Double trouble

Double trouble

* This refers to 'Them versus them' (IE, January 5) by Shekhar Gupta. He is so right — a siege either ends in battle and bloodshed or a breach of the barricades. Neither is a great situation. Given the rising number of young unemployed in India, the ruling and the governing classes both have deep cause to worry if they are not looking at the greater good.

— Meera Gandhi

New Delhi

Protector attacked

* CASES of assault on policemen have been on the rise in various parts of India, particularly in Punjab ('Akali leader's son roughs up SHO, arrested', IE, January 9). On January 7, Jagdish Singh, son of a Shiromani Akali Dal leader from Fatehgarh Sahib, attacked an SHO and his team at the Amloh checkpost for stopping Jagdish, who was travelling in an inebriated condition. The policemen overpowered and arrested him and his companion. Recently, an assistant sub-inspector who was trying to protect his daughter from harassment by another senior Akali leader was shot dead by the latter in Amritsar. Frequent assaults on policemen, particularly by members of the ruling party, indicate a disturbing trend.

— R.J. Khurana

Bhopal

Tax well spent

* THIS refers to 'Wrong answer' (IE, January 9). India is a developing country and entrepreneurship is key. If a discouraging tax policy is adopted, development will suffer. Also, the taxpayer's money is often wasted and misused. Before expecting people to pay taxes, the government needs to assure them that their money will be well utilised.

— Anchit Mathur

New Delhi

Middle path

* THOSE demanding the death penalty for rapists seem to be unsure whether the law should be based on the principle of deterrence or revenge ('BJP suggests death penalty for gangrape', IE, January 10). While the former is debatable, the latter seems a savage form of justice. The opponents of the death penalty want the principle of repentance to be the basis of justice, but this might not act as an effective deterrent. The lawmakers are faced with the complex problem of finding a middle path.

... contd.

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