Opinion No lesson yet

It was disgraceful when Shibu Soren and other MPs of his party sold their Lok Sabha votes to save the Narasimha Rao government...

January 12, 2009 02:43 AM IST First published on: Jan 12, 2009 at 02:43 AM IST

 This refers to the editorial,(Lesson for Guruji,IE,January 9). It was disgraceful when Shibu Soren and other MPs of his party sold their Lok Sabha votes to save the Narasimha Rao government. As a Union minister in the UPA government,he dodged the law by going underground to evade arrest. He used all sorts of tactics to continue as Union minister even after his conviction but had to resign ultimately. He managed a re-induction taking advantage of the weakness of the UPAs numbers in the House. He became Jharkhands chief minister by manipulating independent MLAs. Even after his defeat,he didnt resign immediately from the CMs post. So wheres the lesson learnt?

M.C. Joshi

Lucknow

Which offensive?

n EVEN as the so-called diplomatic offensive by India is under way,Pakistan continues its policy of bleeding India with a thousand cuts. This is evident from the deep incursion that the Pakistan-based militant groups have made in the Poonch sector in Jammu and Kashmir. The magnitude of the incursion is reflected by the fact that the militants have been giving a tough fight to the Indian army for more than a week now. Despite its several decades of experience in dealing with Pak-sponsored terrorism,India continues to hope that Pakistan will act on its promises. This expectation will prove suicidal the day jihadis and the Taliban acquire nuclear weapons. It is time to think afresh and act decisively.

Amit Pradhan

Baroda

 IN his interview by Shekhar Gupta,Home Minister P. Chidambaram (Walk the Talk,January 5),said that India has set up the NIA,and mounted a major diplomatic offensive against Pakistan. Why are we frittering away time expecting Pakistan to come round to the fact that it has allowed the terrorists to set up camps on its soil? Pakistan will never see eye to eye with Indias demand of handing over the wanted terrorists. Chidambarams replies in regard to the course of action seem frivolous,because the Pakistan administration will not respond to Indias terms and demands. Therefore,the only way out is to root out cross-boarder terrorism through well-thought-out military action against the country.

Sumant Sitaram Patil

Mumbai

Unwell with oil

 A COUPLE of days of the strike of oil company officers have shown us how fragile our energy front is. Yet there does not seem to be any urgency in expanding our electricity generation capacity or finding and seriously utilising alternative energy sources. Most such plans are still vague and seem to have fizzled out on cost-pricing inequity. The subsidy regime and tax policy on petroleum products encourage consumption. No advantage seems to have been taken of the nuclear deal,which was signed after so much tussle. Oil company officers strike should at least alert the government to the dangers of the eventuality of oil-producing countries suddenly stopping supplies.

Sadashiv S. Apte

Pune

# letters