• It’s good to know that India is trying to reopen the Stilwell Road (‘Project Stilwell’, IE, June 26). However, it’s necessary to link India’s Northeast strongly with the mainland through roads and railways. The Union government needs to address the “disconnect” between the region and the rest of the country in real time. The Northeast is cut off due to lack of transportation and trade, cultural differences and extremism. Militants like the ULFA haven’t helped either. But immediate focus is required on transport and infrastructure. The real transportation bottleneck is of course the “chicken’s neck” linking the Northeast to West Bengal. While Kolkata has air links with Agartala over Bangladesh, it’s a pity surface transport through Bangladesh to the Northeast is not possible as of now; but if the current state of relations between India and Bangladesh last, that may not be wishful thinking.

On the other hand, reopening a road like the Stilwell or Ledo Road without integrating the Northeast with the country may be dangerous. India must endeavour to put the region firmly on its national map first, before opening it up to its neighbours.

— Raghu Seshadri

Chennai

Emergency legacy

• The genesis of the Emergency was Indira Gandhi’s intention to circumvent the Allahabad high court judgment against her (‘Remembering Emergency...’, IE, June 26). But what she unleashed nearly destroyed Indian democracy and the Constitution. Her defeat in 1977 was fortunate for the country as it effectively precluded a recurrence of the Emergency. But the Janata government predictably bungled and again it was fortunate that Gandhi returned. In retrospect, the Emergency also paved the way for coalition governments at the Centre, which would however take hold only after another single-party landslide in 1984.

... contd.