'It is no secret that the Chinese are penetrating the bordering states'

An Ominous VoidThe cover story "An Ominous Void" (June 16-30) was a brilliant piece of reporting. I am convinced that the death of Zia will usher in a disconcerting era of utter chaos, political uncertainty and social disorder for Bangladesh. Zia being a intrepid explorer of new avenues for the country's socio-economic progress, his regime had turned out to be increasingly fanatical in its style of functioning.A strong school of opinion including Zia's family is of the view that Manzoor had no hand in this gruesome murder and that the plot had deeper implications. Calcutta, S. BiswasLeft, Left OutAt least one representative of the left parties should have figured amongst opposition leaders on the cover (June 1-15). Under existing circumstances left parties are the only alternative. Apart from being firmly entrenched in three states they have ideological commitment and grassroot workers to back them. It is a fact that some of the Communist MPs have proved to be highly competent parliamentarians. Muzaffarpur Gajendra KumarThere is an almost mechanical explanation for the unrest amongst our political leaders who are now in the Opposition. Concisely stated it is: that being men (mice?) of meagre internal resources, they are suffering acutely from the continuing power cut. Bombay, Amir A. RahimtullaCorrectionIn your write-up on the controversial Kannada film "Antha" (June 1-15), the author of the original novel is named wrongly as Ananda Rao. It is in fact H.K. Anantha Rao. Ahmedabad, J. V. Venkatesh MurthyCommon FactorOn reading your recent coverage of the Gujarat agitations against reservations and the election campaigns of the candidates from Amethi (June 1-15), I would like to point out a common factor linking the two, which puts into perspective and reveals the farce behind what is called "equal opportunity", in our country.How could you have missed the point that reservations, through powerful launching operations, have ensured comfortable places for Rajiv Gandhi by his mother, Farooq Abdullah by his father, Sanjay Dutt, Kumar Gaurav, Sunil Anand, through their film star fathers, and many business tycoons through their industrialist fathers?With such demonstrations of the inevitability of success and power through birth, how can any reservation policy ever convince a sweeper that his son can be anything but a sweeper? Delhi, T. JavaLacking MotivationThe new army chief, in his interview (June 1-15) rightly admits that there is need for enlarging the scope of the NDA to improve the motivation and calibre of the officer cadre of the army. The truth is that while the young boys joining the NDA do form good officers, the quality of teachers, recruited of late, has deteriorated to such an extent that there is hardly any motivation, let alone inculcation of correct values or development of character qualities. Unless the salaries and other service conditions offered at the academy are more than those available to university lecturers, the NDA will not be able to attract the correct type of teachers and will have to be satisfied with university rejects. Pune, N.B. SawardekarNo GuaranteeThis is with reference to Bhabani Sen Gupta's article "Bridging the Gulf (June 1-15). Unfortunately, adherence to non-alignment alone does not guarantee the security of small nations. The security of the lower Gulf states is not guaranteed by the establishment of regional hegemony - whether of Iran or Pakistan. Their interests are also not protected by the NATO powers whose rival drives for adherence in the region are threatening to divide a neutral area into rival camps. The revival of the cold war in this region cannot serve the long-range interests of the NATO powers-the sooner it is accepted the better it would be for all concerned in defending the freedom of shipping in the Gulf. Only by disengaging in this area can the NATO forces ensure that all nations have access to oil. Lucknow, Asha AgarwalWhat's The SizeThe article "New Moore Island: Territorial Tug-Of-War" (June 1-15) gave the first-hand account of our island in the Bay of Bengal. The island was discovered in 1974 by the Indian survey team but Bangladesh started staking its claims to it as late as 1979.According to the press reports which appeared in March last, two Chinese submarines prowled in the Bay of Bengal as a booster for the Bangladesh navy.It is no secret that the Chinese are penetrating the bordering states or entering into a collusion with them with the view of encircling India. Beijing is putting pressure on Nepal and Bangladesh from the north and north-east. China is continuing the build-up of its armed forces in Tibetan regions bordering India. The Sino-Pak axis is endangering India's security. Bangalore, T. Ramaswamy.Apropos your write up "Territorial Tug-Of-War" (June 1-15) I wonder what is the dispute over the island's size. Surprisingly, your article presents three different sizes: 1 sq km , 2 sq miles at high tide and 0.66 sq miles at high tide . Have the fears of dispute over ownership (and perhaps also the name) made the island elastic? Singhbhum, Binod JhaThe following are the dimensions of New Moore Island, as given by the External Affairs Ministry: 2 square miles at low tide, 0.85 square miles at medium tide and 0.66 square miles at high tide. - EditorPrimitive TribesmenThe photo feature "The Cavemen of Kerala" (June 1-15) made interesting reading and a bright picture of the primitive tribesmen