• This is with reference to your report, ‘On Advani, two RSS mouthpieces speak 2 tongues, VHP 3rd’ (IE, June 15). It is not only that editors are reacting differently in their own newspapers, they are reacting differently in other newspapers! Panchjanya’s editor, Tarun Vijay even commented in a newspaper interview that if the RSS doesn’t fall in line with Advani’s views, it is free to adopt the way it wishes. This shows not only Advani but also Tarun Vijay is in a rebellious mood. It also shows the RSS has no editorial control or clarity vis-a-vis its own people. This exposes its intellectual bankruptcy and its loosening grip on worldly affairs within the parivar. — Kadambini Sharma New Delhi Secular Jinnah • Mohammad Munir, a former chief justice of Pakistan’s Supreme Court, in his book, ‘Pakistan from Jinnah to Zia’, observes that “there can be no doubt thatt Jinnah was a secularist and was against theocracy. In his speech to the Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947, he had constructed a picture of Pakistan which was nothing short of a secular state in which Muslims and non-Muslims could live together and be its citizens and that religion would be a private affair of the individual, having nothing to do with the administration of the state”. Unfortunately Jinnah died on September 11, ’48, and democracy hasn’t had a fair run in Pakistan since then. — L.C. Kaul New Delhi Heritage mess • Apropos of the editorial, ‘Invisible India’ (IE, June 14), it is true that in a huge country like India it is difficult to discover all the heritage sites spread all over. But, then again, India has been independent for close to six decades now and it is accepted that the country’s tourism industry can be profitably developed. Keeping this in view, a number of institutions have commenced variegated courses not only on tourism and hotel management, but also on museum and heritage management, etc.. But it is up to the government to discover the potential of heritage sites and, more importantly, ensure their proper maintenance. — Arjun Chaudhuri Kolkata • The article, ‘Love’s labour almost lost’ (IE, June 15) provides an accurate picture of almost all our monuments. Misguided guides and graffiti vandals have together destroyed the beauty of our ancient monuments. In any civilised country reports like this would have caused an outrage — but not here. — Praveen Hanasoge London Not by laws alone • The ongoing pressure to make anti-rape laws stricter deserves realistic assessment. First, discussions are initiated in India after the occurrence of an event. This reflects a poverty of governance. Second, rapes, murders and other crimes cannot be stopped by changing laws. These need to be solved by adopting a systems approach. Such crimes are associated with emotions, lack of education and effective governance, unemployment, poverty, questionable TV serials and gross inefficiencies in the laws and the like. — A.L. Agarwal Delhi Tailpiece • What can Bhishma and Drona do, when ‘Duryodhan’ is sitting on the throne (‘Kalam has code of conduct for Raj Bhavan: no politics’, IE, June 15). They can only go by the rules of the throne. Neither in past nor in the present do we find a single instance of someone who has risen above himself/herself to protect the sanctity of the throne he/she occupies. — Nalin Kishore Patna
