Medals and mettle

The editorial, 8216;The Arjuna goes to...8217; IE, Sept 17 made interesting reading. But I wonder how you could suggest th...

The editorial, 8216;The Arjuna goes to8230;8217; IE, Sept 17 made interesting reading. But I wonder how you could suggest that we 8220;do away with the guideline that favours achievements at the international level over those at home8221;. This, in fact, has been the practice till 8217;01. It was then found that the 8220;performance at home8221; business was being exploited to honour all and sundry while more deserving cases were left out. Surely, performances at international meets will have to be recognised as more important than, say, winning a national title for six years in a row. Your point about Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore being chosen for the Arjuna also amazes me. The Arjuna remains our highest sports award. Khel Ratna is just the highest award for a year. Rathore8217;s Arjuna is in order for his performance in 8217;03. For 8217;04, he will surely get the Khel Ratna and perhaps a Padma Bushan. Not giving the Arjuna to Rathore would have got editorial writers in later years to lament: 8220;But did you know, our only Olympics silver winner, didn8217;t get the Arjuna; the shame of it8221;!

8212; P. Kumaran Delhi

Pakistan cauldron

8226; Jasjit Singh states that Pakistan is heading for a power struggle between the Mush dictatorship and Islamist parties along with fundamental terrorists 8216;Pakistan at tipping point8217;, IE, Sept 20. For India and the free world the looming anarchy within Pakistan can have repercussions. While Pakistan8217;s economy has improved, it has failed to reach poor Pakistanis, around 50 million strong. Then there are one and a half million fundamental religion schools turning out fundamental jihadis in their thousands.

8212; Arvind Amin On e-mail

8226; President Musharraf still has a viable political strategy left before reaching tipping point. In the 8217;50s, Pakistan8217;s Islamic parties launched an agitation against the Ahmediya sect and succeeded in getting them declared as non-Muslims. Musharraf can tacitly encourage a similar agitation against the Zikri sect in Balochistan 8212; often targeted by MMA activists. Such an agitation would divert Islamic parties8217; attention while increasing their political clout and ultimately result in their controlling Balochistan. In essence, by allowing MMA to control two states with smaller populations, the Pakistani military establishment can retain control of the central government, West Punjab and Sindh state governments.

8212; Arun Khanna On e-mail

Tallest men

8226; With reference to your leader, 8216;Media8217;s Man of Iron8217; IE, August 28, I would say that three people had emerged the tallest following the infamous Emergency 8212; Ram Nath Goenka, V.K. Narasimhan and Justice H.R. Khanna. Every freedom loving Indian must offer obeisances to each one of them. Therefore, I welcome your leader.

8212; M.K.D. Prasada Rao Ghaziabad