has been presented. But, a doubt still remains - "Why doesn't the Kerala Government treat them also as a Scheduled Tribe as they are economically backward and culturally cut off from the outside world?"Bombay, K. AravindakshanFaux Pas ?This refers to your report on "South Block - Undiplomatic Wrangle" (June 1-15). I was the defence counsel for Kodamraju Pratap as he was not permitted to engage a lawyer. I had argued his case as a fellow government servant having been convinced that the so-called charges against him were flimsy, baseless and ostensibly motivated.I am writing this with particular reference to your correspondent quoting South Block as saying: "When he (Pratap) was in Accra in the late '50s, he committed a, faux pas by reproducing Nehru's speech on the Suez Canal issue in the weekly India News, little realising that this might not be welcome to the British who were still ruling Ghana."It cannot be gainsaid that it was a historic speech of prime minister Nehru, who was also free India's first foreign minister, announcing India's unqualified support for Egypt, the Arabs and the resurgent Africa. As the then press attache of the Indian High Commission, Pratap, rightly published the speech in the official bulletin of the embassy. India supported Egypt and so did many other Asian and African leaders. Britain was already on the way out and Dr Kwame Nkrumah was already in command in Ghana. Nkrumah also supported Nasser on the Suez issue. In that background, was it wrong for an Indian embassy official bulletin to publish the policy speech of Nehru ? It was not a faux pas that Pratap committed but a normal performance of duty. New Delhi, T.K.D. RatnamOm Gupta replies:External Affairs Ministry sources still maintain that since Ghana was formerly a British colony it would not have been diplomatically correct for the embassy in Accra to publish an anti-British political speech.RetrenchmentThis is with reference to your article 'In Dire Straits' (June 1-15). If the Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) has already accumulated 2.26 million tonnes of iron ore, why is the BSP considering further mechanisation in the manual mines of the section? It would seem perfectly rational to completely stop production in the Dalli mines.Ever since its inception in 1977, the Chattisgarh Mines Sharmik Sangh (CMSS) has constantly demanded gradual mechanisation with departmentalisation. What other guarantee apart from departmentalisation do the workers have, if suddenly after the two-year experiment in semi-mechanisation, the cost benefit committee of BSP feels that retrenchment is the only viable alternative? The situation is not that of an ill-considered strike by the workers, (they served no legal strike notice), but of the conspiratorial machinations of the management to wash their hands of the whole affair. New Delhi, Prabhu MahapatraClearly StatedI should like to thank you for reviewing my book The Samba Spying Case (May 16-31). I would like to say that the review gives me the view that Dilip Bobb had either not read the book carefully or failed to understand the issues I had tried to raise.It is clear from the book that I did not have access to government records or sources to complete my investigation and, despite my best efforts, all those senior officers who talked to me were not ready to cooperate. I had to base my work on the confidential documents on which I could lay my hands. Even the army headquarters in Delhi have not denied the authenticity of these documents. The case has seriously affected the image of the army and international agencies like Amnesty International feel that injustice had been done to a large number of army officers. I, as a journalist thought it was my duty to investigate the case and unravel as much truth as possible.When I say that "even if 10 per cent of what followed is true...it should make every Indian hang down his head in shame," it certainly does not mean that I do not know the truth about the case at all. My investigation raised certain questions which need to be answered so that the entire truth about the case may be known to the people. New Delhi, B.M. SinhaNot RemovedMy attention has been drawn to an item about me in "In the Air" column of your magazine (May 16-31). I became editor early in my career and retired honourably after 31 years, offering my resignation unsuccessfully several times. I was not removed by anybody, gracefully or not so gracefully, as you libellously say. After retirement, I was requested to continue as honorary chairman of the Board of Editors of the Herald group of newsppers; from this position I resigned after a year.There is also no question of switching sides. Nehru and Govind Ballabh Pant were co-workers and close comrades, and if, after doing a biography of Nehru, I do a biography of Pant, whom I knew for a quarter century, there are no political or other gains in it. Nor is there any switching-over of sides between Mrs Gandhi, with whom I have been continuously associated as vice-chairman of the Nehru Fund for several years, and K.C. Pant, an old friend. New Delhi, M. Chalapathi RauPublished By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 19, 2013 13:34 IST--- ENDS ---

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'It is no secret that the Chinese are penetrating the bordering states'

"It is a fact that some of the Communist MPs have proved to be highly competent parliamentarians."

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