This refers to your page one anchor ‘Behind the suicide of a rowing champ’ (IE, November 17). It was sad to read that a player of Shobini Rajan’s talent who won 30 odd national and international medals in rowing committed suicide at her home unable to meet her treatment expenses. This is a shameful tragedy in a cricket crazy nation, where Tendulkar and Ganguly’s hotel businesses monopolise media attention. In a country where political leaders and cricketers lead lavish lifestyles, top sportspersons in games like rowing do not even get medical treatment for injuries. — Bidyut K. Chatterjee Faridabad Such lawlessness • I was shocked to read the report of the death of five people in a stampede at the New Delhi railway station. This can only be expected in a regime where there is no proper management and complete lawlessness. How were more than 30,000 people allowed to enter the railway station in the first place? Under the rules, it is necessary for a person entering the railway platform to have a valid travelling ticket or platform ticket. Did all of them have any of these? The running of special trains is a welcome step but there should be proper management of the people. It is often the case that persons going to Bihar have a tendency to travel without ticket. There is no checking and even if there is any, they can go scotfree by bribing the railway staff. — Kanti Lal Delhi Give and take • Mukul Dube is sarcastic about the NDA’s recent resolution on Ayodhya especially about the emphasis on the ‘‘negotiated settlement’’ in his letter ‘Say that again’ (IE, November 18). Anyone who has the slightest intelligence knows that the judiciary takes an inordinately long time to come to any conclusion — if at all it comes to any conclusion. This is even more so in a complex case like Ayodhya. In fact, had the verdict been delivered before December 6, 1992, the tragedy could have been averted. This is not a civil dispute about a piece of land. The place is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Rama by millions of Hindus, the secularists being the honourable exceptions! The spirit of give and take is the need of the hour. — Shreeram Paranjpe Mumbai Frustrated Uma • So suspended BJP leader Uma Bharati on Thursday sent a letter of apology to L.K. Advani. Well since the BJP is back to their Hindutva ideology, they can’t afford to lose people like Bharati. The entire drama was just part of the inside tug of war which was cooking for long. For one, she has wanted the chief ministership restored to her, which she sacrificed so famously. That demand was denied by the BJP leadership. In the rat race to emerge the first among equals in the BJP’s second-rung leadership, Bharati felt she was losing out. Mahajan and Swaraj had formed a nexus to neutralise her. Jaitley was banking on his own “credibility” to stay in the game. Bharati’s outburst was more a cry of frustration than defiance. — Mukesh Meshram Nagpur Silent vigil • Apropos of Pamela Philipose’s ‘How Falluja fell off the map’ (IE, November 17), it is surprising that the world is watching silently the destruction of Iraq. — M. Saha London
