Latent patriotism

Latent patriotism
The government as well as BJP leaders deserve praise for not letting the issue of hoisting the national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar lead to an ugly confrontation and endanger the security situation. The question, however, remains as to why the BJP leaders did not think of hoisting the flag all these years. One does not expect the separatists to be either reasonable or responsible, but we do want our elected representatives to behave in a sober and sane manner.
—SS Nair, via email

II
The TV footage of overzealous security forces snatching the national flag from youths who were trying to hoist at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk on Republic day implies that Kashmir is not an integral part of the country. Sensing the mood of the people, the state government should have converted the flag hoisting ceremony into an all-party function. The media even concluded  that the ‘Tiranga Yatra had failed’, and they saw this as an embarrassment to the BJP. They failed to realise that they were celebrating the failure of the spirit of India, not merely the failure of a BJP programme.
—Krishna Kumar, via email 

Serve the deserving
The murder of additional district collector Yashwant Sonawane by the petrol mafia in Malegaon on the eve of Republic Day is, to say the least, outrageous (‘Yashwant Sonawane murder: Crack down on oil mafia; over 180 in police net’, DNA, January 27). The state government and the ministers can only pay homage and promise speedy justice by bringing the perpetrators of this heinous crime to book. Most probably, the accused will get immediate bail and be let off the hook for many reasons. But life will never be the same again for members of Sonawane’s family. They will have to wait endlessly for justice, for pensionary benefits and any other compensation that is due to them. Will CM Prithivraj Chavan see to it that apart from expediting payments to the family, he offers free education for his children and a job for the widow.
—Yash P Verma,  via email

Trouble for Jagan
It appears that YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, former Congress MP and son of late CM Rajasekhara Reddy, is in deep trouble. Everybody knows it will be difficult for him to escape unscathed from the many cases that the state government has filed against him. There is also need for Congress to pinpoint wrongdoing during the years when the late Rajasekhara Reddy was at the helm. The Congress party and prime minister owe us an apology for ignoring the wrongs done then.
—KRP Gupta, via email