Public justice

Public justice
It is significant that PILs by individuals and NGOs have successfully brought justice to individuals and the society in general. One thought that this is what our legislators are supposed to do but they did not do anything in the Jessica Lal or Nitish Katara case and their kin had to fight for justice. Even SPS Rathore was able to enjoyed his life while his victim, Ruchika died young.
—S Rajagopalan, Chennai

Better late than never
The government’s decision to withdraw the medal awarded to SPS Rathore, the retired police officer convicted for molesting a teenager in 1990 is indeed welcome (‘Rathore set to lose police medal’, DNA, January 5). What is disturbing is why the government never thought of it for so many years. This belated enlightenment on the part of the government is obviously the result of the public outcry over the light punishment handed out to Rathore. To make up for the delay, the government has decided to make the withdrawal of the awards to such erring police officers automatic in future which is a very wise step.
—Subramanian Venkataraman, Mumbai

Need for sanctions
The terrorism problems that have plagued the world during the last 10 years cannot be solved by governments by curbing freedom of speech and privacy by monitoring internet, mobile communications, installing CCTV cameras or installing full body scanners at airports. This problem can only be solved when Pakistan’s government dismantles all terror groups operating on its soil and the Saudi government dismantles all fundamentalist groups operating on its soil. The UN Security council needs to put stringent economic, military and political sanctions on Pakistan and Saudi Arabia which will give them an added impetus to do the needful.
—Eric Dias, Mumbai

Punish top cops
The fact the three terrorists were escorted by just one policeman, (‘Escape of Pak nationals: Heads expected to roll in Delhi police’, DNA, January 4) speaks about the government of India’s preparation in fighting terrorism. It also proves beyond doubt that the government has learnt very little from the past episodes, be it 26/11 or the IC814 hijacking. While it does not make much sense to punish officials at the lower level, it is time the top brass pays for their casual approach towards handling terrorism and terrorists.
—JN Mahanty, Puri