Protect whistle-blowers

• Apropos of the report,‘How to protect Dubeys?’ (IE, April 6), a promising solution would be to ...

• Apropos of the report,‘How to protect Dubeys?’ (IE, April 6), a promising solution would be to appoint two Supreme Court judges, one active and one retired, to pursue this matter. Both must be people of great integrity, since their standing safeguards the interests of the whistle-blower. The person/s name/s that surface shall be known only to them and they can demand a CBI inquiry into the matter, without even consulting the PMO or the minister under whose aegis the particular department that comes into question stands. The whistle-blower need not fear that he/she may be betrayed under this system, since they will not be in the hands of the corrupt or lethargic lot who man the PMO, the various ministries and even the CBI. In any case, the CBI needs to put its house in order so that witnesses don’t get murdered because of its shoddy work.

— Ramesh Lahoti On e-mail

Strange silences

• Mani Shankar Aiyar’s article on NDA’s foreign policy (‘NDA’s foreign nonpolicy’,IE, March 30), is like Macaulay’s essay on Addison with references to the East India Company’s rule in India during the 18th and 19th centuries. Aiyar has missed the bus in forgetting to mention the singular achievement of the Vajpayee government’s foreign policy: Its refusal to send Indian troops to Iraq despite strong pressure from America and Britain, which would have paid us rich dividends in material terms. Secondly, Vajpayee’s firm stand on crossborder terrorism forced Pakistan to declare a unilateral ceasefire across the border. Now the guns are silent across the borders and people are living in peace without fear of attack.

— K. Venkatakrishnan New Delhi

Great gesture

• The gesture of Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul Haq to present a set of clothes to each of the member in the Indian squad for visiting his country for the first time, is heartening (‘Picture perfect’, IE, April 2). This only shows the friendly approach which has been adopted by the players in this series, unlike in the past when both teams looked upon each other as enemies. Whatever be the outcome of this series, the fact remains that the Pakistani cricketers and spectators have certainly won our hearts!

— V. Rajesh On e-mail

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• This is with reference to a report filed by Saikat Dutta on the President’s visit to the Kumar base on Siachen Glacier (IE, April 3). The article says “today, some of that effort was on display as Kalam ventured as far as Kumar Forward Logistic Base, named after Col. Kumar who took one of the earliest mountaineering expeditions into the region and died there”. I would like to bring to your attention that Col. N. Kumar, aged 70, is alive and well and as his son I can vouch for that. It is true that he took the first Indian expedition into this area in 1978 and mapped the entire region all the way till Indira Col the highest watershed in the world. After which the Indian army moved in and named the camp after him.

— Akshay Kumar New Delhi

The error is deeply regretted. Here’s wishing Col. N.Kumar, a long and healthy life.

— Editor

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