PMO push on drugs

This refers to the news report “Drive against drugs on PMO's orders, says Kant” (June 6). The disclosure made by former Punjab Director-General of Police Shashi Kant that the SAD-BJP government initiated the drive only on the intervention of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is shocking.

The government is also accused of not taking action as there is an alleged involvement of big names in the case.

RK Kapoor, Chandigarh

Intolerant India

Recently, I read that India is ranked second among the most intolerant countries of the world. But it seems to be true. Somebody posted pictures of Balasaheb Thackeray and Shivaji, but the mob attacked two Muslim youths with sticks. While one of them died, the other is struggling for his life. I feel ashamed to be an Indian. Stringent punishment should be given to the culprits so that no one dares to do so in the future.

SATNAM SINGH, Pathankot

Zero tolerance

Apropos the “Violent clash at Akal Takht” (June 7), the reprehensible act reminds one of Jonathan Swift’s saying: “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another”. The turbans tossed there do pose a question. The aggressive attitude does not augur well for a peaceful society. If one has to have zero-tolerance, it should be for the ills that debilitate society and not for the voices that don’t please your ears.

Gurjot S Randhawa, Mandi Killianwali

No lessons learnt

Dinesh Kumar's article “Military Woes” (June 4) was an eyeopener for our military and defence preparations. It threw light on various shortcomings in our system. Such conditions of our forces remind one of the Indo-China war of 1962 when the then PM Jawaharlal Nehru was so confident of the ‘Panchsheel Policy’ that he did not think to prepare the Indian forces, which were mostly dependent on import for equipment and technology. As a result, India faced a humiliating defeat. Despite that, we have not learnt much and India is still far from being self-dependent in the production of arms and other defence equipment. Perhaps, our new government will take action in  this regard.

Sanjay Srivastava, Chandigarh

Safety in armed forces

Most of us feel that service in the armed forces is a bit risky. We have two hostile neighbouring countries and the Armymen also have to perform duties in disturbed areas in our homeland. Our Air Force has MiG-21s, which are notorious as ‘flying coffins’ and our submarines cause more casualties in the dock than sea war. These security issues should be of concern to the authorities.

Arun Hastir, Babehali (Gurdaspur)

Career at stake

Last year, when Delhi University commenced the B.Tech course, about 3000 of us joined it. But today, our career is at stake. We opted for it instead of an engineering college. it is the responsibility of the authorities to save our B. Tech programme. We have taken admission in DU for a B.Tech degree, not B.Sc degree. The UGC and DU should not play with our career.

Jigyasa Malik, via email

Set up more IITs

More IITs should be there, but with established standards. Failure or success in admissions is a matter of four or questions only. Many aspirants with great potential do not get the chance because of shortage  of IITs.

Varinder Kumar Goel, Chandigarh

Forest fires

In view of the summer season, there is need to constitute task forces to combat forest fires in Himachal Pardesh. Improved firefighting systems to deal with the phenomenon are required.

Special task forces should deployed to detect fires in thick forests. The services of nearby villagers should be taken.