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

Army’s image must not be tarnished

The news report “Antony orders court martial of 
Lt-Gen” (Jan 28) and the editorial “Fallen Generals” (Jan 29) aptly reflected concern over the involvement of senior generals in the land scam and discriminatory action initiated against them by General Deepak Kapoor. In fact, the Defence Minister’s advice is timely and unprecedented.

Apparently action taken by General Kapoor was not justifiable. Undoubtedly, he was soft on Military Secretary Lt-Gen Awadesh Prakash. The dispensation of justice should not be swayed by any consideration. Only exemplary action against those found guilty would set our house in order and save the image of the Army from such aberrations in future.

Capt. S K DATTA, Abohar

II

The most important prerequisite of good governance is its ability to ensure equitable justice and corresponding punishment to anyone who violates the law of the land. It is in this light that the stand taken by the present government, including the Defence Minister, shows double standards being adopted for the Army and bureaucrats, police officers and, last but not the least, their own brethren in political life.

S S SAXENA, Greater Noida

III

The intervention by the Defence Minister deserves appreciation by all those who wish to maintain the clean and respectable image of the Indian defence forces.

Though in defence circles the intervention by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is usually resented, still such interventions do keep the defence forces on its toes and keeps them on the right path. I hope this intervention by the MoD serves its purpose and deters senior officers from misusing their authority.

Brig VK SHARMA,( retd), Sydney, Australia

Ellenabad by-election

The editorial “INLD victory” (Jan 25) has analytically highlighted the outcome of Ellenabad by-election in which the electorate clearly indicated their choice. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s calculations have been proved wrong for the second time. The editorial has aptly concluded that as for as money and muscle power was concerned both parties were virtually even. Though it was a contest between Mr Abhey Singh Chautala and Mr Bharat Singh Beniwal the battle turned out to be proxy war between the Chief Minister Hooda and his predecessor OP Chautala. Anyway, it was an interesting match between the two heavyweights and full of suspense.

HARBANS SINGH, Amabala Cantt

Towards polio-free India The editorial “Eradicating polio”(Jan 12) has rightly expressed that polio- free India is not an impossible goal. It was Rotary International which conceived the idea of eradicating polio in 1980’s after its successful project for immunisation of six million children against polio in Philippines. Enthused by the success of this project, Rotary made a historic decision in the year 1985 to immunise all the world’s children against polio. Rotary’s commitment was so significant that in the year 1988 Rotary involved WHO, UNICEF and USCDC in Polio Eradication Initiative. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, recognising Rotary’s resolve to eradicate polio and its extensive volunteer network, awarded Rotary a US $355 million matching grant and in return Rotary is committed to raising a US $200 million by the end of June 2012. But we must recognise that our greatest enemy is complacency. We cannot slacken our efforts because as long as there is a polio virus anywhere in the world the disease can easily spread again. SUBHASH C NARANG, Karnal