Opinion Losing the gains
In Winning 1971 again,Shekhar Gupta has rightly endorsed the view of C
Losing the gains
* In Winning 1971 again (IE,December 17),Shekhar Gupta has rightly endorsed the view of C. Raja Mohan that the strategic gains from the war were limited,as the Pakistani military no longer had a faraway east to defend and could concentrate their forces on the west. Without Indian military intervention,East Pakistan would have sapped the resources of West Pakistan in an unwinnable war.
R.R.N. Prasad,Gurgaon
* Winning 1971 again is a commendable attempt at examining the pros and cons of our foreign policy post Bangladeshs war of independence. True,it was a great victory for us,or so it seemed then,but later,events turned it into a pyrrhic victory as we failed to consolidate our gains in geo-economic terms. This was the main reason for our lost decade.
Yunus Chitalwala,Dhoraji
Grain of thought
* This refers to Cabinet clears Food Security Bill (IE,December 19). Subsidy,which should have been a short-term measure,has not only been made permanent but is expanding,mainly due to electoral considerations,without any concern for the countrys fiscal health. Keeping almost half of its population permanently on subsidised food must certainly not be the way forward for a country aspiring to become an economic power. Genuine ways must be found to improve the economic conditions of the targeted population.
M.C. Joshi,Lucknow
Industry interface
* Apropos the edit Where are the skilled? (IE,December 19),the outcome of the Youth Employability Skill project in the Northeast and the Himayat programme in Kashmir is indeed heartening,to say the least. Whats required now is a deeper involvement of India Inc and state governments to map what skills are needed by the former. Only then will the number of those who are unemployable come down.
Bal Govind,Noida
Wrongly billed
* Tavleen Singh says that the Lokpal,instead of reducing corruption,will end up raising the price for official transactions and even slow these transactions down to a standstill (Legally obsessed,IE,December 18). But Team Anna is aware of it. They also know their version of the Lokpal bill will not be accepted in toto,as no government will risk the creation of such a parallel,all-powerful authority. This will give them another opportunity to taunt the government for its failure in fighting corruption.
Satwant S. Kalkat,Ludhiana
Write on
* The media should be commended for its extensive laudatory coverage of Christopher Hitchens. It has educated those of us not familiar with his work. We are sure that in future the media will give a fraction of this attention when a writer in an Indian language passes away.
Anil Bagarka,Mumbai
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