No rule of law

You have raised a number of questions in your editorial (‘Going berserk, bit by bit’, IE, March 19) but answered them only partially. You have not touched upon the basic malady that plagues our nation — scant regard for the rule of law that emanates from our faulty judicial system. It is no use quoting from the Constitution when the very people who are chosen to implement its provisions flout it with impunity.

Yours is a wild guess about what plagues the mind of the average citizen. What plagues the average citizen is our judicial system, which has failed the people. There are now more than two crore civil and one crore criminal cases pending. Apart from judicial reforms, we should aim at removing procedural bottlenecks, unnecessary and frequent judicial adjournments and appoint an adequate number of judges at the district and tehsil levels.

There is need to change the system of appointment of judges to ensure that only the best are elevated to the bench. A national judicial commission should be set up for this purpose. Further, independence of the judiciary is a basic feature of the Constitution and to achieve it, a mechanism may be evolved to reduce its financial dependence on the executive.
— S.C.N. JATAR
Pune

The seeds of lunacy were planted in 1992, by the evil trio of the RSS, the BJP and the VHP at Ayodhya. The cruel irony of the anarchy perpetrated by the trio, is that the BJP managed to secure enough votes to form a coalition government, due to its use of the Hindu religious card. Now the law breakers of 1992 constitute the Government of India and there is no one to press charges against these lawless groups who incited the mobs at Ayodhya.
— ARVIND AMIN
On e-mail

Unfair attack

There has been a lot of criticism as to why Air Marshal Sekhon used political influence to try to become AOC-in-C of Western Air Command of IAF. Well, there is nothing new here. In the past, many high-ranking defence officials have used political influence to get promotions and job transfers. Having lived in Canada and US for quite some time, I learnt that this kind of political influence is prevalent there as well (General Tommy Franks is President Bush’s close friend and he was promoted recently) and I don’t see anything wrong in that. Air Marshal Sekhon gave almost 40 years of his life to the IAF, he was also one of our ace pilots and won many medals. He doesn’t deserve to be dismissed or discharged or be made to retire voluntarily. He belongs to Punjab, I think perhaps he wanted to spend the last few months of his career as AOC-in-C of Western Command and, quite frankly, I think he deserved to.
— JAS DHALIWAL
Ludhiana

Shocking

What has happened at the assembly building at Bhubaneswar is absolutely shocking (‘Question time, Orissa’, IE, March 19). It was just horrible watching hundreds of VHP and Bajrang Dal supporters storming the assembly building and intimidating the people inside. What is happening to our country? Are the members of the saffron brigade taking over? By attacking democracy’s symbol, these fascist forces have lived up to their true nature.
— HAMEED JUNG
Delhi

A pat for Atal

Prime Minister Vajpayee deserves full marks for his handling of the Ayodhya issue — he was both firm and tactful. He has thus succeeded in defusing an otherwise highly volatile situation. The VHP and the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas have also show maturity, perhaps under the pressure of circumstances, in shelving their earlier plans and restricting their activity to a shiladaan, that too outside the acquired land. Now is the time for all parties to the dispute — Hindu, Muslim and the government — to arrive at a reasonable settlement. A negotiated settlement will be preferable to a court verdict, as only the former will satisfy both the Hindus and the Muslims to the maximum extent possible. Let the wise people in the two communities perform their duty in the interest of national peace.
— JOGINDRA LAL JAGGI
Ghaziabad