The 8216;moral8217; state

8226; This is in response to 8216;Big Brotherhood8217; IE, July 23. I agree...

8226; This is in response to 8216;Big Brotherhood8217; IE, July 23. I agree with what your paper has to say on this burning topic of bar girls. It is really shocking for the citizens of this free and democratic country to dance to the dictates of politician who pose as moral and cultural policemen. They don8217;t seem to understand the need to allow people their choices. Let people decide for themselves what8217;s good and what8217;s bad for them.

8212; Nawal Thorat Aurangabad

8226; I fully support and congratulate the Maharashtra government and Home Minister R.R. Patil, in particular, for their single-minded determination to ban dance bars in Mumbai. As a resident of this metropolis since birth I have seen how the city has deteriorated with every passing year due to the influx of outsiders. In any case dance bars 8212; as we all know 8212; are mostly patronised by the shady sections of society.

8212; Vijay Murkute Mumbai

Curious nostalgia

8226; As someone very familiar with both the Thatcher and Reagan eras, I find Jerry Rao8217;s nostalgia a little confusing 8216;Revive the Swatantra Party8217;, IE, July 25. Thatcher ruthlessly cut social subsidies and taxes and privatised industries. She could do so because she had comfortable majorities in Parliament. Reagan also cut taxes and deregulated a few industries. Another common theme was a strong, jingoistic nationalism 8212; the Falklands and Grenada invasions are examples 8212; and a confrontationist stance towards the USSR. Which of these policies does Rao want the new Swatantra party to emulate?

8212; Arul Bhaskar New York

Help us

8226; Yes, it8217;s true that we Muslims, by and large, were responsible for what happened in London 8216;Shot at sight in nervous London8217;, IE, July 25. But these suicidal extremists are not portraying the true teachings of Islam, which is a religion of peace and harmony. Also, it is not fair to associate these bombers with Pakistan. They were were born and raised in London and they were British nationals who had visited Pakistan to meet their relatives. Pakistan, as a nation, cannot be held responsible for the attitudes of 10 per cent of its population. Please listen to the 90 per cent and give them the courage to fight against these extremists.

8212; Haseeb Talal Khan Karachi

Terrible incident

8226; These killings are pathetic 8216;J-K again: Mistaken for militants, three boys are shot dead8217;, IE, July 25. Such incidents need to be published as headlines and thoroughly condemned. We cannot afford to kill our own people and just keep quiet. The army needs to give us a proper explanation as to how the boys were mistaken for militants and how such mistakes will be avoided in the future.

8212; Vijay Lakewood

Nuclear way

8226; The article,8216;Dispelling the Spooks about Nukes IE, July 25, was a very well argued one. However, the author seems to suggest that India should go for imported reactors with imported nuclear fuel as a means of reducing strategic over-dependency on imported hydrocarbon fuel. It is also not entirely correct to say that coal-fired thermal power stations are more polluting than nuclear power. The latest co-generation combined cycle technologies are substantially more efficient and eco-friendly.

8212; Sunil Mittal Stuttgart