Peace in Kashmir

Peace in Kashmir
If the government thinks that it can buy peace in Kashmir valley by its latest peace initiative it is sadly mistaken (‘An 8 point plan for Kashmir’, DNA.Sunday, September 25).

The UPA government will be committing a blunder if it dilutes the power of the army in Kashmir to appease the separatists, because that is exactly the aim of the Islamic militants — to drive a wedge between the army and the Indian state. The only thing that needs to be done in the present circumstances is to declare Emergency in the state and bring it under army control. We should emulate China and Sri Lanka in ruthlessly quelling insurgency.
— VVS Mani, Bengaluru

Hindu-Muslim unity
Apropos ‘Hindu-Muslim amity can’t be built on the basis of denial’, (DNA, September 30), the writer has very aptly pointed out the so-called secularists who gloss over the plight of Pandits from Kashmir who left their home and hearth to live in tents elsewhere. It may be pointed out that our country has witnessed communal strife and conflagration in the past. Interestingly, people who claim to have secular credentials never talk about it.

Yet the so-called secularists have selective amnesia where they keep harping about the Gujarat riots, but don’t talk about the burning of Sabarmati
Express which killed more than 62 kar sevaks. The day everybody, irrespective of their affiliation to religion is treated as human beings by the netas and secular brigade, without appeasement, communal flare-ups will vanish. One is waiting for this change with bated breath.
—HP Murali, Bangalore

Giving respect
World Elders Day is celebrated on October 1 every year to acknowledge that our elders are an
invaluable resource for their knowledge and their experience.

Also in 2007, the UN General Assembly decided to observe the International Day of Non-Violence each year on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of our Nation. The resolution asks all members to disseminate the message of non-violence through education and
public awareness.
— Nelson D’lima, via email