The ban mindset

— Madhavi Cherian On e-mail

Clever dodge

• In your editorial, ‘Imrana in a bind’ (IE, June 30), you have cleverly avoided the word that the whole incidence of Imrana is against — ie, “secularism” — the holy word for you pseudo-intellectuals. Under the sophisticated words of “moral obscurantism” you are obscuring the main issue: ie, the law of the land is given less importance under votebank politics and that has long term detrimental consequences for the country. Why blame politicians when newspapers themselves shy away from taking the issue head-on?

— Mrudula Mumbai

• The Shariat is interpreted in different ways by Muslim clerics to enforce their personal diktat. History tells us that mostly male chauvinism holds sway while delivering fatwas in such cases.

— P.V. Raman Chennai

• The virtual nod that Mulayam Singh Yadav gave to the fatwa issued against the rape victim, Imrana, is regrettable. It shows the extent to which politicians can go in order to buy votes. With the Islamic law showing its orthodox face, it is time the Supreme Court takes suo motto cognisance of the case and delivers justice by establishing the supremacy of secular laws.

— J.M. Manchanda New Delhi

Nowhere road

• Your story on the NHAI, and about the Mumbai-Agra National Highway four-track up to Nashik (IE, June 30), reminded me of the fact that we had first heard of this project when we were kids. Now our kids are saying that “unless some minister dies in some accident in this section, this road will not be widened/bettered”. The road, especially in the Kasara ghat region, is narrow and there is always the problem of landslides. In addition to all these problems, the Mumbai-Pune heavy vehicular traffic is diverted through this route. May I know why? Where is the concept of a Golden Quadrilateral?

— Deepa Prabhanjan Nashik

Great picture

• It is shocking to see Joint Commissioner of Police K. Kumaraswamy being carried by a constable in Vadodara through flood waters (IE, July 2). Is he injured? Why can’t he walk?

— Ajay K. Madurai

• This picture could be made into a cartoon. Is the commissioner retarded or is he is treating the constable as slaves were treated in days of yore? This picture explains in a nutshell why law and order in India is so bad. These constables think of themselves as the slaves of inspectors and commissioners, so they blindly agree to do anything.

— Chandra Srinivasaiah San Jose