Darkness at noon

Nandigram’s repercussions will be widespread. The usurping of poor peasants’ land by the Left Front government is a shame for the CPI(M).

Apropos of Barkha Dutt’s article Blood on the soil (March 17), the sight of two women trying to carry away a man injured in the police firing at Nandigram and a policeman raining lathis on them was pathetic. Nandigram’s repercussions will be widespread. The usurping of poor peasants’ land by the Left Front government is a shame for the CPI(M).

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Arjun Narain Jaiswal
Patna

II

How can a state government acquire land without the farmers’ consent? How can it act like a land mafia in the garb of a capitalist stooge to deprive a farming community of its legitimate land holdings? The Marxist leadership seeks to replicate the Chinese model in India without realising that in China there is no freedom of expression or the right to dissent. Ii is ironic that a party that once rode on the popularity of safeguarding the interests of its peasantry has turned its foe.

DP Ganguly
Delhi

III

The killing of villagers by the Left Front government reveals the devil under the veil. For decades, they have broken the backbone of industry in the state in the name of trade union movement. Now they claim to be messiahs of industrialisation.

When Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee took chief ministership of the state, we saw a flicker of hope. He and his party should learn from history that all autocrats have a sad ending.

Sandip Mukhorji
via e-mail

IV

It is immaterial whether there is a UPA or an NDA government at the Centre, because in both cases, it is the common man who gets tortured for no fault of his. Killing innocent people in the name of SEZs to revive the flagging career of few political leaders is inhuman. Why deprive the farmers of their own land to please foreign investors and big industrialists?

GK Arora
Delhi

V

The Nandigram carnage is a grim reminder of how crude our policy objectives are even after 60 years of independence. It is an eye-opener for those who believe in the rationality of the fast-growing Indian economic machine. We have become prisoners of technocratic principles and theories. While the pros and cons of the SEZ policy are still being debated, governments are trying to woo private investors at any cost.

Dipan Anjaria
Mumbai

Stress busters

With reference to Namita Bhandare’s report Successful, loaded and stressed (March 17), stress in the workplace is also increased by infrastructure issues and improper HR policies to bust stress. People get into cut-throat competition instead of realising that we are all in the same boat. Collaboration rather than competition should be the mantra, and better facilities, along with a good pay package would go a long way to ease stress.

Shrikant Sundaram
via e-mail

Disabled-unfriendly Delhi

Apropos of Aasheesh Sharma’s report Delhi’s monumental blunders down the ages (March 17), there is need for customised mobility equipment like powered wheelchairs, lifts etc. not only in heritage places but other areas like banks, hospitals, amusement parks and railway stations.

Bhargav Sundaram
Chennai

II

I saw a disabled youngster on crutches, despairingly looking at the steep steps of the Lotus (Baha’i) Temple. Temples, along with historical monuments, government buildings and homes, too should have easier access for challenged individuals.

Premendra Singh
Delhi

The terror trail

Manoj Joshi’s analysis Martial artist (March 21) is timely. The world has seen the Pakistan military ruler’s attitude at the Agra summit. His supporters are now putting pressure on him to cleanse Pakistan’s soil of terror activities. This is the reason the ‘artist’ shows a change in his attitude. India must tread cautiously during Indo-Pak dialogues.

Murari Chaturvedi
Delhi

Act strictly

Manoj Joshi truly depicts Musharraf’s manipulative tactics to keep himself in power. How can a terrorist and a victim make common cause? To see the General and Pakistan separately is folly. If we refrain from taking action against Pakistan out of fear of the reaction of Indian Muslim, there will be no end to our miseries.

Shanti Bhushan
Noida

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