Attack in Mumbai and New York

Sir: In Mandavi Mehta’s ‘‘Quick ’n’ macho solutions won’t do’’ it was described how a group of Indian Americans had issued an e-mail with the ‘‘gleeful subtext’’ that Pakistan had fallen out of favour and it was time for India to capitalize on this. I am a New Yorker, and I lost touch with a family member in the city for several hours on the day of the attacks. It was not a ‘‘gleeful’’ time for me. I was also one of those involved in drafting the e-mail you write of. While my reaction to Tuesday’s events was not one of “glee”, it is certainly one of vindication for India’s stand.

I have lived in two of the world’s largest metropoles - Mumbai and New York - at a time when each faced the most horrendous terrorist attack in its history. I am utterly convinced that the Pakistani government, Inter Services Intelligence and terrorist cells were intimately involved in planning and executing both of them. I believe it is the responsibility of every Indian to expose the nature of that involvement before the rest of the world. If we do not, Pakistani terrorism in India will certainly continue unabated.

— KARTIK MOHAN
New York

Need to educate

Sir: I certainly would not describe Sunil Jain’s expectations in ‘‘Brothers against Islamic Terror’’ (September 15) as completely rational. Voting a party into power does not mean a job done for the citizens of the land. All the citizens of India know that the economic crisis has occurred because a) Most Indian citizens do not pay their taxes, very few people are honest about this; b) The average Indian citizen promotes corruption and cheats the country; c) Truth and justice do not mean a lot to people who have to walk 30 kms to get muddy and infected water for drinking and washing.

Agreed, that the politicians are not doing their job well. But then look at the people they are governing. A corrupt and an immoral society will always vote for a corrupt and immoral government. The “pledge” that we read in school books is just another “thing” on one of the pages of the books that is to be ignored because it does not get you marks! This is democracy. We need to educate the people of India. Unless this is done, we are in deep trouble. We have to help ourselves with or without the government.

— ANIRUDDHA PHATAK
On e-mail

Rise in racism

Sir: I read Shekhar Gupta’s article ‘‘Television Tutorial’’ (September 15) with great interest. In fact, having been in the US for past many years and in India for three years during which the hijacking incident took place, I feel I can offer a slightly different perspective. Most Americans have expressed a strong and immediate sentiment to bomb some country in a big way. Also, being an Indian, I have felt the sudden change in the way mutual glances have changed hue and an increase in ugly incidents of racial discrimination and hate crime of late. As is widely known, American media is usually self-centric and the public fairly uneducated about cultural nuances around the globe. How else then is one to justify the murder of a Sikh in Arizona primarily for his turban.

As for Intelligence failures, there has been a lot of talk and analysis and there have been calls for CIA Director George Tenet’s resignation. Alas, the intelligence community has squarely laid the blame for this incident on their reduced powers after the Rockfeller Commission recommendations in the 60’s.

— ATUL ARORA
On e-mail

Sir: The reason that the US population an politicians don’t create a shrill response, as Shekhar Gupta argued in ‘‘Television Tutorial’’, because the justice system is very efficient in the US. The people have confidence in it. Note the statement of the US leaders: we would bring those people to justice. But in India, the justice system is almost non-existent. There is no one prosecuted nor punishments are strong. For example, in India, you can kill 100 people and IF you are caught, you will just get life imprisonment (that would take 20 years to decide). Unless the Indian justice system and laws become as efficient as the US, no one is going to have confidence.

— DEEPAK DATTA
On e-mail