• The de-linking of terror from bilateral talks with Pakistan is shocking. One wonders if the UPA has just made a Himalayan political (to say nothing of security) blunder by agreeing to something so not in sync with ordinary Indians. India hasn’t given “more than an inch”, it has given miles to Pakistan. Was the PM so influenced by generosity of spirit that his government had to bend to the domestic political concerns of the Pakistani civilian leadership? And just what excuses the inclusion of Balochistan in the joint statement? Pakistan, of course, will prove as hopeless or unwilling as ever in addressing India’s terror concerns.

— Hemant A. Sant

Vadodara

Nasty, brutish & crude

• The editorial ‘Coarse correction’ rightly condemns UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi’s revolting remarks against UP CM Mayawati. Joshi was crude and indiscreet and her words should have serious repercussions for her political career. That’s in the Congress’s court. However, one also feels that Mayawati has been let off lightly. She has felt no compunction in using her authority to settle personal and political scores. It’s time she stopped acting as an autocrat.

— M. Ratan New Delhi

Win-win for Congress

• The Congress must take exemplary action against Rita Bahuguna Joshi. She has been too coarse in her remarks, which would shame any self-respecting democratic polity. The party cannot come to her defence. In fact, this is an opportunity for the Congress to consolidate itself in UP and demonstrate to the people of the state, particularly Mayawati’s core constituencies, that the party is theirs. Besides, it can also exploit Mayawati’s highhandedness in using the state machinery to settle scores, even as it punishes Joshi.

... contd.