Letters to the editor

Rahulisms?8226; PRESIDENT Bush has an 8216;intellectual8217; rival in Rahul Gandhi. Maybe we will soon have our share of Rahulisms. He an...

Rahulisms?

8226; PRESIDENT Bush has an 8216;intellectual8217; rival in Rahul Gandhi. Maybe we will soon have our share of Rahulisms. He and his cohorts claim that the Congress 8220;fought8221; for independence. Can Rahul Gandhi give us just one date and place where Jawaharlal Nehru did anything that can be termed as 8220;fighting8221;? The fact is that British used the Congress as an instrument, not only to prevent any further uprisings but also to delay independence. They left when it suited them. Even 90 years after 1857, the Congress and Nehru were grossly unprepared as reflected by the fact that until 1958 at least one Britisher was the chief of one branch, or other, of our Armed Forces. And what about the fact that the Mahatma wanted the Congress to be dissolved after independence? Its existence today is testimony to the fact that the Mahatma was forgotten soon after independence.

8212;T.R. Ramaswami, Mumbai

Firearms control

8226; THE latest incident at Virginia Tech should get America to strengthen its gun control laws IE, April 18 and ensure that firearms do not fall into the hands of young people. At the same time, the sales of firearms should be regulated so that only those weapons related to personal safety and perhaps for hunting purposes are made available to licensed holders. In the absence of any strong legislation to this effect, these tragic incidents in schools and colleges across America will continue to occur with innocent lives being snuffed out in the process. The absence of political resolve to become stricter with those who possess and use firearms has extracted a terrible cost.

8212;S. Kamat, Alto Betim

8226; THIS refers to the Express reports about the death of an Indian professor who was among the victims of the campus shooting at Virginia Tech. It was really very shocking to hear about the untimely death of Indian professor, G.V. Loganathan, who was killed by a mentally disturbed student. The killing of 33 innocents only serves to enhance our worries about the future. Something serious must be done to ensure such incidents do not happen ever again.

8212;Ahmad Rais Siddiqi, New Delhi

Not appropriate

8226; I REFER to the report, 8216;Kiss stokes passion elsewhere8217; IE, April 17. Richard Gere8217;s kissing act at the AIDS awareness progamme in Delhi was definitely indecent. The objections raised by the moral police are genuine but their violent acts of burning effigies are not justified at all. No one would have objected to this kind of behaviour if it had been done in a private party, but when celebrities are at a public forum, then civilised and decent norms are expected.

8212;A.K. Maruf, Thane