On target

Arif Muhammad Khan in his article 8216;Look who hijacked Jamia8217; has presented the real situation at Jamia Millia and its surrounding area, Jamia Nagar.

8226; Arif Muhammad Khan in his article 8216;Look who hijacked Jamia8217; has presented the real situation at Jamia Millia and its surrounding area, Jamia Nagar. Students from villages and small towns come there to study. But fringe outfits that operate there divert them by presenting imagined threats to Islam. This can only be stopped if politicians stop supporting those outfits and end their vote-bank politics.

8212; Vikash Anand

New Delhi

The reason why

8226; AjEy Lele8217;s premise that India is way behind China in the military use of space is wrong. NASA, ESA and ISRO protested China8217;s targeting of a satellite, not because of fears of a new military threat, but because the debris generated by the blast could collide and damage other satellites. ISRO8217;s chief G. Madhavan Nair has publicly stated that India too can easily replicate China8217;s test, but it chooses not to be irresponsible. So it is premature to write-off India in the military use of space, compared to China.

8212; Abhishek Dwivedi Thane

Painful case

8226; One is pained to read the article by IPS officer Abhinav Kumar, and can only feel a sense of loss and empathy with him when he says that defending the nation can be a thankless job, and the cheapest commodity in our country today is the life of a policeman. While it is true that freedom and openness are fundamental to any democracy, there are times when such public posturing 8212; as in this particular case by political and religious leaders 8212; is preposterous. A society that does not respect the rule of the law is doomed to fail. It is ironic that we destroy our institutions 8212; police, courts, hospitals, educational institutions 8212; for political or personal expediency, but want these institutions to deliver the best when we need them.

8212; S.S. Kothari New Delhi

Orissa8217;s hoax

8226; More than a month since the communal carnage in Kandhamal district of Orissa, the Naveen Patnaik government has failed to control the communal violence. This clearly establishes that the state administration is unwilling to control the violence and maintain law and order in the state. It is high time that the Centre move beyond paying lip sympathy to victims. The existing situation of lawlessness in Orissa is truly a fit case for the use of Article 356. Impose president8217;s rule.

8212; Shahabuddin Nadeem

Bangalore

Real picture

8226; The Left8217;s gloating over the US financial crisis is misplaced. First, the same investment banking they are virulently attacking has almost tripled net assets in U.S. economy in last twenty-five years. Losing a percentage point out of that is no big deal at all. Second, it was the ordinary American who has benefited most in this growth, as even those on minimum wages could build a house for themselves with sub-prime mortgages.

8212; Ranjit Mirje Kolhapur