—Lakshya Gupta, New Delhi

Leadership sinking

* This refers to ‘After Patil’ and Jaithirth Rao’s ‘When they come again’. A system is only as good, or as bad, as the people who operate it. It has to do with human skills tied up with design and implementation. Our police and elite commandos have proved their competence. But what the nation lacks is political leadership equal to its

challenges.

—Y.G. Chouksey, Pune

Old vulnerability?

* This refers to the editorial ‘Common enemy’. Prudence demands that we desire a stable Pakistan, if only in our own interest. It will act as a buffer against the historically volatile Afghanistan and Central Asia. Invaders won’t come to India this way again perhaps, but the troubles of this region can spill over and destabilise the subcontinent as a whole.

—R. Narayanan, Ghaziabad

Melting pot

* A lot of harm has been caused to our country by perpetrators of violence and prophets of divisive politics. The Mumbai attacks were in a series of many that has plagued India in recent times. Be it serial blasts or Raj Thackeray’s violent chauvinism, India has suffered a lot of late. One evil that has silently plagued India is the growing sense of disillusionment with the idea of India. The point to start with can be a reform of the institution of marriage. Let us promote inter-communal, inter-religious and cross-regional marriages in India. Possibly this will be a revolutionary step that will allow various cultures, practices and beliefs to assimilate and amalgamate into an Indian identity. Most other means of curbing identity politics have failed us.

—Rajeev Kumar, New Delhi

In memoriam

* V.P. Singh’s zealous leadership at a time when India was being consumed by the post-Babri demolition violence should be remembered. The manner in which he “formed” and “gave up” his government at the altar of principles is a lesson for our pseudo-secularists, communalists and all opportunists. As a matter of fact, Singh never capitulated before forces that he believed were jeopardising Indian secularism.

—Khan Yasir, New Delhi