M A I L B A G

BJP to play Jammu card

APROPOS the incisive news analysis “BJP to play Jammu card again” (April 15) that covers two striking points, viz., the BJP is to “oppose the ‘pro-terrorist’ healing touch policy of the CM” and that it is “seeking a ‘definite political instrument’ invested with legislative, executive and financial powers for the Jammu region”.

One wonders why instead of opposing the Congress for its anti-Jammu stand, the BJP is opposing Mufti Sayeed’s party that has not gained ground in Jammu so far. The BJP’s influence is in Jammu and the Mufti’s in Kashmir only. There were gruesome and brutal killings of Hindus and Gujjars in Jammu province during the National Conference (NC) reign. The militancy gained strength with the NC’s connivance from 1987 onwards when Dr Farooq Abdullah was seething with rage for having been dethroned with the engineered defections by Rajiv Gandhi. Both these parties were instrumental in sniping at the Jammuites earlier to shift J&K’s capital from Jammu to Srinagar.

Just a fortnight ago the NC President, Mr Omar Abdullah, went on record again to underline that the only and correct solution to the continuing Kashmir problem was greater autonomy and that for peace within the state, it was imperative to restore the 1953 position, constitutionally. As the Mufti is sincerely distributing relief among the displaced persons from the Jammu borders, opposing him may prove counter-productive. The Mufti is an old hand in politics. He can turn the tables on the BJP, the NC and the Congress in Jammu.

SUNDER SHARMA, Jammu

Where eves teased Adams! APROPOS the write-up “Where eves teased Adams!” (April 11) by Gopal Kaith, the “being a Bedian” factor is least responsible for the snobbish and arrogant behaviour of his certain female batchmates. It is more because of the way an individual has been groomed and the values have been imbibed since childhood. Peer pressure and peer influence is also one of the main factors responsible for such behaviour. However, it will be a grave mistake to generalise the Bedian character on the basis of a stray instance. St Bede’s is well known as a prestigious institution, which has been doing a commendable job since 1904 of turning shy, hesitant girls into smart, confident young ladies. Besides providing quality education, it has been teaching humility and respect for others. We are proud to be a part of this institution. The writer has appropriately remarked that no one has a right to under-rate others and to have fun at the cost of others.... But doesn’t it ring a bell? Isn’t the understone of the write-up contradictory? In a concealed manner he has tried to scathe the image of the institution. The writer appears to be piqued at “Adam teasing” as if this, instead of eve-teasing, is the real problem. Is eve-teasing an acceptable thing? Or the “Adam teasing”, being an unusual and rare happening, has to get special mention even though it happened a quarter century back? Shouldn’t we be focussing more on the ever-prevalent problem of eve-teasing and the horrid dimensions it has acquired. SHILPA SHARMA, NAMTA KANWAR & POOJA VAIDYA, St Bede’s College, Shimla

Barog bypass

The Barog bypass from Kumarhatti to Solan on the Kalka-Shimla road (part of NH-22) has been under construction for 16 years. So far the government has spent about Rs 25 crore on this bypass. There is a dispute between the government and a local land owner regarding the alleged encroachment of his land by the P.W.D. and its payment. The Barog bypass road is almost complete except for this portion. The government should get the dispute settled at the earliest to save commuters from inconvenience.

JAGDISH CHANDER, Anji (Barog)

Why a moral posture?

With reference to the news item “woman cop paraded naked”, it is an alarming situation that cops have assumed the moralistic role to weed out love from the lives of romantic people. The government and the cops should not assume such moral posture and deprive people of romance outside wedlock.

RAJ KUMAR GOEL, Moga

Saddam tujhe salaam!

This is with reference to your editorial “Saddam is history” (April 11). Surely, every wall has two sides and I, for one, feel you have confined yourself to only the negative side of Saddam’s personality. Here’s the other half:

He never allowed Islamic fundamentalism to take roots in Iraq. Iraq remained secular, modern and socialist republic under him. Women enjoyed equality with men.

In the Gulf War II, he didn’t (a) set the key oil fields on fire (b) bombard Israel with missiles (c) use chemical weapons against the coalition (d) blow up dams on the Tigris to cause humanitarian disaster from flooding and (e) involve the coalition forces in messy urban warfare.

He commanded loyalty of the Iraqis for 24 years. He didn’t let sole superpower harm or hit him personality for over a decade.

“Saddam is history” may be true, as your title suggests, yet you would agree that his whereabouts are still a mystery. Finally, you can’t punish a person twice for the same crime!

K.J.S. AHLUWALIA, Amritsar