This refers to ‘Buddha on his knees, Mamata on their side, Maoists seize Rajdhani’ (IE, October 28). It has become an everyday occurrence in some corner of India where protestors damage public and private property, burn railway coaches, trucks, buses etc. These problems can be solved by dialogue only, not through violence. The government must not compromise or accept unjustified demands. One could liken these attacks to acts of terrorism to the Taliban regime. It is high time the government tackled this problem through a permanent solution.

— M. Kumar

New Delhi

It is time to wake up to the Naxal threat; it is very real and very serious. The hijacking of the Rajdhani Express leaves no scope for complacency on the issue. It was just a day earlier when the home minister sermonised the Maoists asking them to give up their path of violence and come forth towards a resolution. One now questions why a powerful Indian military can not subdue the Maoists.

— R.J. Khurana

Bhopal

By their own token

It is indeed ironic that no rival political party has caused as much damage to the BJP as its own leaders have (‘Elegy for the BJP’, IE, October 25). Following the exit of Atal Bihari Vajpayee from politics and the defeats at both parliamentary and assembly levels, the mediocre, provincial and power hungry leaders have thrust the BJP into the political wilderness. Note how the present president of the party has never been known for his political skills. Political ineptitude, lack of internal democracy and absence of free and open debates mark the period of Rajnath Singh’s leadership of the BJP.

... contd.