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

Preparing to meet quake, tsunami

The earthquake in Japan followed by tsunami and nuclear reactor mishap has shaken the world (news report, “Quake, tsunami tear through Japan” (Mar 12). Natural resources, the earth and environment are being excessively exploited. What happened in Japan can happen anywhere. Rather than taking remedial steps, the government, even the Prime Minister, is assuring people that there is no danger to India and no need to panic. The right way to caution people, especially in the costal areas, is to remain vigilant and make contingency and disaster management plans to deal with such a situation.

Global warming has adversely affected the environment, which can trigger off any disaster any time. Excessive reclamation of sea must be stopped. Releasing industrial and domestic toxic sewage in the sea too must be checked. There should be no construction zone along the seacoasts.

Capt AMAR JEET KUMAR, SAS Nagar

ANIL NANDA, Patiala

III

It was the biggest quake in Japan’s history that killed thousands of people. We should remember that no country, however advanced, can control natural disasters. But the impact of emissions, deforestation, urbanisation, cutting of mountains and trees, poaching of rare wild species all are creating ecological imbalance leading to these disasters. So, the need of the hour is to save the earth by maintaining the ecological balance.

KAMALJIT MALWA, Mansa

IV

The entire world is grieving over the tragedy that has struck the people of Japan due to the earthquake and tsunami. No doubt the industrious, competent and brave people of Japan will be able to bring the situation under control and take necessary action for the future.

During this tragedy one more area has invoked the concern of the mankind, which is nuclear power plants in Japan. Reports of meltdown and other accidents and explosions in some of these power plants have raised the most pertinent point that Japan, which is a highly seismic (earthquake prone) country, should not keep nuclear power plants on its soil. The radiations from any accident would be more dangerous because Japan is densely populated too.

HEM RAJ JAIN, Karauli

Tackle corruption

In the article “Corruption cripples inclusive growth” (Mar 10), Kewal Raj Dawar has done a wonderful job by providing a real picture of the Indian economy while dealing with the burning problems of India like exclusive development and corruption.

The Vice President of India’s observation quoted by the writer: “General thinking environment has become much polluted and honesty is considered incompatible with survival” is true, showing the rot that has set in the country.

None can disagree that inclusive and sustainable growth can take place in India only if corruption is eliminated. To stem the rot, recommendations made by the writer are not difficult to implement if the government is serious about it. Luckily for us we have a world-class economist as the Prime Minister who is also known for his honesty and integrity. Fixing of accountability, identifying the corrupt and meting out quick and stringent punishment to them will surely act as a deterrent for those who commit wrongs. A foolproof system must be evolved to check corruption.

Reward and punishment for the achievers and non-achievers respectively can go a long way in ensuring timely completion of the development projects.

ASWANT KAUR GILL, Jalandhar

Protect whistleblowers

Professor Rajeev Kumar is being harassed by top IIT chiefs for having exposed irregularities in JEE selections and the Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan urged HRD Minister Kapil Sibal for intervention in the matter (news report, “Protect IIT whistleblower, top SC lawyer urges Sibal”, Mar 11). Earlier, the CIC directed the West Bengal Police to give security to Professor Kumar.

It is important to restrain the administrative or academic chiefs of IIT, Kharagpur to put an end to the harassment and victimisation of the IIT professor. However, the solution lies in the speedy disposal of the PIL pending before the court in this matter.

Dr GURKIRPAL SINGH, Ludhiana

Extended hospitality To go when the going is good is, of course, a good strategy (editorial, “Timely retirement”, March 12) but here the story is a little different. The Dalai Lama’s 50-year long stay in India, in exile, has not been fruitful for Tibet. His people back home, especially the youth, are disillusioned. He himself is also unhappy. Had he not fled Tibet, he could have won freedom for his country long ago. Even if he was imprisoned, China could not have kept him in jail for long. One feels, he should revise his strategy and return to his homeland to be with his people. About the impact of the Tibetan issue on Sino-Indian relations, the fact is that the Tibetan government-in-exile is not recognised by any country, not even by India. But, India has given it a “de-facto” recognition by allowing it to function from the Indian soil for the past over 50 years. This is the biggest sore point in our relations with China. “Hindi-chini bhai bhai” era came to an abrupt end only after we gave asylum to the Dalai Lama. No powerful country, including the US, is ready to support the Dalai Lama against China. We have a lesson to learn from this. It is time to have a re-look on our thinking vis-à-vis the Dalai Lama. Why should we doggedly stick to our “honoured guest” policy and overstretch our hospitality to the detriment of our national interest? Wg-Cdr. C L SEHGAL (retd), Jalandhar