They are traitors: Mr Hari Jaisingh's article must be taken as the voice of those innocent people and the security forces personnel who have laid down their lives for the honour of the country. The burqa command to the brave women of Kashmir issued by a small section of the militants and inability of our coward and corrupt leaders to strike at the shelters of terrorists.

Mr Prime Minister, tell us, can any militant strike in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai or Hyderabad and UP without having a link for a safe shelter to strike at will. Please find out who are the real traitors? In fact, it is a well-established rule that the harbourers are more dangerous than the terrorists. Once you find out the traitors within the country, it would be easy to make the militants mauled down by our security forces or run away to Pakistan.

MULTAN SINGH PARIHAR & RAJINDER SINGH RANA, Hamirpur

Strike at camps: The NDA government must rise to the occasion and convince the USA about Pak-run terrorist camps, proof of which has already been given to them and explore the possibility to strike at these camps simultaneously when retaliation attacks on Afghanistan are being planned.

JAGDISH CHAND, Panchkula

Pak-support to USA: Pakistan has merely exported terrorism to Punjab, North-East and J&K over the years, but the western world remained totally insensitive, oblivious of the fact that a day might come when its on security could be trampled by bin Ladens and Musharrafs acting in tandem.

President Musharraf has agreed to give full support to the USA. But terrorism has the same face in J&K. Will General Musharraf realise the agony of India too? Will the USA goad the Pakistani military establishment to look to the path of sanity in dealing with India.

S. S. JAIN, Chandigarh

It's now or never: Mr Hari Jaisingh's front-page editorial "It's now or never" (Sept 13) was clear, crisp and forthright. President Bush's statement that his country will not spare the terrorists and those harbouring them is significant. Mr Vajpayee has offered total cooperation to take on the bin Ladens operating from Afghanistan. India has been hamstrung in meeting the terrorist onslaught because the moral, material and logistics support terrorism has been receiving from across the border.

How sad that despite a conclusive evidence of such support, the USA has so far been reluctant to act. This has, in turn, emboldened the Pakistanis to equate terrorism with a freedom struggle. Hopefully, the USA knows at least now the difference between a Mullah-ruled Talibanised Pakistan and a value-based secular India.

DURGA BHARDWAJ, Solan

Do it now: It is high time for us to strike hard at the various terrorist groups operating across the border and in J&K in the wake of the attack in the USA. If we don't do it now, it won't be for ever.

VIJYENDRA KUMAR PANDEY, Adampur Doaba (Jalandhar)

Incomplete list: The front-page editorial by Mr Hari Jaisingh was wonderful. But when he states "the American leaders have not covered themselves with glory when faced with similar heinous acts in the past as the hijacking of the Indian Airlines plane to Kandhar, the demolition of the Buddha statue in Afghanistan, the killing of innocent persons by Pakistan-sponsored Islamic terrorist groups in the Kashmir valley and beyond", he should have added the demolition of Akal Takht and Babri Masjid to the list. Then his exhortation to America to rise to the occasion would have looked more logical.

SATBIR SINGH, Mohali

Pakistan's plight: Now Pakistan will become an enemy of Taliban and a major source of terrorism will be wiped out forever. After gaining the support of America, Pakistan loses everything and is in a fix.

Pakistan and Afghanistan today have been caught in the web of their own misdeeds. India must make the best use of this opportunity in cooperation with America, which has also come in the dangerous net due to its own miscalculations.

UMED SINGH GULIA, Gohana

Bush's realisation: During the summit at Agra when Mr Vajpayee raised the issue of cross-border terrorism, the American leadership neither took our grievance seriously nor promised to counter the worsening situation created by inhuman acts of terrorists. Since now this tragedy has happened in America itself, Mr Bush has come to realise the gravity of this problem. Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches.