Letters to the editor

• I agree with Sudheendra Kulkarni, ‘‘Where’s the national will to tackle terrorism’’, that terrorism should n...

• I agree with Sudheendra Kulkarni, ‘‘Where’s the national will to tackle terrorism’’, that terrorism should not be viewed through a majority-minority prism and national security is of prime concern. There is an immediate need to put in place an improved and transparent law having enough teeth to make the terrorist outfits feel its ‘‘cutting edge’’. Terrorism can’t be tackled if we continue with the existing weak anti-terror laws. It is, therefore, incumbent upon all our political parties to ensure that our internal security is not jeopardised due to vote bank politics. Only a strong national will based on people’s support can tackle terrorism.
S K Gupta

• Public cooperation too is necessary to fight terrorism. Both the authorities as well as the common man must take all possible corrective steps to minimise terrorism. Terrorists cannot be reformed, so all those involved in such activities must be killed.
M Kumar, Delhi

• India has been facing the problem of terrorism for so many years now. But instead of resolving the issue, it is getting worse with each passing day. An easy way out for the government is to blame the ‘‘foreign hand’’, as if that absolves our security apparatus and law enforcement machinery of all responsibility in tracking down the terrorists. The fact is the consistent inability of the our security personnel to either trace the terrorists or smash the terror networks has destabilised India. We do not have a single organisation that is given the exclusive task of combating, containing and crushing terrorism. Instead of adopting a proactive approach, our policy makers hope that the problem of terrorism will simply vanish one day.
Amjad K Maruf, Mumbai

• This is with reference to Tavleen Singh’s column, ‘‘The simmering rage of urban, middle-class India’’. I belong to this class but fortunately I do not haveÿsuch a one-sided viewÿabout terrorism. While it may be politically correct toÿcriticise the government for its failure to contain Islamic terrorism, it isn’t politically correct to point out how the middle-class have become so selfish and self-centered that they would rather leave the fight against terrorism to someone else. If we want to crush terrorism, we have to be prepared to make sacrifices. But we, the urban middle-class, do not want to suffer any inconvenience and want the Army, police and other securityÿpersonnel to do the dirty work. How many of our sons are ready to join the Army or police? This attitude is where the fault lies.
Narendra M Apte, Mumbai

• Congratulations to Tavleen Singh for her bold article. It needs Himalayan courage to write that the Babri Masjid Action Committee’s obduracy was as much to blame as Hindutva for the Ayodhya episode. When American forces invaded Afghanistan we registered our high decibel protests. But, as Tavleen points out: ‘‘why do we always have no response when terrorists come and kill our people in the most brutal way. Why do we do nothing?’’ We should emulate the British example and have a special law to deal with terrorism.
Dr A B Sai Prasad, Jamnagar

• When terrorists target innocent and defenceless civilians, the government should not be content with just preaching communal harmony or announcing compensation to the kin of the dead and injured. The government must take strong measures against Pakistan’s proxy war and ensure the safety of its citizens. The growing anger of the masses is not as much against terrorists as it is against the failure of the government and intelligence agencies to trace, locate, identify and destroy the jehadi outfits established in various parts of the country.

Instead, the moment some terrorists are nabbed, a hue and cry is raised about the alleged violation of their human rights? Our criminal justice system has also been twisted by vested interests to favour those who are guilty. Nobody questions what human rights should these terrorists be allowed and why. Instead, we have been forced to scrap TADA and POTA. It is high time the government adopted some strong measures to tackle terrorism and its perpetrators. If it fails to do so, it may also fail to maintain communal harmony and social stability.
Ved Guliani, Hisar

Story continues below this ad

• Both Tavleen Singh and Sudheendra Kulkarni dwelt on the topic of terrorism. There is no political will to tackle terrorism because we have been brainwashed to practice Ahimsa no matter what the provocation. And all for narrow political gains. The ‘‘secular’’ parties thrive on creating a fear psychosis among Muslims, painting themselves as their protectors, and thus winning their votes. They dare not tell the truth about how the Indian masses are suffering at the hands of some Islamic terrorists. We have to make conscious efforts to dispel the impression that Muslims can do no wrong and Hindus can do no right.
Shreeram Paranjpe, Mumbai

• With reference to the report, ‘‘Bagman in Baghdad’’, Paul Volcker is quoted to have said that he did not know Natwar Singh was India’s Foreign Minister. Does that mean he would not have disclosed his name if he had known it? In any case, our Indian political system is so powerful that ministers or elected representatives are rarely found guilty as nothing is proved against them. It is time to bring in some accountability among our public servants.
Mahesh Kumar, Delhi

• As Soli Sorabjee pointed out in his column, ‘‘Soliloquies’’, the custodians of the Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar have tarred Hindu religion by denying entry to the American woman who had converted to Hinduism. They should emulate the example of some Parsi youths have formed the Association for Revival of Zoroastrianism to bring non-Parsi relatives into the Zoroastrian fold. Such exclusivist attitude of some temple authorities will deter non-Hindus from adopting Hinduism.
Madhu Agrawal, Delhi

Write to yourvoiceexpressindia.com