Vox Pop

With reference to Samar Halarnkar's article Reimagining Kashmir (Maha Bharat, February 28), I don't think that we should attach too much importance to Australian writer Christopher Snedden's observations about Kashmir because they seem to be at variance with established historical facts.

A third party is not really welcome to the party as far as J&K goes
With reference to Samar Halarnkar's article Reimagining Kashmir (Maha Bharat, February 28), I don't think that we should attach too much importance to Australian writer Christopher Snedden's observations about Kashmir because they seem to be at variance with established historical facts.

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Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and the people of the state have actively participated in electoral processes and reaffirmed their faith in India.

Therefore, any suggestion for a third-party solution is unwarranted. To fully integrate the state, the government must remove Article 370, which grants special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir.
AK Bundi, via email

Getting things back on the rails
This refers to the editorial Time to circle the rail wagons (Our Take, February 27). Railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has presented a forward-looking and reformist budget but time alone will tell how beneficial it turns out in the long run.

The sad state of the Indian Railways is the result of decades of political interference and administrative weakness and this cannot be solved by an annual budget. However, one hopes that with Bansal's budget that chose pragmatism over populism, the ailing railways are heading for a safe journey.
Rajiv B Jain, via email

Keep politics out of economics
With reference to Samiran Chakraborty's article Recovery takes time (February 27), it is a bitter truth that a sagging economy takes time to bounce back and this is much more difficult when the budget is used as a political tool.

Though finance minister P Chidambaram has shown strong resolve to cut the fiscal deficit, one wonders whether this kind of budgetary provisions will stay in place after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Sandeep K Poswal, via email

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