Adnan’s death

Undiplomatic gaffe
Ronen Sen, as head of a diplomatic mission in a powerful country, should have exercised restraint and upheld the dignity of Parliament in his dealings with the media (‘Fowl play’, DNA, August 23). His careless comment should not go unpunished. The manner in which the External Affairs Minister reacted shows his guilt more than that of Sen. The moment Sen’s comment appeared in the media the government should have asked for a written explanation and, if found to be true, Sen should have been given marching orders. It appears leniency is being shown for extraneous reasons, perhaps because he is from the same community as his boss.
—KRP Gupta, Mumbai

Ambassador Ronen Sen’s comment concerning headless chickens may or may not have been meant to describe our respected Parliamentary representatives’ understanding of the nuclear deal. But their subsequent reaction does seem like a retrospective vindication of the accuracy of Sen’s observation. Should the oversensitivity of our worthy leaders be allowed to overshadow the desirability or otherwise of the historic deal?
—Anil P Bagarka, Mumbai

Congestion tax
Apropos the Chief Minister of Maharashtra considering a ‘congestion tax’ to be paid by motorists, let it first start with the CM himself and his entourage. Here is a better idea to reduce congestion in Mumbai and Maharashtra: shift the capital, with the legislature, high courts, Mantralaya and Film City to a more central part of the state. This way, the netas will be more accessible to those who need them. The city of Mumbai does not require the government of Maharashtra; it is the other way around. Means of commuting can also be reconsidered, with revamped and imporved bus services networked all over the city. Let the BEST start a pilot project of routes with their AC fleet instead of running it like a regular service. After all, these buses are largely empty in the South-North direction in the mornings and North-South direction in the evenings. It’s time that the GM of BEST started thinking like a GM and not like a bus conductor. Another possible solution to ease traffic congestion: shift all offices in South Mumbai, particularly in the overcrowded Nariman Point and Cuffe Parade areas, to BKC and beyond. In fact, this is what the Navi Mumbai CBD plan envisaged in the 1960s. But the rich and powerful who stay in South Mumbai did not want to commute and were also concerned that their real estate prices may fall. 
—TR Ramaswami, Mumbai

Adnan’s death
From newspaper reports it is obvious that the abductors panicked when they found out that they were under suspicion for the kidnapping of Adnan Patrawala and that their photos were being flashed on TV (‘One more held in Adnan murder case’, DNA, August 23). It is a cardinal rule that the identity of the suspects should not be revealed to the press and the public at large while the victim is in the custody of kidnappers and negotiations are yet to be started. The police had a clue about the identity of the suspect; this could have been used to apprehend the kidnappers. It is becoming clear that insensitive handling of the situation by the authorities concerned and media exposure were responsible for the death of Adnan. Cases of kidnapping are on the rise all over the country and it is imperative that a proper strategy to handle them is evolved on an urgent basis.
—Neelang S Shah, Mumbai

Good interview
Please accept my heartfelt congratulations for publishing the excellent interview with Chhagan Bhujbal about the Srikrishna Commission and the state of Maharashtra politics. (‘The court let off most of the accused’, DNA, August 12). I was really impressed by the appropriate questions raised by the interviewer, Ganesh Kanate. 
—Pankaj Kumar Kushwaha, Nagpur