knee-jerk reaction of the authorities when something goes wrong. There has to be a proper analysis of what is going wrong in the system and a determination to set things right.

8212; Aires Rodrigues; Ribandar, Goa

Afzal drag

8226; THE other day when Leader of the Opposition, L.K. Advani, sought to know the government8217;s stand on Afzal8217;s mercy petition, Priyaranjan Das Munshi pounced on him, accusing him of his failure to protect Parliament, while Home Minister Shivraj Patil hit out at the Opposition saying that the NDA government took four years to decide on the mercy petitions in the case of the Rajiv assassination. As for the UPA, it could now take seven years, going by past experience to decide on the mercy petition of Afzal. It is well known that the J038;K chief minister had publicly pleaded for clemency for Afzal. Human rights activists also questioned the Supreme Court judgment and capital punishment itself. But it is not clear what prevents the government from taking a prompt decision in the case. Is it trying to play vote-bank politics?

8212; Monideepa Banerjee, Mumbai

Morn in Valley

8226; KASHMIR now has its first private FM channel 8216;Good morning Kashmir8230;8217; IE, December 19. It8217;s amazing how the little things we take for granted elsewhere in India count for so much. Music and fun that the station brings is a sign of the return of life in the Valley. During PM Manmohan Singh8217;s address some months ago, people instead of shouting the usual pro-independence slogans were asking for jobs. This is happening because of the purposeful engagement between India and Pakistan. Without the statesmanship of the trio of A.B. Vajpayee, Pervez Musharraf and Manmohan Singh, India8217;s options were limited. But normalcy can only be achieved when law and order is handed over to the police from the army, as in Punjab. That8217;s why we need to take Musharraf8217;s four-point solution seriously.

8212; Pranav Sachdeva, New Delhi