Himalayan blunder

Shekhar Gupta’s‘Leader with opposition was interesting and educative. Twenty-two defections in a single vote of confidence should make our...

•Shekhar Gupta’s ‘Leader with opposition’ was interesting and educative. Twenty-two defections in a single vote of confidence should make our leaders honestly introspect and take remedial action to restore their credibility. In the recent trust vote, the BJP and its allies were fighting against a cause which was dearer to them than to their opponents. The temptation to oust the UPA immediately and overconfidence seem to have made the BJP leadership take things for granted.

— H.S. Gur Hisar

•L.K. Advani’s party wanted to oppose the nuclear deal for the sake of opposition, and they didn’t stop there. First, Advani and some of his colleagues mocked Brajesh Mishra’s endorsement of the deal. Likewise, when the SP leaders said that A.P. J. Abdul Kalam had declared that the “deal is in the national interest”, they too were mocked. Not pausing, the BJP even displayed money from alleged bribes in the House, making a spectacle of itself.

— Prasad Malladi

Nidadavole

Turning the other cheek

•Your hard-hitting editorial ‘Time to question’ has raised many pertinent questions. When laws and action are based on the political establishment’s calculations of electoral fortune, there can neither be strong political positions nor effective steps against terror. After every attack, the ritual of issuing condemnation statements, appeals for communal harmony, paltry compensations for the victims and meaningless declarations that the culprits will not be spared, is performed faithfully by the prime minister and others. Voters are likely to punish a government that has wilfully avoided tackling terror effectively.

— M.C. Joshi Lucknow

All words, no action

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•Even after repeated attacks at various sites, our federal intelligence services and state police forces have not learnt any lesson. India would do well to follow the US example. Post 9/11, the US intelligence was severely criticised for not being able to prevent the catastrophe. The Bush administration vowed that no attack would ever take place on American soil again, a promise they have lived up to by creating the Department of Homeland Security with a staggering annual budget of $45 billion. Unfortunately, in India, the talk of creating a super federal agency to tackle terror has been just that, talk.

— Karan Thakur New Delhi

Sitting ducks

• The Indian cricket team’s pathetic performance in the Colombo Test, losing by an innings and 239 runs, is a national shame. It was India’s third-worst cricketing defeat. Aren’t our star cricketers indeed “lions” at home but “paper tigers” abroad? Big shots such as Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, Sehwag and Laxman fell like ninepins on the same pitch where a half of the Sri Lankan side managed to score 600 runs. It is time we penalised the boys for poor play.

— S.N. Kabra Mumbai