A dictator’s mind n Shekhar Gupta’s ‘Junta versus Janata' and General V.P. Malik’s ‘Moment of the Army’ offered illuminating insights into the mind of dictator Pervez Musharraf. Both these pieces talked of the pitfalls of being a prime minister or a minister under such dictators. Musharraf sees the prime minister and other members of the cabinet as dummies of a ventriloquist. That is what he expected even of an Indian prime minister, in this case A.B.

Vajpayee, and he thought he could wrap up an agreement at the Agra Summit in a jiffy. As he twisted the Constitution of his country out of shape while he declared Emergency late last year, just to facilitate his re-election, Musharraf thought nothing of the processes of democracy, let alone the sanctity of the Constitution.

— M.K.D. Prasada Rao

Ghaziabad

Fair criticism

• To err is human. But when arbitrators who are experts at passing judgments on the proceedings of a match are suspected of having erred in their decisions, they are bound to come in for some stick. Especially when it is a game of cricket and the national side is vying for honours, playing against the best team in the world. The umpires need to be cautioned against passing evidently horrendous decisions in this age of highly sophisticated electronic gadgetry, where every verdict of theirs comes under public scrutiny. Such attitudes will only result in friendly ties turning into wars.

— Pachu Menon

... contd.