Terrorists do not belong to any religion

Sir,

Hats off to Darul Uloom, Asia’s most revered seminary at Deoband, Uttar Pradesh, for holding a big conference of about 6000 ulemas (Islamic scholars) and issuing in unequivocal terms a fatwa after its deliberations, condemning terrorism in all its forms declaring all kinds of terrorism as anti-national and anti-Islam.

This has been welcomed not only by Musims but all sections of society. It is the duty of responsible leaders to take right decisions. These scholars have done it.

There is no doubt at all that a person who is proud of being a Muslim cannot and should not think of violence because Islam is a religion of peace, equality and brotherhood, as well known to people the world-over.

It is actually a lunatic fringe who indulge in heinous acts of terrorism for selfish ends and they deserve severe punishments. They do not belong to any religion.

V M Khaleelur Rahman
Ambur, Tamil Nadu

MK, the atheist

Sir,

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, while laying the foundation stone for a drinking water project near Hogenekal near Dharmapuri, has commented that if at all god is there, He should give him (Karunanidhi) long life, not for singing His praise, but to serve the people of Tamil Nadu. It seems that Karunanidhi is not satisfied with his present long life. But if Karunanidhi lives for 100 years and still serves as chief minister of Tamil Nadu at that ripe age. is he prepared to accept the existence of Hindu gods which he has been refusing to accept?

Sukumar Talpady
Bangalore

Kudos, Lalu

Sir,

Kudos once again to Railway Minister Lalu Prasad for repeating a dream Railway Budget that may also be referred once again as a “people’s budget”. Lalu who, only a few years ago was known only for his idiosyncrasies and had become a constant source of amusement for non-Bihari’s, has been making all his critics and detractors eat humble pie time and again. Through his mind-boggling and “out of the box” ideas, Lalu has proved his mettle as the best man to have occupied the postion of Railway Minister.

SHAHABUDDIN NADEEM
Bangalore

Separate budget

Sir,

Hearty congratulations to the Indian Railways for its amazing performance consistently maintained for the fifth consecutive year, a seemingly impossible task.

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad has exulted, deservedly in Parliament, that they have outperformed “most of the Fortune 500 companies”. It is time the government took the next big step by cutting the umbilical cord of providing a separate budget for the Railways, a legacy from the British times. The Indian Railways may function even better if it is made into an autonomous corporation.

Kangayam R Rangaswamy
Waunakee, USA

Corporatisation

Sir,

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad seems to have read the minds of the Indian ruling classes perfectly over the past five years in his present position.

The more meagre concessions he is offering to the aam aadmi in the form of reductions in fares and freight, the more the railways is moving towards privatisation and corporatisation.

Most of the dissenting voices are heard about injustice meted out to different states ruled by opposition parties, but no voice, except from the Left, is heard about the fact that out of Rs 2.5 lakh crore investment in the next five years, more than one lakh would come from the corporate sector.

DIVAKAR N
Mysore

Quotas for SCs

Sir,

It was sad to note that even 60 years after independence, the government has only now thought of extending the SC/ST reservation for  undergraduate medical/dental seats. Imagine to what extent these communities would have benefited and been uplifted if this had been done all these years.

The framers of our Constitution had actually envisaged reservation quotas for only 10 years which is to be implemented in totality covering every sphere. But it is such a tardy, partial and insincere implementation on the part of the government; which is responsible for the continuing deprivation of these communities.

SHIV NADAR KARTHIK
Chennai