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

Pakistan is no friend of the US

The editorial “ISI hand, Taliban glove: Pakistan ‘fights’ as well as backs terror” (July 28) aptly analysed Pakistan as one of the largest exporters of terror. The US has also reached a similar conclusion but fights shy of admitting this publicly for “strategic” reasons. The release of 91,000 secret documents about the war in Afghanistan by WikiLeaks has turned out to be a classic media bang. It showed a spectacular breach of security and devastating revelations, especially about Pakistan’s clandestine support for the Taliban. Indeed, the actual situation on the ground is worse than the secret documents describe.

As Pakistan is using the US aid to fight the US Army, the US has been funding, albeit indirectly, those who have been killing American soldiers. It is strange that despite full knowledge of its aid being used for propping up America’s enemies in Afghanistan, the Obama Administration agreed not to monitor either how the billions of dollars it has committed are spent or how the military hardware it has been shipping to Pakistan is being used.

Is it the White House’s considered decision to ignore such gross violation of American laws that enable military and civilian aid for Pakistan in pursuit of some unknown goal? Or is it mere naïveté that drives this flawed policy?

Interestingly, Islamabad has been breathing fire and brimstone ever since the documents were made public. That’s a strange line to adopt in the face of such damning revelations. It is for the US to repudiate this suggestion and do so without any ambiguity. If it does not do so, it would be perfectly in order to assume that a cynical US Administration has been using Americans as cannon fodder in a sham war whose real purpose is not to crush the Taliban and eliminate Al-Qaeda but enable Pakistan’s brutal conquest of Afghanistan.

The editorial has rightly advised that what the US should bear in mind is that unfaithful friends are worse than an enemy. Pakistan’s double game has gone on for far too long. The sooner the US breaks this dubious alliance, the better it would be for the American soldiers, who are dying because their ally is also their worst enemy. 

DILBAG RAI, Chandigarh

People’s victory

The editorial “Pyrrhic victory” (July 31) was timely. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti on the forefront of statehood movement, made a clean sweep, winning all 11 seats it contested. The people have reposed their confidence in favour of the TRS as the by-elections were caused by resignation of the sitting members in protest for the formation of separate Telangana state. This victory should clearly be considered as a verdict against the flip-flop policy of the UPA over the statehood issue.

It is certainly the victory of the people of Telangana. It has further proved beyond any iota of doubt that no government should or could defy strong public opinion expressed through the ballot as has been done by the Telangana people.

Since the people of Telangana who have been fighting for a separate state has given their mandate, Justice Srikrishna Committee which was formed in the wake of agitation may also take note of the public mood while giving its recommendations. At the same time, the TRS should also wait for the report calmly and patiently till the time this committee submits its report.

  S K KHOSLA, Chandigarh

Make RTE work

The Right to Education Act provided with necessary funds by the Centre and states will surely go a long way in its proper implementation (editorial, “Right to education”, July 31). States like Punjab had enacted the Punjab Primary education Act. Since the Act had no teeth, it ended in a fiasco.

Many good plans do not succeed for want of dedicated persons implementing it. The role of monitoring and supervision cannot be relegated to the background. The provision of mid-day meal as implemented by the Centre at the elementary level will certainly go a long way in making the RTE effective.

Now, it becomes the onerous duty of the states to implement this Act in an earnest manner. Let us ignore the past and pay full attention to the future. In short education is the chief armour of a nation. Let us strive to make this country strong in every aspect.

SHYAM SUNDER AIRI, Kapurthala

Bard of all times

It is heartening to know that, at last, the great Punjabi poet, the late Shiv Kumar Batalvi, has been recognised by the Government of Punjab for his immense contribution to Punjabi poetry (editorial, “The legend lives on: Shiv Batalvi’s appeal undiminished” and news report, “Batalvi memorial to be turned into modern auditorium”, July 31).

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal’s announcement that the Shiv Kumar Batalvi Cultural Centre in Batala, now in a dilapidated condition, would be turned into a state-of-the-art auditorium within a year is most welcome. It remains to be seen that he keeps his promise. Though Shiv Batalvi died young, his poetry lives on and will never die.

His epic work, Loonan, which won him the Sahitya Akademi Award, is certainly one of the greatest works of Punjabi literature. It’s a must-read for those 
who indulge in honour killings.

R K KAPOOR, Chandigarh

Factually incorrect: Shrine Board This has reference to Lt-Gen (retd) S.K. Sinha’s article, “Not the Centre’s agent” (The Tribune, July 30). In the process of making certain assertions about the Mufti government and whoever else he has in mind, the learned General has gone to the extent of stating, inter alia, that “the government … even dissolved the Amarnath Shrine Board” and that after three months “counter-agitation in Jammu … the government was forced to restore the status quo ante”. The entity of the Shrine Board has never been challenged, much less dissolved, at any time since its establishment. We regret that the author has chosen to make a factually incorrect statement which has the potential of vitiating the already surcharged environment in J&K. R.K. Goyal, IAS,  Principal Secretary to Governor  and Chief Executive Officer, Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, Srinagar