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Indian jawans are best
in the world K. Subramanyam’s article titled
“Gohar’s disclosures” (June 6) has a mention about Gohar’s assertion that Ayub Khan believed in the myth that the Pakistani soldier was better than the Indian soldier. It may be mentioned that Ayub Khan served in the undivided Indian army during World War II and therefore had seen the fine fighting qualities of non-Muslim soldiers. In his book titled ‘Friends not masters’, Ayub Khan while writing about the Indian debacle in the 1962 India-China war, writes that such debacle in the given circumstances could have happened to any army in the would. He further adds that the Indian soldiers are among the best fighting men in the world. Pakistani politicians or civilians believe such myths. V.P. MEHTA, |
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| II Defence Minister Pranab Mukherji’s statement that it is difficult to believe that an India Army Brigadier would divulge national secrets for money, is knave. Major Generals have done so in the past and have gone to jail after being court-martialed. His assertion that no single Brigadier would be privy to the total plan is also not correct. Lesser officers in the DGMO would know the overall plan of attack and defence. And there is no need for speculating whether the Brigadier is alive or dead; Gohar has said he is alive. What is required is not a cover-up operation or investigation with a preconceived result. There is nothing strange to have black sheep in a million-strong Army. However, if such misdeeds are suppressed and the culprits allowed to go scot-free, the Army will be the loser. Deterrent action alone will help Army preserve its integrity. N.
KUNJU, III The revelations of Gohar Ayub Khan, after 40 years, should be completely ignored as they are baseless and lacking in evidence. It is a cheap stunt to make his book popular. The Indian Army has proved that they are the best in the world and have made supreme sacrifices at the time of war and national crisis. We are proud of them and we hold our head high. So we should not investigate the matter as it has come from the enemy’s mouth. This has also brought shame to the Pakistani Army as, in spite of the information being leaked out, they could not win the war and lost miserably. S.P. SHARMA,
Advani is right BJP President L.K. Advani is right in saying that the creation of India and Pakistan was a reality. People have been dreaming and advocating the merger of India and Pakistan, citing the example of Germany. But they forget that India and Pakistan have been dissected on the basis of religion after much bloodshed. Today Pakistan is a hotbed of Islamic terrorism which is intolerant of other religions. Merger of Pakistan and India will only benefit the Muslims in the same way as the bus or train to Pakistan only suits the Muslims of both sides. So the RSS should realise that any so-called ‘Akhand Bharat’ would mean hastening the process of Akhand Pakistan. UDITA
AGRAWAL, II We should have the intellectual honesty to admit that Mohd Ali Jinnah had single-handedly outsmarted Gandhi, Nehru and their followers, made a success of the two-nation theory and gone on to achieve Pakistan. That is how he made history. Jinnah had firmly asserted that he was “a nationalist first, a nationalist second and a nationalist last.” But he was also an ambitious politician. When he came to realise that he would never get the top place in pre or post-independence India, he started working for Pakistan. He successfully exploited the religious sentiments and the British policy of ‘divide and rule’ to achieve that objective. Once Pakistan was created, he reverted to secularism and declared that in course of time “Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims.” Dr L.R. SHARMA, Indus II This has reference to B.G. Verghese’s two part article “Fuss over Indus — I & II”
(May 25 and 26). I share his concern for the Baltu people who will lose all their territory, culture and all if the Skardu Dam is built in NA by Pakistan. I also agree with him on a new Indus II treaty under the aegis of the UN. In this new treaty, clauses should be kept for the guarding of dams by UN troops on all the rivers and tributaries flowing into the Indus basin from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and China so that these reservoirs cannot be used as a weapon of war against peoples like the Balti, the Sikhs or even the Pakistanis. Tunneling of water from one river to the other must also be forbidden in the new treaty to maintain the ecological balance. The people of Punjab, on the one hand, live between two deadly nuclear armed India and Pakistan and, on the other, hydrology as a weapon of war could annihilate our entire civilisation. We need international guarantees for our continued survival. SIMRANJIT SINGH MANN, Many encroachments There seems to be no end to encroachments in and around BBMB colony at Sunder Nagar. It seems the officers concerned are not bothered. Apparently, there is a nexus between the land mafia and the officers. The authorities should look into the problem. PARVEEN KUMAR, Unique darbar Mr Darbara Singh Guru, Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Punjab held a unique darbar, first of its kind, at Sangrur recently. He honoured his old teachers, who had taught him from Classes I to X, with bouquets, mementos and tea. Recognising their services after 36 years shows his respect for his teachers and his devotion to duty and work. He also told his teachers: “I assure you that I will not do anything that would bring bad name to you.” LAKSHMAN SWARUP GUPTA, |
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