The middle child• YOUR editorial, ‘SMS to EVM’ (IE, July 25) very aptly highlights the dilemma of the middle class in handling wily politicians who thrive on illiteracy, ignorance and the poverty of the majority of voters. As a matter of fact, due to the faulty electoral system, politicians do not need the votes of the middle class. That is why they generally do not care about the sentiments of this section of the population. This is also a major reason for the indifference middle class voters display towards voting. Politicians are able to exploit illiterate voters through various unfair means. The latest example is the recently held presidential election. The Indian middle class, by and large, wanted A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to continue as president but that did not make the slightest difference.— A.K. Sharma, ChandigarhSovereign anxieties• PAKISTAN has responded angrily to recent reports that the US is thinking of unilaterally hunting down Al Qaeda in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Although Pervez Musharraf deserves to be criticised for his slow progress in going after these extremists, the US should not add to the unrest and anxieties in Pakistan at the moment. The country is recovering from the Lal Masjid fiasco and there is immense domestic strife in the country — two hundred people have been killed in a spate of counter-attacks by Islamists. Also, as press secretary Tony Snow himself recognised, Pakistan is a sovereign state. And it goes against the norms of international law if the US takes unilateral action within a sovereign country.— Bilal Hameed, LahoreWispy willow• THIS time the Indian team was fortunate that the weather went in its favour. Yet there can be no denying that the recent Test saw a very poor performance by India. England was without its three strike bowlers — Hoggard, Flintoff and Harmisson. Against this second-class bowling attack, India scored just 200 in the first innings and lost nine wickets for less than 300 in the second. Even the practice matches were drawn as India tumbled against Sussex. Clearly, if things carry on this way, we should all get reconciled to losing this series. — Prosenjit Bose, New Panvel
