Nandigram and UPA govt’s depravity
Sir, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil is reported to have blamed “outsiders” for the complete breakdown of law and order in West Bengal. This is indeed shocking.

It is common knowledge that the CPM activists, with the full backing of the Left Front government, had unleashed a reign of terror in Nandigram.

Even the allies of the CPM have admitted this and have distanced themselves from the CPM on the brutal treatment of the helpless farmers of Nandigram.

Hence, if the UPA government suddenly decides to paint the Communists as paragons of virtue, it becomes amply clear that it is only a quid pro quo arrangement for the Left’s acquiescence to the Indo-US Nuclear deal.

The Left parties’ sudden “magnanimity” in permitting the government to have discussions with the IAEA on safeguards agreement should convince sceptics, if there are any.

V V S MANI
Bangalore

PM on Nandigram
Sir, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has rapped the Left front government in West Bengal on the knuckles over the violence in Nandigram. He has expressed the hope that the West Bengal government will take note of the fact that all sections of the population were entitled to protection from the law enforcement agencies.
This reminds us of the year 2002, when the Gujarat violence happened, the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee exhorted the Gujarat chief minister to observe “Rajdharma”. Of course, while lamenting on the violence he also asked, “Lekin aag lagaayee kisne?”

Mookhi Amir Ali
Mumbai

Hidden agenda
Sir, H D Deve Gowda is not so naive as to not realise that his action amounts to political harakiri both for his family and the JD(S). So there must be a stronger motive behind the dozen “conditions” formulated by Gowda.
This could be an attempt to hush up either the Rs 150 crore bribery allegation by the mining lobby or the various land dealings of the Gowda family. The duplicity of the Congress in this whole affair cannot also be missed.
K Suresh
Bangalore

Public opinion
Sir, The recent political happenings in Karnataka has left honest citizens bewildered. Literates who are bestowed with a sense of reasoning are aghast at the total abuse of “democracy”. The principles of democracy have been made meaningless by the players in this political drama.
The question is should a large majority of citizens remain mute spectators? It is only the media which can educate the masses and silence the perpetrators of abuses of democracy. Public opinion can be created against such elements only by the media.
S V Shashidhar
Bangalore

Sycophancy
Sir, The reported denial of exemption to Service Chiefs of frisking in Airports is not only a personal insult to them, but also to the entire Armed Forces and the nation. Added to the insult is the exemption granted to private businessman Robert Vadra, son-in-law of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, which is a height of sycophancy of the bureaucrats who man the civil aviation department.
Some of the exempted list of bureaucrats and politicians are much more a national threat, than the Service Chiefs who are in charge of protecting the whole nation including Robert Vadra, the politician and the bureaucrats.
P S Prabhu
Bangalore