Dragging Ramar Sethu to national political scene
Sir, The RSS agitation to protest against the Sethusamudram project is a total misuse of faith for political purpose. This issue should be discussed on environmental and technological ground alone.
The story of Lord Ram is a mythological one, to assert its historicity is a blatant assertion to fulfill the political agenda rather than the spiritual necessity. Ramar Sethu has been proved to be a pre-human structure, called tombol, a sand deposition due to the natural process. The Geological Survey of India has ruled out its being a manmade construction.

Same way the inference from NASA satellite pictures is that it is due to sedimentation of clay and limestone. Its age has been estimated to be close to 17.5 lakh years, when human habitation is doubtful. It seems since the Ram temple issue is no longer encashable, it is a new move by the communal forces to drag  national politics on an emotive marsh.

Ram Puniyani
Mumbai

Scientific proof
Sir, The affidavit by the Archeological Society of India(ASI) claiming that there is no scientific proof that Lord Ram and other characters depicted in the epic Valmiki Ramayana ever existed, has been submitted by the UPA government to the court. This  has raised the hackles of BJP and VHP. The BJP should organise a group of scientists and send them to Sri Lanka to search for evidence to prove that Ravan and other characters mentioned in Ramayan existed.
C V K Moorthy
Bangalore

Another chance
Sir, The fight between two International players from the Pakistan cricket camp, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Asif could have been best avoided. It was a childish act and at this level it reflects their lack of commitment towards their team. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is yet to decide the quantum of punishment. The board would be doing a world of good by giving Shoaib another another chance as he is a big asset and a genuine crowd puller.
K AMUL CHANDER
Bangalore

Political ploy
Sir, The Centre’s affidavit that there was no historical proof about the existence of Lord Rama and other characters is sure to hurt millions of Indian hearts. It is mostly a matter of faith. There is no scientific proof either that god exists. Hopefully it is not a ploy to polarise vote banks in respective camps by mutual understanding when elections seem to be around?
Raghubir Singh
Pune

Chak de India!
Sir, Watching the way the West Indies and South Africa played in the opening match of the ongoing Twenty20 series, it looks as though the “slam-bang version” (DH, Sept 10) of cricket is here to stay, and will ultimately displace the longer versions, in today’s fast-paced world. Team India will need to pull up their sleeves and take some risks if they want to make any headway. The batsmen should go to the crease to “hit and run” and not just to protect the wicket to save themselves from getting out. Similarly the main aim of our bowlers should be in preventing the batsmen from scoring runs.
A R Tonse
Bangalore

Great job
Sir, This has reference to the article Landing in the past by Marianne De Nazareth ( DH, Sept 13). The idea of the carbon emitters offsetting their carbon emissions by investing in eco-friendly projects in the Third World is laudable. This would enable poor countries to conserve their scarce financial and fossil reserves and protect the environment. It would indeed be great.
P Joseph
Belgaum