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This is an archive article published on August 28, 2010
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Opinion Land & water

History continues: when Left loses politically,its ideologues return ‘home’ to Congress — and to its delicious crumbs

Pachu MenonAugust 28, 2010 12:02 AM IST First published on: Aug 28, 2010 at 12:02 AM IST

Land & water

n Almost every problem in India today is linked to land. But the problem is exacerbated by more issues. First,population explosion. We shall add another 300-400 million people in the next four decades. Pressure on land will increase exponentially. Second,there’ll be few job opportunities in villages and small towns. This will cause massive migrations to big

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cities. Along with land,there’ll be another big problem: water.

— Surajit Som

Dwarka

Dreams of calm

n Scenes of stone-pelting youth taking on security personnel and the police on the streets is an indication of the disappointment and disenchantment of the younger generation in Kashmir towards various proposals that promise to bring back normalcy to the Valley (‘With folded hands,Farooq raises autonomy demand’,IE,August 27). The “Paradise on Earth” has virtually turned into a hellish quagmire with the beauty and serenity of the region in shambles. Considering our penchant for holding our neighbours responsible for all the unrest in the Valley,it needs to be said that new forms of protest emerging in Kashmir demonstrate the resentment of the youth against the cold-shouldering of their problems by

the establishment.

Though there were insinuations about Pakistan-trained militants mixing with the crowd to spread unrest,very evidently this was the youth force coming to the fore and exhibiting its anger in no uncertain terms. It’s rightly said that normal life in Kashmir is not normal as it is in any other part of

the country.

Colonial babus

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This refers to the editorial ‘Academic raj’ (IE,August 26). It’s unfortunate that remnants of the worst of a colonial mindset still rules our 21st century bureaucracy. They have,in this day and age,neither developed lateral thinking nor have they been compelled to do so. The case of Vishwanathan Anand,although since “cleared”,

another travesty of bureaucratic rectitude. The babudom have never been tamed by their handlers and Kapil Sibal’s tame apology only highlights this.

— R. Narayanan

Ghaziabad

Grounded

It’s painful that one party’s embarrassment turns into a God-sent opportunity for all others (‘Landed in a mess’,IE,August 26). Instead of setting the policy and long-term strategy for economic growth,the political leadership fails to resist the temptation of extracting short-term political mileage. This has led to an unnecessary farmers’ agitation in UP. Every political party is attempting to show sympathy to the farmers but none has tried to serve their interests.

— Ved Guliani

Hisar

Colour of terror

Some Hindu extremists have bit the bait dangled by Islamist terrorists and retaliated with “counter-terrorism”,which will only help destabilise the country. P. Chidambaram has rightly termed it as “Saffron terror”.

— S. Rajagopalan

Chennai