Let’s meet in jail

Lust for money has not died down in offenders even after earlier such verdicts as in the Chautalas’ case (editorial ‘Chautala hits a wall’, January 17). Their only solace and comfort is the presence of their own fellow brethren in jails. They seem to welcome and greet them with the following Urdu couplet "Aao undaleeb mil ke kare aahozarian, tum pukaaro haye gul, hum pukaare haye dil" (o singing bird/nightingale, let us jointly weep and wail for our cherished things which we cannot find here). Lord Krishna sermonised to Arjun that defamation of a warrior or politician for all practical purposes is political death. Imprisonment of more than two years will debar the Chautalas from contesting elections. I pity the lot of 54 junior officers who in order to show their extreme loyalty to the minister obliged their seniors by appending their signatures on fake and forged documents.

SHYAM SUNDER AIRI, Kapurthala

II

Om Prakash Chautala has, at last, met his nemesis. So brazenly and unabashedly did he plunge himself and his ilk into the cesspool of corruption and graft that good governance would be put to shame. Equally reprehensible is the cowardly admission of one of the accused IAS officers who said he did what he was told to do without applying his mind in sifting wrong from the right.

The Chautalas used all the loopholes in the legal system to continue to stay in the legislature one way or the other. It is high time that people’s act of representation and the Constitution of India are visited again.

Maj BALDEV SINGH, Ambala Cantt

Unwritten rules

TV Rajeswar’s article ‘Atrocities against women’ (January 18) though highlights much of women predicament and suggests measures to control or minimise the menace. Yet, the basic issues remain unaddressed.

Why women, who constitute half the population, are vulnerable to physical, mental and social torture and how over time immemorial, our society has sustained male domination over women?

No written law has ever been more binding on us than unwritten customs supported by popular opinion. Hence such opinions are required to be generated among masses by launching public sensitisation campaigns.

BR DHIMAN, Hamirpur (HP)

Lowering morale

The families of slain soldiers would have rather preferred to see India retaliate at the enemy sending a strong message. But our politicians feel that a small compensation and VIPs’ visits to their homes complete the formality.

Moreover, how will our inaction affect the morale of other soldiers? A soldier will happily give up his life for his motherland, at that moment he is not thinking about the Rs 20, 00,000 award or anything else. When a soldier witnesses that the government’s response is limited to a corporate styled diplomacy, what motivation will he have to deliver?

HARI SINGH, Florida (US)

II

Pakistan has repeatedly violated the Tashkent Agreement, the Simla Agreement, the Ceasefire Agreement and the Geneva Convention in one form or the other. Despite knowing that terrorism in J&K is sponsored by Pakistan, India has responded meekly to violations and provocative actions by Pakistan.

The communal colour given to violence and militancy in Kashmir impelled thousands of Hindus and Kashmiri Pandits to leave Kashmir. Political neglect might lead to escalation of hostilities. Diplomatic statements and dialogues have proved an exercise in futility. Now is the time, the government should give a befitting reply to Pakistan.