L E T T E R S    T O    T H E    E D I T O R

No concern for energy security

HK. DUA’s front-page editorial, “PM need not cancel his flight to Tokyo now” (July 6) is timely. What a fall my countrymen! An important national issue concerning our future energy security has become “a football” for our politicians.

One can understand where the slippery among them, Shibu Soren, H.D. Deve Gowda and Ajit Singh stand. But what about the valiant Sikhs of the Akali Dal and the great Marathas of the Shiv Sena? And where is the ‘Kashmiriat’ of the Progressive Democratic Party and the National Conference? It is a shame that they do not express an independent view but go on making vague noises.

MUKUND B. KUNTE, New Delhi

Lt-Col H.S. GUR (retd), Hisar

III

One really good thing about the whole saga of Indo-US nuclear deal has been that, apart from the BJP, all the political parties in the forefront of the debate have remarkably stuck to their self-defined roles.

The Congress, which backed the deal from the beginning, is finally going ahead with it. The other UPA partners including the RJD, the NCP, the DMK are also quite consistent in backing the deal and the government.

The Left, which threatened to withdraw the support if the government went ahead with the deal, has indeed pulled the plug. And the SP, whose apparently sudden tie-up with the Congress may seem unprincipled, is actually also sticking to its anti-communal stand.

The BJP is the only party which has baffled the people by opposing the deal, a stand diametrically opposite to what it took being in previous NDA government.

However, the upcoming trust vote presents a great opportunity to the saffron party to re-establish its credibility. Given its pro-US policy, the BJP can actually facilitate the operationalisation of the deal by abstaining from the vote and letting the government stay. This would save the BJP from the embarrassment of joining hands with the Left against the US, and ensure an excellent relationship with the US in 2009, when the saffron party is hoping to gain power. Abstaining would also give BJP sufficient room to reiterate its reservations about the deal.

GAURAV DUA, Delhi

VI

The nuclear pact has divided the political theatre into two schools. The Congress-led UPA says, it is in the national interest while the Left says it is anti-national because it gives Americans an upper hand in the control of nuclear activities by India and also move India decisively into the American camp making it an instrument of US’ strategic interests.

No doubt, the Communists have tried their best to control the prices of diesel, petrol, gas, essential commodities, etc by pulling the strings of the UPA government and stood by in the hours of crisis. We should not forget it.

JAI GOPAL KUSLA, Ludhiana

VII

Mr Dua’s front-page editorial falls on the deaf ears of the Left and the weak ears of Dr Manmohan Singh. He has justified the historic deal in national interest. But the Left rejects it on its outdated ideological grounds and the Prime Minister is bidding his time at the Left’s whimsical bid.

What an irony! Mrs Sonia Gandhi is not ready to face the BJP and the Left simultaneously, because in people’s eyes the Congress is cadreless and a dynasty-ridden party.

Dr Manmohan Singh is an economic juggler. He is not a politician of ordinary run. Let him play his economic magic and contain the running high inflation. Even if the deal is finalised magically, it will take time for its operationalisation.

Prof HARI SINGH,  Kheri Jat (Jhajjar)