Right message, wrong method

With reference to Barkha Dutt’s article What a flip-flop (Third eye, April 11), any shoe-throwing protest should be discouraged.

Right message, wrong method
With reference to Barkha Dutt’s article What a flip-flop (Third eye, April 11), any shoe-throwing protest should be discouraged. It was perhaps just an emotional outburst on the journalist’s part, meant to be a message to all politicians on the lack of speedy justice in our country. What definitely can’t be ignored is that there has been procrastination in bringing people like Jagdish Tytler and others responsible for inciting riots against Sikhs to justice. There is definitely enough evidence to provoke such anger from the Sikh community.
Aman Buttan, via email

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II
Barkha Dutt seems to have forgotten that in the 1984 riots, hundreds of innocents were killed and even children were not spared. It was total anarchy as the police, government machinery and politicians all turned against unarmed Sikhs. No action worth the name was taken against anybody. The shoe-throwing incident was just to protest in a small way because civil society continues to protect these criminals who are being awarded with election tickets. The writer should not forget the original injustice for which the Congress is responsible.
HS Bhatia, Gurgaon

III
Barkha Dutt has rightly stated that it took a shoe-thrower to stop the Congress from giving tickets to the accused in the 1984 riots. We do not support such means of protests in a democracy. All political parties should be careful while fielding candidates and must avoid giving tickets to people who have in any way hurt the sentiments of any community. Both the people and the ministers must understand that all of us have some rights, be it the common man or a minister, and these rights must be respected.
Mani Raj, Patna

IV
It was shocking to see a journalist indulging in such hooliganism. Jarnail Singh has apologised only for his act, not for the sentiments behind it. Yet, the magnanimity shown by P. Chidambaram was a sensible, amid an atmosphere that was overcharged due to the elections. If one wants justice to be meted out, one has to listen to the accused too, before holding him guilty. But to say that the 2002 Gujarat riots were the mirror image of the massacre of Sikhs is not right as these two incidents are not comparable.
Shanti Bhushan, Ghaziabad

V
It’s unfortunate that a journalist threw a shoe at the Home Minister. Only the courts can take a final decision on the matter of Tytler’s guilt. But then our laws seem only to apply to poor citizens as politicians continue to feel they are above them. Even when the law is applied to these politicians, the end result in most cases is negative.
Mahesh Kumar, Delhi

Liberty is not licence
It seems Pratik Kanjilal in Watch it Beijing, here it comes (Speakeasy, April 11) is justifying the shoe-throwing incident. Such actions cannot be justified under any circumstances. If these things are not nipped in the bud, anyone can throw whatever comes in handy at any forum and expect their actions to be justified. We are living in a civilised society and must show some decorum at least in public.
Jayalakshmi, Delhi

View from the Valley
With reference to Neelesh Misra’s article A Lone ranger (April 14), isn’t it fashionable to always blame India? Having a mansion in London and travelling on government-sponsored trips and yet calling their passports mere pieces of paper is nothing but shameful. I feel the Taliban are far better than them as they are at least clear regarding their policies, decisions and deeds. The writer must visit my house and have some meagre daal with roti to realise what elections mean. We regard passports as valid Indian documents and our pride. I request the author not to persist with such biased writing.
Veer Ji Wangoo, via email