A sure-fire formula

Stop this terrorism
Does the heinous killing of the VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati justify: the burning of the innocent orphans; viciously beating up innocent Christians and destroying Christian Churches and property in Orissa by Hindutva fundamentalists (‘High court seeks report on riot’, DNA, August 29)? Rioters went on a rampage while the police stood by. Are these Hindutva fundamentalists different from the terrorists who held children hostage in Jammu?  In Orissa, they burnt innocent children. Did these innocent children have anything to do with the death of the Swami? The only aim of all terrorists is to destabilise the country by dividing it on communal lines. The government elected by the people, to protect them from such evil and brutal people, should act fast and arrest these antisocial and antinational elements.
—Dominic Savio Fernandes, via email

Seniors and juniors
This is with reference to the article ‘New peak’, (DNA.Sport, August 29). It is now clear: the combination of young blood and MS Dhoni’s leadership skills is the way to go for Indian cricket. The Fab Four of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman flopped miserably in the recently concluded Test series, unable the measure up to the ‘M&M duo’ of Ajantha Mendis and Mutthiah Muralidharan. But the same Sri Lankan spinners were handled with confidently by the younger lot in the One-day series. Let us hope the Indian selectors stop being in denial about the decline of the seniors. If we are serious about not getting walloped by the Australians who are set to visit India now, we have to get rid of our sentimental obsession with the seniors and give the youngsters a chance. For starters, the selectors ought to drop Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman and take Rohit Sharma, Badrinath and Suresh Raina in their place. Otherwise, we might as well resign ourselves for a 4-0 whitewash at the hands of the Aussies.
—K Srinivasan, Mumbai

Political agenda
We have been witnessing trouble since the last two months in Jammu and Kashmir over ‘diverted’ 100 acres of land to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) which exposed the BJP’s agenda in the state. LK Advani saw the fight between the separatists and the nationalists, and moved swiftly to exploit the situation. The NDA did that  not only in Jammu and Kashmir but also in Orissa over the killing of Swami Lakshmanananda. The Bajrang Dal and the VHP activists scaled new heights of brutality by burning alive a young woman, and the attacks on churches. Naveen Patnaik should not forget that the rule of law and secularism are not mere slogans; they are constitutional obligations which not only

Central but also State government is expected to fulfil. In future LK Advani should
restrain the VHP and Bajrang Dal from taking the law into their hands.
—Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee, Faridabad

Seatless travel
This is with reference to ‘NY trains may go seat less to curb crowding’ (DNA, August 27), Mumbai’s suburban railways would do well take a leaf out of NY’s transport department and run similar services on short haul routes. At present, Western railway operates a few two-seater trains in the mornings that accommodate more passengers. Instead of  ‘pipe dreams’ such as elevated services between Churchgate and Virar which are impractical,  running seatless trains on routes such as Churchgate-Bandra or Borivali-Virar will help move more people. It won’t harm anyone to stand for about 30 minutes or so a day.
—Gavin Fernandes, via e-mail

A sure-fire formula
Here is a sure-fire formula to ensure that at least half a dozen medals at the next Olympics: 1. Sack all political figures from sports bodies. 2. Decide on a handful of disciplines where India can do well. 3. Select promising candidates for the events. 4. Government and corporates should provide financial support to these candidates for next four years and to give them the best training and equipment with no limit on expenses. If this approach is followed, winning a handful of medals will not be difficult for the Indian contingent.
—MR Hosangady, Mumbai