M A I L B A G

Deal with terrorists ruthlessly

IN the editorial “A barbaric act” (March 22), it has been rightly remarked that the massacre of 35 Sikhs in Chatti Singhpura village of Anantnag district makes the brutal designs of Pakistani rulers clear.

The votaries of violence have transformed the valley, known for its secular democracy and cultural harmony, into a killing field.

So far, the Pakistan-supported terrorists had been slaughtering Hindus. Now Sikhs have also become targets. The fierce campaign of ethnic cleansing has already forced lakhs of Pandits to leave their homes. Equipped with sophisticated arms, the terrorists have stepped up their attacks even on Army camps killing security personnel.

The Pakistan-trained terrorists have shed more innocent blood in Kashmir than Pharaoh had shed in Egypt. Enough is enough. Islamabad should be sternly told to desist from interfering in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistani troops, triggering flare ups along the Line of Control, and terrorists indulging in bloodshed, should be ruthlessly dealt with.

BHAGWAN SINGH
Qadian

Pin responsibility: Innocent civilians in Kashmir are killed at regular intervals, the latest being the killing of 35 Sikhs in Chatti Singhpura. Terrorists move about in large groups in military uniform and kill at will. They have now begun to target even military stations.

Who will take responsibility for the ongoing violence? It is time the inefficient and unprofessional military commanders are replaced and held responsible for their failures.

Militancy in Kashmir needs to be fought by a mature and sympathetic leadership. The Rashtriya Rifles should be revamped to include commanders from all arms of the defence services who can give the fight against terrorists a fresh direction.

DIWAN CHAND THAKUR

Divert Chenab water: While condemning the massacre of 35 Sikhs in Kashmir, Prime Minister Vajpayee has stated that “India has the means and the will to eliminate the menace of cross-border terrorism....”

I want to point out that we have forgotten, and perhaps so has Pakistan, that we possess a very powerful weapon in our armoury for fighting this menace — the rivers that flow into Pakistan — we should rescind the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, and divert the water of the Chenab into the Ravi by means of a tunnel somewhere in Himachal Pradesh and thus paralyse the canals in Pakistan. We should not feel guilty because Pakistan violated the Simla Accord of 1972 by intruding into Kargil and continues to do so by sending in terrorists even now.

The construction of this tunnel would be a bloodless activity, which would be carried out entirely on Indian soil.

The news of its construction is bound to create a storm in Pakistan and rattle its military regime. The blood of these Sikhs would not go in vain if we do adopt a pro-active policy against cross-border terrorism by at least deciding to start the construction of the proposed tunnel on a war-footing.

S.P. MALHOTRA
Panchkula

Shame on Indo-Pak parity backers: The murder of 35 innocent Sikhs in Kashmir is the latest in a series of religious cleansing by Islamic terrorists in Kashmir, which has been going on for more than a decade.

More than 300,000 Kashmiri Hindus have been killed or forced out of their ancestral homes at gunpoint by the Pakistani-backed terrorists. Anybody who supports a balance between the terrorist state of Pakistan and democratic India should be ashamed. Shame on those who hide under the banner of realpolitik and turn a blind eye to the devastation caused by terrorists. No amount of nuclear weapons will save the evil from the wrath of the righteous.

MAC KHER
bloomington, IL. (USA)

Going the League of Nations way?

America’s insistence on India signing the CTBT is strange. Its own Senate has rejected a similar initiative interestingly after World War I the League of Nations was formed with untiring efforts of the then US President Woodrow Wilson. Moreover, American membership was rejected by the US Senate. Though other nations joined it, the USA could not. And so, the League just faded away. The CTBT could meet the same fate.

However, even if the NPT and CTBT are signed and ratified by all, and nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction remain confined to the P-5 only, where is the guarantee that mutual fear and distrust among them (for instance between Russia and China on one side and western powers on the other) may not push the world to a horribly devastating nuclear and space war?

Is Mr Clinton listening?

B.N. KOHLI
Faridabad

Touching gesture

President Clinton on his visit to India has touched the hearts of Indians all over by agreeing to meet Rachna, the widow of Rupin Katyal who was killed during the hijack of the Indian Airlines plane to Afghanistan.

Rupin and Rachna Katyal were married for just 19 days, when Islamic terrorists killed Rupin in cold blood. Rachna, just 20, has yet to come out of the shock.

President Clinton has termed his meeting with Rupin Katyal’s aged father, and his widow, as “humanitarian” with the USA and India both at the receiving ends of Islamic terrorism whether financed by Osama bin Laden, or Pakistan’s ISI, there is need to address this issue more effectively.

VISHAL SHARMA
Mumbai