Building trust
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S.S. Rajagopalan
Chennai
YOUR cover story is a big boost to efforts to improve India-Pakistan ties. Hina Rabbani expressing her commitment to normalising relations with India offers hope. Her desire to remove the animosity in the hearts of people in both countries is encouraging. Even though she reiterates Pakistan’s view on resolving the Kashmir issue, one hopes that whoever forms the next government in Pakistan will follow the same policy in the interest of all concerned.
Jacob Sahayam
Thiruvananthapuram
THE new visa agreement between India and Pakistan and the latter granting the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India have revived hopes of improving bilateral ties. Although there are many unresolved issues, a sincere effort to start the composite dialogue process is the best way out.
P. Senthil Saravana Durai
Vazhavallan, Tamil Nadu
ALTHOUGH Hina Rabbani says war is not even a remote option and speaks of a road map to resolve the vexed problem of Kashmir, she is silent on the November 2008 terror attacks on Mumbai and says very little on whether Pakistan will dismantle the terror machinery in her country.
N.C. Sreedharan
Kannur, Kerala
PAKISTAN’S animosity towards India is never going to change. The only difference now is that even while aiding and abetting insurgency and fomenting trouble in India, the civilian government in Pakistan is trying to befool India by pushing every now and then superficial confidence-building measures (CBMs) to foster its commercial interests. At the time of Partition and Independence, Pakistan was ably led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah, a secular intellectual, who struggled for a progressive Islamic nation. Unfortunately, he died the year after Independence. He did not have sufficient time to secure the moorings of his new homeland. Thereafter, with the exception of Benazir Bhutto, no politician has as prominently defended secular values in Pakistan.
Ettirankandath Krishnadas
Palakkad, Kerala
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FILE - In this Sunday, April 8, 2012 file photo, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, right, waves while arriving at the Palam Airfield with his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, left, in New Delhi, India. Members of Pakistan's outgoing ruling party say late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's son may play a less prominent role in the upcoming election campaign because of security concerns and political infighting. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das, File)
Coming from a person who only a couple of months ago accused India of “warmongering”, Hina Rabbani’s assertions about Pakistan’s commitment to normalising relations is amusing. There is no reason for India to trust Pakistan now and it is better to wait for the election results before it takes any concrete steps.
K.R. Srinivasan
Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Heritage
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Frontline, perhaps, is the only magazine that regularly publishes such articles on art, culture and architecture. These are not only informative but also throw light on our glorious past.
S. Balakrishnan
Jamshedpur, Jharkhand
Tamil politics
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Chennai, 20-03-2013: Hundreds of students on Wednesday held a protest against Sri Lanka for alleged war crimes. Politicians and officials have called for an investigation by a government under pressure from the United Nations to address human rights problems and the deaths of thousands of civilians during the final months of a three-decade war with ethnic Tamil rebels in 2009. The government has been widely condemned by human rights organisations for failing to properly investigate alleged war crimes. It rejects all accusations of rights violations. They also blocked the Kamarajar Salai for a while.Photo:S_R_Raghunathan
At the behest of political parties in Tamil Nadu, the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre has pumped in crores for relief and rehabilitation of the displaced Tamils. The aggression shown by political parties in Tamil Nadu to anything connected to Sri Lanka will undo all those initiatives.
J. Anantha Padmanabhan
Trichy, Tamil Nadu
THE article “Tipping point” was a cogent narration of the opportunistic propaganda of political parties of all hues and the emotionally charged atmosphere in Tamil Nadu on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue. The leaderships of both the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam are using the situation to project themselves as the saviours of Tamil interests, adroitly concealing their own political agendas.
B. Rajasekaran
Bangalore
Sanjay Dutt
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Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt gestures during a news conference outside his residence in Mumbai March 28, 2013. The actor on Thursday said he has not sought pardon after being sentenced to five years in jail for possession of illegal weapons in a case linked to the 1993 Mumbai bombings. REUTERS/Stringer (INDIA - Tags: CRIME LAW ENTERTAINMENT)
S. Ragunatha Prabhu
Alappuzha, Kerala
DUTT’S decision to respect the Supreme Court’s verdict and the fact that he has not sought clemency is bold and reveals his inner strength.
Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee
Faridabad, Haryana
TO serve more time in prison is definitely unfortunate for Dutt. Although some may feel he committed the crime unwittingly, the act has tainted his reputation as an actor and as a human being. Unless there is some effort to arrest Dawood Ibrahim and ‘Tiger’ Memon, the prime perpetrators of the 1993 Mumbai blasts, people directly affected by the bombings will not get full justice.
Jayant Mukherjee
Kolkata
Social issues
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For Daily, Madurai, 19/10/2011. : EXERCISING THEIR RIGHT: Dalits in Gramapatti Village in Kovilankulam Panchayat coming under Chellampatti Panchayat Union in Madurai voted for the first time in local body polls in decades on Wednesday.-Photo:S_James
B. Suresh Kumar
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
Civil services
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Bangalore: 12/06/2011: Civil Services aspirants writing for Union Public Service Commission Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, at Maharani's College in Bangalore on Sunday, Photo: V Sreenivasa Murthy
Ritvik Chaturvedi
New Delhi
Hugo Chavez
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FILE - In this July 21, 2006 file photo, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, left, gestures as Cuba's President Fidel Castro looks on during an event in Cordoba, Argentina. Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced on Tuesday, March 5, 2013 that Chavez has died at age 58 after a nearly two-year bout with cancer. (AP Photo/Roberto Candia, File)
Meraj Bhat
Repora Ganderbal, Kashmir
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