That Beant Singh’s killers tunneled their way out of jail is not only shocking but only shows how secure the “high security” Burail jail at Chandigarh really is. It will have to be investigated whether the Chandigarh jail staff did what they did for financial gain, or because they were “terrorised” by these terrorists. Now the prime duty of the jail authorities is to arrest all the the four dreaded terrorists and swiftly punish those who helped them escape. — Bidyut K. Chatterjee Faridabad •Was it not ridiculous to grade these criminals as B-class prisoners and to provide amenities to them that they used tactically to flee? Criminals will always be criminals, but what excuse do the authorities have? — B. Vinoth Raj New Delhi A new system, please • The prevailing political scenario leaves us in no doubt about the fate of India after the ensuing general elections. Needless to state, the plurality of the election system has always led to political bipolarity. Unfortunately, there’s not even much difference between the two parties. Unless India changes its electoral system, the BJP and Congress appear destined to be the only two survivors of this race for votes. The salvation of India lies in the proportional representation system of elections prevalent in Europe and many other parts of the world. Under this system, parties are allocated seats in proportion to the votes they get. In such a set-up no party in India can hope to get an absolute majority and that, itself, will act as a check on their negative influence on the polity. — Omar Luther King Delhi Congress’s kids • The media seem to be in the grip of curiosity over the emergence of Rahul and Priyanka on the electoral stage. All the Congress has, it seems, are the Gandhi children to promote itself. Yet both of them have, until today, not been active in any socially relevant activity, forget active politics! — Sangeeta On e-mail Need of the hour • In his excellent explanation of the real situation, Jagat S. Mehta has highlighted the need for the citizens of India and Pakistan to resolve the conflict that has kept the two nations from developing into major powers (‘The demand of a new century’, IE, January 22). The recent developments leading to the rise of a single superpower is a strong reason for India and Pakistan to bury their differences and work for a multilateral world as advocated by Jagat Mehta. — V.S. Pansal On e-mail What about Pandits? • The article, ‘Looking at 19 graves, a mother’s agenda for talks.’, IE, January 22) highlights the tragedy of the Kashmiri people. But to some it may look as if only the Muslims are suffering. You need to highlight the point of view of the Kashmiri Pandits and how militants drove them from the valley. If one takes into account the whole picture, then one will see that the reason for the current situation is that some Kashmiri Muslims had accommodated themselves to the agenda of the militants. This point needs to be driven home so that history does not repeat itself. — Kesavan Srikumar On e-mail
