* This refers to Know your tormentor by Khaled Ahmed (IE,October 18). It is heartening to note that Pakistan has journalists of the calibre and moral courage of Khaled Ahmed. His articles are brutally honest and in writing them,he is risking his life in order to expose the duplicity and two-facedness of Pakistani politicians. By treating the Taliban,Lashkar-e-Toiba,Jaish-e-Mohammed,etc as strategic assets meant to be deployed against India,Pakistan is in fact sowing the seeds of its own destruction. I hope Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is reading Ahmeds pieces and taking his advice seriously. Pakistan must realise that the main challenge to its existence is from its own lawless state actors and not from either the US or India.
R.R.N. Prasad
Gurgaon
Sensitive visits
* The editorial Difficult partners (IE,October 21) has rightly stressed the importance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs visit to Russia and China two countries whose relations with India are of great significance on both the domestic as well as international fronts. Indias nuclear liability law is proving to be a major obstacle to finalising the deal with Russia for the provision of two reactors for the Kudankulam plant. Singh should certainly try to smooth out and clarify any differences between the two countries on this issue. The PM should use his visit to China as an opportunity to work out the differences over the India-China border,visa regimes and military incursions.
Ganapathi Bhat
Akola
Theory and practice
* This refers to In custody (IE,October 16). I entirely subscribe to the views expressed in the editorial. The Supreme Court had laid down that bail should be the rule and jail the exception. Unfortunately,it seems to be the other way round in practice. It is abominable that people remain in jail as under-trials for periods of time longer than the maximum jail time for the offence for which they have been charged. This is the case for several poor people who have limited legal literacy and resources to hire lawyers. Legal systems in civilised societies are geared towards ensuring that no innocent person is unfairly punished,even if this means that some guilty people fall through the cracks and get away.
Manish Sharma
Jamnagar
Blame game
* This refers to The Muslim question by Meghnad Desai (IE,October 20). The Congress has managed to keep Muslims poor and backward all these years since Independence to leave them vulnerable and exploit them as a vote bank.
S.V. Paradkar
Nashik
