Foolhardy strike

Foolhardy strike
By abstaining from work en masse the pilots of Jet Airways have thrown air traffic throughout the country out of gear causing great inconvenience to the travelling public (‘361 Jet pilots call in sick, may remain off duty today’, DNA, September 9). It is preposterous that the pilots’ union took this irresponsible step because of a trivial provocation by one of the executives of the airlines. The pilots have no right to hold the public to ransom with such strikes. The government should not buckle under pressure but should invoke Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to rein them in.
—Subramanian Venkataraman, Mumbai

Banal arguments 
The Gujarat government should have learnt its lessons after the high court lifted the ban on Jaswant Singh’s book (‘Gujarat High Court lifts ban on Jaswant Singh’s book’, DNA, September 4). But instead the government appears to be hellbent on disrespecting the court. It is thinking of a ‘second ban notification’. Anybody who has read Jaswant Singh’s book would never even dream of such a step. The Gujarat government is talking in terms of ‘national interest’. One wonders how some facts relating to Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Partition can be a threat to India’s interests. According to the law, a book can be banned only if it is obscene, causes disharmony among groups and augments communal feelings apart from disturbing public tranquility. Only the government can tell us on which of the above counts is the book being banned in the state.
—Ganapathi Bhat, via email

More action, less talk
With reference to the editorial, ‘Pakistan’s excuses’ (DNA, September 8), how long is it going to take for India to realise that Pakistan is dilly-dallying, and more so with regard to 26/11, and extradition of Dawood? Even the US’s own investigations and adverse findings have had no effect on Pakistan. On the other hand, the US is giving all kinds of moral and financial support to Pakistan under the guise of fighting against terror. Endless talking will not yield any result.
—LJ Prasad, Mumbai

Cost cutting
Apropos ‘No first class travel, 5 star stay for babus’, (DNA, September 8), has the government suddenly woken up, to cut the profligacy and loot of the country’s resources? What about the illegal occupation of government bungalows by politicians who are no longer in the Parliament? And let us not forget the outstanding electricity and telephone bills of these politicians. What is the government going to do about those?
—Behram Aga, via email