II

The editorial, “Blasts again in Mumbai” (July 15), quite correctly underlines the soft nature of our State. Terrorist groups, be it Indian Mujahideen or Lashker-e-Toiba, have time and again demonstrated that they can strike at will. In recent years Mumbai has often been a target, as any terrorist attack here gets worldwide media attention.

Our country is a soft target because of our inefficient police. If somehow it manages to arrest a terrorist, our system is such that it takes decades before delivering a verdict, and finally even if a terrorist is given a capital punishment, our political leaders waste several years in deciding mercy petitions, all the time thinking about how much damage it will cause to their vote bank!

If terrorists like Afzal Guru are hanged within days of the present attack, it will send a strong message to the terrorists, and India will shed its image of a soft State. A terrorist has no religion. A person, who kills innocent citizens, has no right to live. Our Parliament should enact new laws to deal with terrorists so that they cannot benefit from the existing loopholes in our laws.

However, our political masters do not seem to have the will to take strong action against terrorists. No political leader except the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers of states should be given any special security. If the common people, whom they represent, are not safe, why should the public exchequer spend money on security and safety of political leaders?

ARUN HASTIR, Babehali (Gurdaspur)

III

Mumbaikars need to be applauded for keeping their cool despite becoming targets of repeated terrorist attacks (editorial, “Maximum restraint”, July 16).

The editorial says that the government has been very cautious while issuing statements pertaining to the incident. Since preliminary investigations have not revealed much, there is no need to point a finger at Pakistan. But Rahul Gandhi could have restrained himself from making irresponsible statements. As for Digvijay Singh, he cannot be stopped from making wild remarks.

BJP leader LK Advani should not have criticised the government at a time when the focus is on investigations. This is the time for the entire nation to support the police and investigators.

One will do well to let the city come to terms with the tragedy. We must show that we can defeat the terrorists.

The government should tell the nation what measures were taken after 26/11 to prevent such attacks. Why could we not prevent Wednesday’s attacks?

Besides the issue of corruption, we have to put pressure on the government to take firm steps to prevent terror attacks in future.

YOGESH SAXENA, Chandigarh

Rights violations

This refers to the editorial, “Domestic abuse: Stop sexual and physical violence against women” (July 18). Violence against women needs to be condemned by one and all.

In modern conflicts the nature of war has changed. Villages have become the battleground, splitting communities along racial, religious and ethnic lines. Most of the people who die in modern conflicts are not soldiers but civilians, and many of these are women. Violence against women by their partners is prevalent throughout the world.

Besides domestic abuse, other serious crimes like rape and female foeticide are showing an upward trend in India. India has already been declared the fourth dangerous place for women in the world. In fact, violence against women is not a myth but a reality.  Everyday the front pages of newspapers are full of incidents of violence in general and violence against women in particular.   Domestic violence is a violation of human rights and it is one of the major causes of lack of development of women in all fields.

No doubt, we have enacted laws to protect women against exploitation, but there has been no real progress.  Our planners and administrators should take a realistic view of the role of women in society. Everybody has to be proactive and only then violence against women can be curbed.

HARISH K MONGA, Ferozepur