•The tragedy of Tibet is that the world cares less for millions of Tibetans, deprived of sovereignty and cultural freedom, than for trade ties with China. So nobody would even hint at the Tibetan issue lest they upset the Chinese government, and thereby lose lucrative contracts. The Dalai Lama has repeatedly clarified his demand of an autonomous Tibet under China, but this doesn’t satisfy the Chinese authorities. If the Chinese government has nothing to hide in Tibet why has it cut the region off from the world’s eyes by blocking communications, including the internet?

— Sham Sankar

Trivandrum

Empire buys back

• Ratan Tata is defying gravity. He is on a roll, acquiring one British company after another. First it was the Tetley tea brand, then came the acquisition of Corus steel, and now, Tata has bought the Jaguar and the Land Rover from Ford. One wonders if this is a case of the erstwhile colony striking back?

— Sarat Pattanayak

Bhubaneswar

Himalayan feat

• The people of Bhutan must be congratulated on successfully beginning the transformation of their country from a Himalayan kingdom to a full-fledged democratic state. Democracy will hopefully make Bhutan a more stable and powerful nation in the coming years.

The United States, which always loudly champions the cause of democracy in the Middle East, should learn something from Bhutan. It should note that the Bhutanese have been able to introduce democracy without shedding a drop of blood.

— Saad Ullah Khan

... contd.