Opinion Getting away
This refers to the editorial Pilot fires. The manner in which the civil aviation ministry has handled the pilots strike was unfortunate.
Getting away
* This refers to the editorial Pilot fires (IE,May 7). The manner in which the civil aviation ministry has handled the pilots strike was unfortunate. Its meek surrender needs to be probed. The decision to reinstate the dismissed pilots and re-recognise their association has let the Air India management down which had taken some bold initial steps. Accountability should be fixed for the losses of the state-run airline which is already in the red.
S.K. Gupta,Chandigarh
* It is disgusting that Air Indias pilots go on strike at the drop of a hat. Had Air India been a private organisation,the pilots wouldnt have dared to resort to such blackmail. Its time the government cut the staff and reduced the airlines liabilities or shut it down altogether. The other option is to privatise Air India.
R.K. Kapoor,Mumbai
Phase out
* Elaborate arrangements for the safety of voters have contributed to the heavy turnout in the West Bengal assembly elections (Freedom from fear,IE,May 7). However,the Election Commission should review the practice of clubbing the electoral outcomes of states where elections are phased over a long period. The election code prevents policy decisions and smooth working till the results are out. Moreover,if a result leads to a change of government,the incumbents enjoy legitimacy for that period even if they have been found incapable of governing. The assumption that the declaration of results of one state could influence voting patterns in others is flawed because state elections are dominated by local issues,nor are the parties always common.
Y.G. Chouksey,Pune
Hollowed dry
* In On the days after (IE,May 7),Murtaza Razvi has forthrightly raised tough questions about the incompetence of Pakistans military. Razvi calls Pakistan a banana republic,rightly accusing the Pakistan army of being more interested in making and breaking political coalitions than guarding the countrys frontiers. General Kayanis blowing hot and cold at a corps commanders meeting on May 5 and issuing warnings to the US and India seemed phoney and hollow.
M. Ratan,New Delhi
In a bad state
* The Congress,with its eagerness to topple the Chandrababu Naidu government,had blundered by aligning with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti during the 2004 elections. At no stage was the Congress high command in favour of creating a separate state of Telangana since it could instigate similar demands from other states. Whether the demand for Telangana will meet its natural death or not,the duplicity of the Congress has been exposed by its decision to appoint a deputy chief minister from the Telangana region. If the state was about to be created,where was the need to appoint a deputy CM now?
K.R.P. Gupta,Mumbai
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