Naxalites are terrorists

The PM urging Chief Ministers not to blame the entire Muslim community (PM: Don?t cut out Muslims, September 6) for terrorism is a positive sign.

The PM urging Chief Ministers not to blame the entire Muslim community (PM: Don’t cut out Muslims, September 6) for terrorism is a positive sign. However, he repeatedly used the terms ‘terrorism’ and ‘Naxals’ separately. Does he mean Naxals are not terrorists? Terrorism includes Naxal violence and communalism.

AM Rehan
via e-mail

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II

Manmohan Singh has adopted the right stance by emphasising that the acts of terrorists do not constitute a basis for maligning an entire community. No doubt, the feeling of insecurity among Muslims is increasing because the whole community has been targeted on the basis of only some individual terrorists’ acts.

Mohsin Atique Khan
Delhi

III

The Prime Minister’s address to the CMs conveys the impression that he was more concerned with the ‘concerns’ of the Muslim community than with tackling terrorism sincerely. Was it out of fear of Muslim clerics?

Harshita Choudhary
Jaipur

Change the mindset

In his article Of alarms & an anniversary(September 6), Manoj Joshi tried to compare India with other terror-affected countries like the US and Britain. In fact, the ideology of terrorism in India is entirely different from that in the West. Muslims were never discriminated against in India. They have all the rights that a Hindu does — the right to vote, the right to freedom of speech, and so on.

Pravesh Khatri
Delhi

Bridging the divide

Student violence is on the rise because now there’s a greater struggle to survive and succeed. This has brought in new unrests, resulting in a breakdown of old value systems. Teachers and students have to adapt to new roles. Students will have to view the teacher as a guide. And teachers must discard hierarchies to speak a language students understand.

Usha Narinder Singh
Solan

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