M A I L B A G

Behind General’s friendly smile

THIS has reference to Mr Hari Jaisingh’s article ‘‘A passage to Nankana Sahib: behind the General’s friendly smile’’ (Nov 17). The ‘‘Hate India’’ policy of Pakistani rulers is not going to pay that country any more. Pakistan has suffered defeat in all its previous wars against India — including men and material losses. Nor is it going to succeed in its evil designs —including proxy war — against India in the Kashmir Valley or elsewhere.

From Jinnah to General Musharraf, no ruler of Pakistan has given the right direction to that country. Everyone of them manoeuvred and exploited the people, situation and the national resources to their personal advantage. They have nothing to do with the modern day realities of the world. Hindus and Christians, the two minority religious communities in Pakistan, are receiving brutal treatment.

The author has rightly pointed out: ‘‘As for the people, it is necessary that the Hindu, Sikh and all other communities stand together and fight unitedly the communalisation of consciousness and politics.’’

Iqbal Singh
Bijhari (Hamirpur)

Religious route: General Musharraf is moving towards a realignment of the proxy war.

The religious route is only intended to activate ‘‘the Khalistan movement’’ through the gesture of allowing Sikhs to visit Nankana Sahib in Pakistan. Pakistan plans to create an environment in which people are motivated to become militants.

Umed Singh Gulia
Gohana

Jinnah not secular: It has become a fashion to say that Mr Jinnah was secular in his heart of hearts, and was never serious about Partition to create Pakistan.

He was not only serious to get Pakistan, but was also bent upon liquidating the entire Hindu and Sikh population from Pakistan and achieved it.

Even if we assume, that Mr Jinnah was secular and was repenting, how it is going to help us now?

Anand Prakash
Panchkula

Playing with fire: Mr Hari Jaisingh has rightly observed that Pak-military ruler General Musharraf is trying to open a new chapter in his proxy war via the religious route but he must keep it in mind that he is playing with fire.

Subhash C. Taneja
Rohtak

Pak can’t be trusted: General Musharraf’s proposal to connect the gurdwara of Kartarpur with the Indian territory through a corridor is really praiseworthy. But Pakistan cannot be trusted as she has betrayed India’s trust many times.

Actually Pakistan has some sinister motive behind the goody-goody, unexpected liberal move. The rulers there are hell bent on engineering subversive activities in Punjab by playing the Sikh card. However the Sikhs are wise enough to see through the nefarious designs of Pakistan.

Tarsem S. Bumrah
Batala

Reservation for Sikhs: Mr Hari Jaisingh, no where in his article, mentioned that there is reservation for Sikh minority community in Pakistan central Assembly, as well as in different state Assemblies.

Narinder Singh
Chandigarh

Foment trouble: Mr Hari Jaisingh has exposed the fundamentalism of almost all the past rulers of Pakistan.

But the aims and designs of the Islamabad rulers seem to be doubtful. Probably, they want to use the Sikh religion again to foment trouble in the most prosperous state of India.

Amarjit Singh Pabla
Nawanshahr

Blunder: The foundation of Pakistan is based on hatred and jealousy against India.

The atrocities on the Urdu-speaking people who migrated from India to Pakistan at the time of Partition is a testimony that Jinnah’s two-nation theory was a great blunder.

R. C. Sharma
Kurukshetra

Reforming education

This has reference to your editorial on “Reforming education” (November 16)

Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party grabbed power at the Centre with the support of secular but pragmatic allies, it had been trying to implement its “hidden agenda”. As you rightly point out, one area the party wants to saffronise is education. Your suggestion “to develop scientific temper” through education should be taken up by all our educationists who are genuinely interested in establishing communal harmony and fostering national integration. Let us vocationalise education so as to avoid class struggle and communal clashes among our people.

Cyriac Cherian
Jalandhar

Faith with reason

Mr Asgar Ali Engineer’s essay, “Harmonising faith with reason" (Nov 16) is a refreshing change from the usual media routines of reporting or analysing political skulduggery, corruption in high places and such other malfeasance.

His spirited advocacy of a meaningful life vis-a-vis successful life is sure to strike a sympathetic chord in the minds of all those who are weary of the rat-race of today’s workaday world which increasingly devalues values. Oscar Wilde described such a “successful” person as one who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.

Mr Engineer has drawn pointed attention to the unifying fact that the value systems of all religions (Eastern and Semitic) are complementary to one another. In other words, all strifes in the name of religion are absolutely meaningless.

Kangayam R. Rangaswamy
Wisconsin, USA

Celebrating what?

The nation celebrated Children’s Day on November 14. What was there for Chacha Nehru’s children to celebrate? Hardly anything.

Fifty three years into Independence and 6.3 crore Indian children are out of school. This despite the constitutional directive (Article 45) that the State shall provide free and compulsory education for all children of the age of 14 years within 10 years from the commencement of the Constitution — by 1960. But, shockingly, in 2000, 50 years after the commencement of the Constitution, the scenario is dismal.

S. S. Jain
Chandigarh

Wathora’s woes

This is in response to Ehsan Fazili’s news column “Village wakes up to see all lost” (Nov 15). I have full sympathy with the residents of Wathora for the loss of their homes and hearths, their property, their cattle and above all their sense of safety and security, for I have myself under gone similar trauma.

Ehsan writes “the militants have never come to this village in the past 12 years.” I am afraid he has not done his homework well. Wathora/Chadora is the infamous place where Mast Gul and Abu-Jindal with their army of terrorists set ablaze the holy shrine of Chrar-e-Sharif. And butchered a large number of Kashmiri Pandits living nearby. These events stand witness to the fact that these villages were a regular abode of militants till recent times and thus could not claim to be a clean and peaceful heaven.

Mohini Raina
Panchkula