More must be done on Gujarat verdict

More must be done on Gujarat verdict
The verdict is out on the Godhra riots case, where 33 innocents, mostly women and children, were burnt alive on March 1, 2002. This ghastly crime warrants capital punishment. I wonder why the learned judge refused to accept the submission of the prosecution team in this regard. It would only be logical that the SIT appeal against the exoneration of the other culprits. They should turn their guns against those who are supposed to have instigated the carnage, assuring protection to the frenzied mob to run amok and carry out murder and arson.
—Tharcius Fernando, Chennai

Modi’s false pride on display in China
During this trip to China, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said that Gujarat is different from the rest of India. This smacks of factionalism. All this after the map fiasco in Delhi. Modi is so proud of Gujarat that may be he forgot to mention that India is a good destination for investment. What an irony that such a man is one of our future prime ministerial candidates.
—Bidyut Chatterjee, Faridabad

Everybody wants a strong Lokpal Bill
It’s really refreshing to ascertain that Sonia Gandhi, Congress president and UPA chairperson, is serious about a strong Lokpal Bill, in DNA’s article titled, ‘In speech read out, Sonia slams T-Anna”. Anna and team need to wait and watch before raising a hue and cry over Lokpal. There’s no reason why Sonia should not be taken seriously when she has publicly committed for a robust Lokpal Bill. At the same time, UPA spokespersons also need to be cautious at making wild allegations against the members of the Anna. One particular UPA spokesperson is in the habit of putting his foot in his mouth too often while directing his tirade against team Anna. The UPA branding Anna a politician in the making is rubbish. He is not attached to any party, nor is he nursing any such dream. This kind of allegation is only to divert the attention from the main issue of corruption.
—Jitendra Kothari, Mumbai

II
Sonia Gandhi is right when she says there cannot be two standards for corruption one for Team Anna and another for the others, as per DNA’s article, ‘In speech....’ The CBI should provide the same facilities to the offenders as it did to Quattrocchi and more recently to the Maran brothers and allow them to flee the country just in time or by informing them well in advance about their intentions to carry out raids. The investigating agency should be seen to be chasing the culprits while not actually apprehending them, especially if they belong to the Congress party.
—GV Shankar, via email

Minority communities targeted in Pakistan
Pakistan has lost its legitimacy to call itself a modern democratic state. If it is so, then why are minorities subjected to ethnic and sectarian violence? Why are Hazaras of Baluchistan, who happen to be Shias, no less than five lakh in numbers, systematically being killed and maimed? Where’s the justice for them? Not long ago Governor of Punjab Salmaan Taseer, who was gunned by his own guard for his support to a Christian woman who was incarcerated on the basis of blasphemy laws. I condemn the killing of the four Hindu doctors in the Sindh Province and ask the Pakistani administration to take such nefarious elements heads on and snuff out their presence in order to protect the minority communities.
—Asad Bin Saif, Mumbai