Truth hates delay

The Nanavati Commission has said that the burning of the train at Godhra was a pre-planned conspiracy...

•The Nanavati Commission has said that the burning of the train at Godhra was a pre-planned conspiracy ‘In Part 1, Nanavati concludes…’ ). This will be welcomed by the NDA. But it is at odds with the Justice U.C. Banerjee report, which said that the fire was an accident. At that time, there was a hue and cry from the NDA that the Banerjee report was the diktat of Lalu Prasad. Justice cannot be subjective. If the burning of the train was a conspiracy, what has the Gujarat government done to nab the culprits? And how does one explain the Gujarat riots post-Godhra?

— Shailesh Kumar

Bangalore

Slipping away

• The Karnataka government is losing its credibility as atrocities against Christians continue. The BJP government is playing an old game by inciting the religious sentiments of the masses. In the bargain, innocent people are losing their lives, and their faith in the Indian Constitution has been shaken.

— Veena Aruldass

Pune

Unwise aid

•The decision of the Jamia Millia Islamia University to extend legal help to two of its students suspected of terrorism is truly perplexing ‘Jamia to provide legal help to two arrested students’ A university exists and acts in the public domain. Are the university authorities sending out the right message by offering legal help to these individuals at the university’s expense just because they happen to be students of the institution? An educational institution, and a prestigious one at that, would do better to stay out of such controversy. Jamia has already set a bad precedent.

— R.J. Khurana

Bhopal

Terror tripe

•Kapil Sibal’s two-part analysis of the terror situation points out the gaps in the security and legal systems at present, and is expectedly full of “the need to do this, that and the other”. With the choice of such diction and tone, Sibal has unwittingly admitted that precious little has been done till now to improve national security in the four plus years that the UPA has been in power. Making excuses and analysing the situation is not going to help.

— Prem Khera

Pune

Laws don’t do

• In a rational and cogent manner, Kapil Sibal has demolished the false argument that a strong law is all that is needed to deter and punish terrorists. The experience the world over with all such emergency laws, as well as our own experience with POTA, tells us that their very nature lends them to their misuse by even the most non-partisan and professional police force. No law, however stringent its provisions, automatically deters criminals and prevents crime. That can only be done by a well-oiled and well-heeled law enforcement machinery equipped with the latest technological aids for investigation.

— Shahabuddin Nadeem

Bangalore