Need to make our country terror-free

Need to make our country terror-free
This refers to the demonstration by advocates in Delhi for lack of security in courts which resulted in the blast on Wednesday. I wonder if it is sufficient to provide security only at high courts. Is it sufficient if only courts are terror-free? Every inch of our country should be free from terror, not only the places where high-profile people and VIPs gather.
—Madhava Hebbar, via email

II
A decade has passed since the 9/11 attacks that razed the World Trade Centre towers in New York to the ground and damaged the Pentagon building near Washington DC, killing more than 3,000 people. It was the deadliest attack ever since the Hiroshima- Nagasaki disaster. While remembering those who lost their lives in the incident, the efforts taken by the United States in nailing out terrorism needs to be appreciated. Their fight against al-Qaeda has succeeded with the killing of Osama Bin Laden at Abbattabad in Pakistan. Now the United States is heaving a sigh of relief, unlike India and Pakistan. A sophisticated IED blast took place on the Delhi high court premises on Wednesday. The Indian Mujahideen and HuJI are growing unchecked. And then there is Pakistan, which is a breeding ground for terrorists. The governments of both nations should rise up to the occasion and curb terrorism and to restore peace in the South Asia region.
—NR Ramachandran, via email

III
Immediately after the May 25 low intensity blast outside the Delhi high court premises, the police had conducted a security audit of the complex and is reported to have suggested a number of places where closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras should be installed. Even after three months, the CCTV cameras have not been set up. In Mumbai, too, the surveillance CCTV cameras are yet to be installed. The lethargy in this regard has cost us precious lives and leave many maimed. It is a shame that since P Chidambaram took charge as home minister, there have been several blasts in the country but none the cases have been cracked. The NIA should finalise the case immediately and the guilty should be punished early.
—Gururajan Ramachandran, via email

Human life seems to be  cheap in this country
Apropos “11 deaths for Afzal’s life” (September 8) India has become an experimental land for such terrorist butchery, only because of lack of political will. The rulers spend their time in taking pains to establish their “privileges” and use the law enforcement agencies and police for spying on their adversaries and critics. The police seem to have time only for VIP duty and if anyone acts independently and sincerely does his duty, he can expect political interference. By delaying work and giving in to political pressure, the government and all political parties have abdicated the security of the nation to extraneous considerations. Human life seems to be the cheapest thing available in our country. With every blast, people are losing faith in the government. This may lead to many unwelcome consequences. It is time that the inefficient political parties learn from their mistakes.
—Sherna Gandhy, Pune    

Chidambaram responsible for deaths
While Wednesday’s blast in Delhi is not a surprise, it is really concerning. It shows that we should be prepared to accept such shocks often.

Home minister P. Chidambaram is solely responsible for the loss of lives and property. Terrorism has become a worldwide phenomenon, but the moot question is what is our government doing? Do they believe in the principle that a person who another life has no right to live? If they did then the accused on the death row who have applied for mercy with the President, would have been dead by now. If the court verdicts are implemented when they are delivered, the government would not have faced this situation today. The day will come when terrorists will hijack a plane and demand Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab in exchange. To avoid such a situation, let the law take its own course and the politicians should confine themselves to the Parliament and their duties.
—MH Nayak, Mumbai

Injustice to the teaching fraternity
Apropos the letter “Devoted teachers? Now a myth” (September 9). By making a sweeping generalisation that “the real devoted teacher today is a myth”, the writer does gross injustice to the entire teaching fraternity.  There are different categories of teachers - at school, junior college and university - and their cases are not the same.  The coaching class menace has made deep inroads into the first two levels and unless teachers are paid adequately, the hijacking of good teachers by coaching classes will continue.  Instances are galore of students remembering their teachers and inviting them for their batch reunions even four decades after they had passed out!
—Dr V Subramanyan, Mumbai

Need strict laws to curb crimes against children
The analysis “How do we protect our children” (September 7) by Gauri Sinh was moving and soul-stirring
— even more than the actual report of the heinous crime committed on a three-year-old girl. As readers, we are sadly getting “used to” reports of rapes, murders and child abuses to such an extent that they fail to elicit any kind of response from us. To add to the problem, our country’s law does not have a special provision to deal with child sexual abuse making it easier for the offenders to “get away with it”. Children, being extremely vulnerable, are unable to protect themselves or voice their opinion in this matter and public apathy or societal taboos only make the matters worse giving rise to insecurity among children, which as the writer points out, is an impediment to growth.

Crimes against children, more common among the lower income group, are also not as extensively discussed in the media as a problem of lesser gravity such as obesity, mostly affecting children of the rich. Instead of turning a blind eye, stringent action should be taken against the offenders by formulating and executing victim [child] oriented laws.
—Seema Malghan, Thane