• This is with reference to your editorial ‘Batla and Ishrat’ (September 11) which is not only unfortunate, but also facetious. The fact that the MHA informed the Gujarat police about their suspicion that Javed Sheikh was associated with the LeT has been turned into a certainty. The Gujarat police, instead of investigating the matter, went in for the “kill”. Thus the real issue is sidelined. That the UPA government is trying to extract mileage from this incident cannot distract from the much larger issue of the role of the Gujarat government and its police force in hunting down Muslims on mere suspicion. That the law ministry is investigating the role of the law officer who submitted the affidavit then becomes an imperative. On what basis did the law officer and the MHA confirm that Ishrat and three others were LeT members? And even if they were, how come they were killed after apprehending them two days earlier?

Is it true that the IB was involved in a sting operation to ensnare Javed Sheikh? To gloss over all this and to accuse the law ministry of “political opportunism” is to legitimise the use of encounters by the Gujarat police for self-gratification and for feeding into the anti-Muslim hatred so central to the Hindutva perspective.

— Gautam Navlakha

New Delhi

This letter was incorrectly edited and printed on September 12. We sincerely apologise.

— Editor

The Pakistan problem

• It’s hard to believe that men like Mahmud Ali Durrani do exist in Pakistan, more so when they stand by their word. Durrani’s admission that Ajmal Kasab is a Pakistani national had cost him his job. But one wonders how he can now help the Indo-Pak peace process. Pakistan sticks out as a state in total disarray, whose leaders’ utterances cannot be taken at face value. Besides, Pervez Musharraf has admitted that he diverted US aid to arm Pakistan against India. How will it ever be possible to negotiate peace with such a state?

... contd.