The Hindu : Misguided

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 09, 2002

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Misguided

Sir, — I was appalled by the article `Godhra: a strategic perspective' (Open Page, April 2) by Lt. Gen. R. Narasimhan, in which he blames Islamabad for the Godhra incident. He also denigrates journalists, media personnel and social activists who, according to him, have been unmindful of the strategic positioning of the Army along the borders in a tactical response to the December 13 attack on Parliament. His comparison of the September 11 attack in the U.S. with the December 13 attack, and the strategic engagement in Afghanistan by the U.S. Government as an example to goad Indian action against Pakistan is clearly misguided.

No comparison of the heinous events can ignore two cardinal facts. One, India is not the U.S. and Pakistan is not Afghanistan. Secondly, in the wake of the WTC bombings, the U.S. President made it clear that innocent Muslims would not be allowed to be targeted. There has been no attempt by our Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, to take such an unequivocal stand and defend innocent Muslims.

Mushtaqh Ali,
Chennai

* * * Sir, — The article `Patel vs. Gandhi?' (April 6): Rajmohan Gandhi has said that the conspiracy to kill Mahatma Gandhi was hatched before he undertook a fast to press the Indian Government to release Rs. 55 crores to Pakistan. Does he have any proof? He claims that the Hindu organisations have rewritten history in this regard to suit them, but even Manohar Malgaonkar in his book `The men who killed Gandhi' says that the plot was hatched after Gandhi's decision to go on fast.

Jaideep Kulkarni,
Ohio, U.S.

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