Letter of the WEEK

: Uttarakhand may be conducive to industry on account of its tax regime. However, in a letter earlier this week, Hara Lal Chakraborty from Kolkata argued that when taxes uniformly come down across the country, the industrial advantages of Uttarakhand will disappear.

• With only 200 acres of land, adjacent to the existing Tata Motors factory in Uttarakhnad, the Nano could have rolled out on schedule, without disturbance and at minimum cost. Then why did the Tatas choose Singur? In the near future, taxes and duties will come down throughout the country. It is then that such a plant in Uttarakhand will face the challenge of high transportation costs and other logistical problems. Uttarakhand is suitable for tourism, medicinal industries, educational institutes, sanatoriums, hydel plants, etc. Engineering plants will invite disaster for the state.

The Government should consider all these aspects before giving incentives to industry.

Direct entry

— H.S. Gur

Hisar

Utterly condemnable

• This refers to ‘Targeted by angry mob... Christians flee...’. Why are members of a community under assault being denied refuge by others? This is callous, barbaric and inhuman.

Indian hearts should explode with anger and shame after the rampage orchestrated by VHP activists. The police officers who passively observed the mob running amok must be taught a lesson. How can we expect the sheep to graze peacefully if the shepherds assist the wolves?

— Khan Yasir

New Delhi

Rebel without cause

• Mamata Banerjee is battling against development, voicing her concern for the “deprived” sections: in this case farmers supposedly demanding the return of their land or adequate compensation or unwilling to sell their land or whatever. The Singur saga will not end in the near future, unless the Tatas pull out. But what does Banerjee make of the undisputed acres? If the Tatas roll back, what would happen to those farmers who had willingly sold their land for the project and expected jobs at the plant? What about the ancillary industries, the supporting businesses? If the Tatas pull out, regardless of what happens to the CPM, Bengal will never forgive Mamata Banerjee for ruining the state for good.

... contd.