M A I L B A G

Sonia has shown grace

By declining a clear opportunity for installation to the highest office any Indian can ever aspire for, Mrs Sonia Gandhi has put herself in the league of Mahatma Gandhi; way ahead of many other statesmen this great country has produced from time to time.

Her choice for reposing faith in Dr Manmohan Singh as the leader of the CPP and UPA for his outstanding calibre and intellect has also openly demonstrated her secular credentials, much the way Indira Gandhi exhibited these virtues in choosing Giani Zail Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee in choosing Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as President.

TEJINDER SINGH BEDI, Noida

II

Mrs Sonia Gandhi, in turning down Prime Ministership, has shown amazing grace which should be a lesson for our power-hungry politicians of Indian origin. Old-timers are occasionally found to say that they were much happier in corruption-free British regime than under the corrupt Indian rulers.

Likewise, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, a woman of foreign origin, is far more admired than corrupt politicians of Indian origin. Sonia has proved to be the real follower of Hindutva by adopting real ideals, unlike leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who have sidelined all principles of this great country through their indecent attack on a woman who adopted Indian traditions and became an ideal Indian bride.

MADHU AGARWAL, Delhi

III

The political sacrifice of Mrs Sonia Gandhi is truly Gandhian. It has turned her into a stateswoman and the BJP and co. into shallow political whiners. In one stroke, she has ended Mr Vajpayee’s aura. Her sacrifice makes her more Indian than these “small” men and women of the NDA, who seem to be from a different planet. The NRIs all over the world are embarrassed by the acts of the BJP leaders and proud of Mrs Sonia Gandhi and the new Prime Minister.

PARMINDER SINGH, Canada

Fake killings

This refers to your report on the fake killings (May 11). The fake “encounter killings” by the Army at Siachen are most shameful.

The sordid plan seems to have been hatched at the highest level of the battalion, in connivance with some elements from all ranks and the rest could not have remained unaware of the happenings in the unit. All ranks are tainted to varying degrees as the act of “Inaction or Silence” is wrong.

To set an example, I propose the entire battalion be disbanded and those who were directly involved be made to catch the first available train home, and their personal accounts be settled in their absence while they remain at home. In the Army, it is not so much the severity of punishment that’s effective, it is the speed with which justice is administered and the guilty are punished that counts.

Lt Col DALIP SINGH (retd), Ludhiana

II

We retired defence officers find it hard to believe that such a sordid drama lasting five months could have been enacted surreptitiously by some Army officers. It is a horrendously shameful act.

In war, many brave soldiers who amply deserve gallantry awards die without their heroic deeds being witnessed. On the other hand, some are lucky in obtaining copious citations for exemplary deeds, making them eligible for one or the other gallantry award. However, scepticism should not be allowed to lower the prestige of our gallantry awards.

Brig H. S. CHANDEL (retd), Malanger, HP

Power for farmers

While in Andhra Pradesh the newly elected Congress Chief Minister has announced free power for farmers, the Congress party has imposed power tariff in spite of its promise to continue with the situation that existed earlier. The promise was made on the eve of the last state Assembly elections in Punjab.

This is sheer opportunism and adopting different yardsticks for different states by the same party to suit its own convenience.

M.P.S. RANDHAWA, Numberdar, Dhapai, Kapurthala

No log tables

In the CBSE-PMT (final) examination held on May 16, some questions were to be solved with the aid of log tables. Nobody supplied these at the examination centres.

SHIVRAJ GOYAL, Jind