Red footprint• IT was indeed a chilling experience to read Vinay Jha’s informative and exhaustive article, ‘March of the Red Army’ (The Sunday Express, July 22). The agenda of the ‘armed struggle’ by Naxalites against SEZs and other mega projects has not only caused massive displacement and marginalisation of the Adivasis and farmers but also speaks volumes about the frightening presence of Naxalites in more than 185 districts in 16 states across the country. Naxalites are now established in areas where they were earlier inactive. They showed their dangerous mettle last month when they caused a 48-hour economic blockade and paralysed life in many parts of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal. Strangely, the security forces found it hard to counter their strategy of targeting essential infrastructure. It is also disturbing to learn that these extremists have gained a foothold in industrial hubs in Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as well. Is the Centre aware of this grim situation, caused by the march of the Red Army, or is it satisfied in asking the respective district administration “to be watchful” of the “red footprints”?— Deepak Tandon, PanchkulaDictator as remedy• SHEKHAR GUPTA has rightly assessed the chances of Mayawati becoming the prime minister in 2009 in ‘Prime Minister, Mayawati, backed by comrades’ (The Sunday Express, July 22). The Left parties, with their 60 MPs, can dictate anything and the UPA has to oblige or else burden the nation with another costly election. The founding fathers of our Constitution who adopted the parliamentary system unsuited to a multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual country like India are to blame for this. Now we must suffer the mistakes of our ‘visionary’ freedom fighters, especially Jawaharlal Nehru, who took the new nation on a road from where it is impossible to return. Our politicians, who are the beneficiaries of the system, will not take an axe to their own feet. Only a benevolent dictator can change the system but there appears to be none on the horizon. — Dalip Singh Ghuman, ChandigarhMonitoring funds• WHILE monitoring the inflow of foreign money, the government is justified in scrutinising its end use (‘Colour of money’, IE, July 27). After the emergence of global terrorism, even the most developed Western nations are doing the same. But what should put us on guard is not the official channels of capital inflow but the foul practices of over- and under-invoicing imports and exports. Before the horses run out of the stable, this issue needs to be addressed.— Naval Langa, Ahmedabad
