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Journalism of Courage
I wholeheartedly support the rejection of the Ordinance put forth by the Maharashtra government seeking regularisation of unauthorised buildings in Ulhasnagar existing before December 31 by Governor S.M. Krishna. This step is welcome as the ordinance had sought to make a mockery of laws and condone the breaking of development control laws by politician-builder-bureaucrat lobbies. The rejection of the ordinance has sent a strong message that flouting of norms will never be tolerated. By this step the governor has set a very good precedent which otherwise would have given rise to more and more townships seeking the regularisation of unauthorised buildings.
— G.R. Vora Mumbai
• The Maharashtra government’s decision to regularise the illegal buildings of Ulhasnagar, in spite of a Supreme Court order, is disgraceful. How can the government do this? In foreign countries, if someone even as much as spits on the roadside, he gets punished. Here more than 800 buildings are constructed illegally and the government approves it!
— Ashish Mhapankar Badlapur
Tapping Amar Singh
• Though Amar Singh has every right to complain, he should not make a national and political issue out of his personal grievance. Who are these intelligence officials who tipped him about the phone tapping? How can he explain his proximity to the Indian government’s intelligence officials? Why is he not naming any individual whom he thinks is behind these phone tappings. He makes Reliance Infocomm a party to this case but he has not filed any criminal charges against it. Why these double standards?
— Amjad K. Maruf New Delhi
• With regard to the report, ‘Amar seeks judicial probe into tapping’ (IE, January 10), the SP leader’s campaign is giving a fresh lease of life to many politicians. From Jayalalithaa and Chandrababu Naidu to L.K. Advani and Mamata Banerjee, they are now joining the chorus against phone tapping. But their tunes differ. For instance, Mamata blames the Left, while Advani would like to have a shot against the Centre. The other thing I can’t understand is why Advani, whose party has to battle the SP in Uttar Pradesh, seems anxious to join hands with Mulayam on this issue.
— Bidyut K. Chatterjee Faridabad
Reading Musharraf
• India’s snubbing of General Musharraf on every point he raised in his interview to a TV channel is absurd. Musharraf is a man we can do business with. If today our relations with Pakistan are good, it is because he has delivered to a greater or lesser extent. Srinagar-Muzaffarabad, Delhi-Lahore, Amritsar-Lahore, Iran pipeline, the cricket series, cultural events, he has encouraged every contact or linkage. He has also accepted that boundaries can’t be redrawn nor can religion can be the basis of any solution. We also have to move forward on resolving Kashmir. Joint management is a good idea. By this Kashmir will unite rather than divide India and Pakistan.
— Pranav Sachdeva New Delhi
• The Pakistan president’s ‘offer’ to control crossborder terrorism if India withdraws forces from three cities, is admission that Pakistan is currently allowing terrorism and is capable of controlling it if it wants. What hypocrisy! Terrorism is a commodity Pakistan trades in.
— Kuriakose Varkey New York
