Letters to the Editor

Yakub Memon

IT is unfortunate that Yakub Memon was eventually put to death after he languished in jail for more than two decades when the option of commuting his sentence to life imprisonment was available to the Supreme Court and the President (Cover Story, August 21). It comes as a setback to civilised society.

Janga Bahadur Sunuwar

Jalpaiguri, West Bengal

THE death sentence is barbaric. While sentencing a criminal, a society that claims to be civilised cannot stoop to the level of the criminal.

Purushuttam Roy Barman

Agartala

NO one can deny the hard truth about the destruction and the human catastrophe caused by the 1993 Mumbai blasts. The law should be a deterrent at all costs.

P. Senthil Saravana Durai

Vazhavallan, Tamil Nadu

THE death sentence on Yakub Memon was justified. He was actively involved along with his brother in the gruesome killing of 257 people in Mumbai in 1993.

N.C. Sreedharan

Kannur, Kerala

CRITICISING courts is not good for the country (“Political games”, August 21). The Supreme Court’s decision must be respected and not questioned. The death penalty is not desirable, but in exceptional cases like terrorism, it is essential.

M. Kumar

New Delhi

Abdul Kalam

T.S. SUBRAMANIAN’S article “Technologist to the core” (August 21) was a well-balanced tribute to A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. A little-known fact about Kalam is that he has a medical invention to his name—a coronary stent built with missile composites that dramatically brought down the cost of heart stents in the 1990s.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee

Faridabad, Haryana

THE sudden passing away of Abdul Kalam, a great humanist, scientist and teacher, was shocking. He was a visionary, nationalist and dreamer who inspired millions of students with his memorable pieces of advice.

K.R. Srinivasan

Secunderabad

ABDUL KALAM was indeed a President like no other in the history of India. He was indeed a real karmayogi. May he rest in peace, a great man indeed.

Bal Govind

Noida, Uttar Pradesh

ABDUL KALAM was a great son of Mother India! We salute you for your service to modern India. The country has lost the finest President it ever had.

Santhosh Mathew

Puducherry

IN the demise of former President Abdul Kalam, the nation lost an outstanding scientist, an able science administrator and a technocrat, an eminent educationist, a visionary and, above all, a good human being.

B. Suresh Kumar

Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu

Blacks in the U.S.

IT comes as a surprise that the police in the U.S. are no different from the police in developing nations when it comes to excesses (“Guilty as hell”, August 21). A democratic nation like the U.S. should not have this black-white divide.

Deendayal M. Lulla

Mumbai

Farmer suicides

IT is painful to see Karnataka figure prominently among farmer suicides (“The slaughter of suicide data”, August 21). The State has been the top producer of coarse cereals for many years now in spite of persistent drought and other adverse factors.

The government must focus on sprinkling the seeds of prosperity all over the State and not set up ambitious targets for a “mall a mile” scheme to compete with Gurgaon.

Anoop Hosmath

Mysuru, Karanataka

The Pope

DEEPAK BHOJWANI powerfully analysed the Pope’s Herculean efforts to propagate the message of the universal church in a world struggling with problems relating to economic growth (“Pope and promise”, August 21). One hopes that the Latin American nations heed the advice of “their Pope” for their sustainable development.

Thomas Edmunds

Chennai

Yechury

SITARAM YECHURY’S perspective plan is brilliant, analytical and appropriate for India (“The need for a new agenda”, August 7). Every political party must strive to establish democratic secularism in the country.

G. Azeemoddin

Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh

Indian Premier League

THE decision to ban two franchisees for betting may be a step in the right direction, but several questions remain (“Price of greed”, August 7). It will be tough for the IPL to manage with just six teams; they must cancel next year’s edition and clean up the mess.

Abhijith Radhakrishnan

Mumbai

VYAPAM scam

THE entire turn of events in the VYAPAM scam seems like a suspense thriller movie where the witnesses are killed one by one (“Scam country”, August 7). Before it is too late, the CBI should bring the culprits to book.

T.S.N. Rao

Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh

Sand mining

THE judiciary and the government are only half-heartedly taking steps to stop the indiscriminate sand mining in northern India, enabling mafia dons and enemies of India to loot the country’s wealth with impunity (“Rivers no more”, August 7). This is not possible on a large scale unless there is a dangerous nexus between politicians, bureaucrats and officials. Not many States are free of sand mining which underscores the reality that all the State governments and government machinery have turned a blind eye to this continuing loot.

M.Y. Shariff

Chennai