Timid policy

Bury it

• This refers to ‘No dirt, remove Rajiv stain: HC’ (IE, February 5). After 18 years of noise generated by the CBI and successive governments, Rajiv Gandhi has been absolved of the stigma of having accepted kickbacks in the Bofors gun deal. Perhaps it would be better for the CBI to bury the Bofors case for ever and get busy in some other useful work. The attitude of the media also requires a change. Sensationalism amounting to humiliation of others should be avoided.

— F.S.K. Barar On e-mail

Speak up, VP

• The evidence does indicate that Rajiv Gandhi was involved in the Bofors case. The CBI may have failed to bring home the charges as it also failed to do in other high profile cases. V.P. Singh and others should come out with the information on this issue as they were the persons who went public with the charges against Rajiv for which he suffered a political defeat.

— C. Vijaya On e-mail

Bull’s eye

• Apropos of Sagarika Ghose’s ‘All our sons and daughters’ (IE, February 5), a well written piece. But are the Ambika Sonis and other sycophants listening?

— Sudhir Kekre On e-mail

• Ghosh hits bull’s eye when she questions the credentials of Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi in Indian politics. They are comets who unerringly appear during election time and disappear after the election. It is during this time that all the Congressmen wake up and worship them and plead with them.

— Vamsidhar Reddy On e-mail

• But how can you compare Gandhiji, Sardar Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru to the likes of Indira Gandhi and and Sheikh Abdullah? They were people of integrity and honesty. And the next generation — better to let nothing be said about them.

— Rahul Patel On e-mail

• Having little inner party democracy, poor cadre strength to mobilise and weak grassroots support, Congress hopes to win riding on the Gandhi name. If the so-called leadership were willing to risk elections for office bearers, perhaps some truly representative Congressmen may emerge. Till then we’ll have the coterie exhort Rahul and Priyanka to win them polls so as to ensure their continuance in the Congress Worshipping Committee.

— Anantha Rao On e-mail

Out of control

• That expenditure control and planning in defence are woefully inadequate or totally absent is well reiterated in your editorial ‘No defence for this ’ (IE, February 5). This despite having a dedicated bureaucracy known as the Defence Accounts Service.

— R. Sundaram Chennai