The bad omen

The bad omen
Earlier Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik dropped his alliance partner, the BJP because of Narendra Modi. And now the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar too finds him a millstone around his neck vis-a-vis the Muslim vote bank (‘Rocky alliance’, DNA, June 23). Some countries that hold human rights in high esteem too treat Modi as persona non grata. Instead of simply returning the flood relief money, it will be prudent for Kumar to snap all ties with the BJP in view of the Modi-Varun factor.
Kannur Rajan, Mumbai

Don’t preach hatred
Zakir Naik, the cleric banned in UK and Canada, has in the past, under the garb of promoting dialogues between religious communities, tried to undermine religious texts of other religions (‘UK bans radical Indian preacher’, DNA, June 19). He also advocated that Islam is the only exclusive religion and urged everyone to singularly follow the path of Allah. This has only spread discord. His recent ranting against the US and UK and justifying terrorist acts committed against these nations as god’s will, has only confirmed his communal leanings and hence the ban. Our own government should consider the same step to prevent such self-styled, pro-terrorism leaders from preaching hatred and to safeguard the nation’s internal security.
Manohar M Kamath, Mumbai
 
II
The Indian cricket team under the dynamic captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni deserves the nation’s warmest tributes for restoring its position as the ‘numero uno’ cricket team in Asia (‘No jinx, only joy, DNA, June 25). The Indian cricket team convincingly defeated the reigning champions Sri Lanka on their home ground. ‘Man of the match’ Dinesh Karthik deserves appreciation for scoring the highest runs and for taking the maximum catches. At last India’s pride has been restored as a superior cricketing nation!
Mehmood M Abdi, via email

Settle the matter
This is with reference to ‘HC strikes down best-of-5’ (DNA, June 24). The Bombay High Court ruling has nullified state education department’s best-of-5 rule. This unconvincing method has been criticised by everyone. It was callous on the part of education minister, Balasaheb Thorat, to have messed up the college admission process. For the past two years, we have had controversies like percentile system and 90:10 formulae. Prolonging the admission procedures means increasing the agony of the students and parents. Why can’t the education department set up a panel to settle the matter?
Deepak Chikramane, Mumbai
 
Frivolous appeals
Law minister M Veerappa Moily’s resolve to reduce the burgeoning number of court cases by making government an efficient and responsible litigant would be futile unless it is able to bridle its routine appeals (‘No more Bhopal-like delays, promises Moily’, DNA, June 24). In a recent case the Supreme Court had admonished them not to treat the service personnel so shabbily. Ignoring the reprimand they have again gone in appeal instead of undoing the great injustice done during the fourth pay commission as it came out in long-drawn legal battle waged by Major Dhanapalan. Will the law minister like to study the case and withdraw the frivolous appeal which the government is sure to lose?
Raghubir Singh, Pune
 
Lessons from BP oil spill
The oil leakage in the Gulf of Mexico and the resultant damage to several states in the US is enormous. India also has a lot of oil wells along its shores. How safe are they? Are those in charge of drilling adopting safety standards according to accepted international standards? Is there an independent authority to monitor and enforce these standards? It is time India learns its lessons from the BP tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico. If anything untoward happens, it may be a very heavy burden on the country’s economy. Will the petroleum ministry come out with a clear statement about facing such a situation?
K Venkataraman, Mumbai