VAT sense

8226; Your editorial,8216;Tax evaders strike back8217; IE, March 31 is quite...

8226; Your editorial,8216;Tax evaders strike back8217; IE, March 31 is quite thought provoking. No doubt the strike has intolerably inconvenienced the common man. But most people are not concerned with economics. There seems to be a view that under VAT prices will go up. VAT could be beneficial in the long run but there shouldn8217;t be haste in implementing it.

8212; S. Bakthavathsalan Gurgaon

8226; Your recommendation to bring FDI into the retail sector is knee-jerk. While the government should not succumb to the deplorable tactics of retailers, I believe FDI in this sector will lead to massive job loss and damage to the economy. Imagine a Wal-Mart in India selling stuff from China at cheap prices prices. No local shop owner will be able to compete.

8212; Munir Parikh Ahmedabad

Modi and US

8226; How can Pamela Philipose make a statement like, 8220;Can the man responsible for the Gujarat carnage of 2002 actually speak of 8216;democracy8217;, 8216;human rights8217; and 8216;natural justice8217;?8221; 8216;Stand up to the global gaze8217;, IE, March 31. Why is it impossible for a well-respected journalist like her to understand something happened before the riots broke out in Gujarat: 57 innocent people were burned alive by a group of people. Modi did not go out and kill. It was one set of citizens fighting another set. As simple as that.

8212; Byju John Chicago

8226; Apropos of 8216;Stand up to the global gaze8217;, our system has been weakened by politicians through the pursuit of corruption, emergency rule and genocide. They have never apologised to the nation for their role in creating these situations or brought justice to the victims. Gandhiji said rightly: the weak will not apologise but it8217;s the strong who can apologise.

8212; Arvind Amin On e-mail

8226; Kudos to Anil Dharker for this excellent piece underlining the need to put leaders who misuse the state machinery in their place IE, March 30. All right-minded citizens must openly express their support for the US action. Only then can we prevent other carnages.

8212; G.R. Vora Mumbai

8226; Apropos of Lavanya Rajmani8217;s piece IE, March 30, before we criticise Modi remember the entire problem is because of the brutal behaviour of Muslims.

8212; Harish Awasthi New Delhi

Mature view

8226; It8217;s heartening to read a mature article on Indian foreign policy 8216;A bigger, bolder policy8217;, IE, March 31. It8217;s a pity that we look at Iraq from purely a 8220;US started the war for oil8221; viewpoint. Bush won8217;t be in power forever and Iraq will have a destiny beyond 8217;08. What would India like to do with Iraq? Let us not be blind to the dividends of helping a very educated, democratic and oil-rich country at this juncture.

8212; Nagarajan Sivakumar San Diego

Important points

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8226; The Walk the Talk interview was great IE, Mrch 29. Vivek Paul8217;s points were important. Everything he said about Indians possessing a desire to learn and grow is true. It our misfortune that we have been ruled by people who hardly have any knowledge about India8217;s intellectual wealth.

8212; Prasenjit Seoul