Saved by God

Renuka Narayanan?s The Golden gate to Samarkand (June 24) on Hafiz tempts me to share two anecdotes that I heard on a visit to Hafiz?s tomb at Shiraz.

Renuka Narayanan’s The Golden gate to Samarkand (June 24) on Hafiz tempts me to share two anecdotes that I heard on a visit to Hafiz’s tomb at Shiraz. The story goes that the ruler Timurlane was infuriated by Hafiz’s verse, which talked disparagingly of throwing away the cities of Samarkand and Bokhara for the black mole on the cheek of his beloved. But Hafiz quickly defused the ruler’s anger by saying that the last words of the verse were not ‘Samarkand’ and ‘Bokhara’, but ‘Sih man qando no khurmara’, meaning three maunds of sugar and two dates. Another version is that Hafiz’s friends placated Timurlane by telling him that Hafiz meant not his beloved damsel but beloved God.

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TR Andhyarujina
New Delhi

Follow law of land

Apropos the editorial Stop police! (June 30), the police in our country tend to abuse the law and lack a sense of accountability towards society. Incidents of custodial deaths and torture are a direct fallout of this. Fact is that many policemen are but criminals-in-uniform, even authorised goondas, who wield absolute power that corrupts them absolutely. The law can’t be allowed to become an instrument of tyranny.

Abdullah Khan
Aligarh

A disturbing development

In his article Not quite there yet (June 30), Prem Shankar Jha has skillfully drawn out the contradiction on Kashmir. Kashmiri people’s greater participation in elections is definitely a sign of pro-peace and an India-reconciliation attitude, but the average Kashmiri is fearful of the consequences. It is a fact that the average Kashmiri is, by nature, timid and unable to deal with the militancy which is still controlled by a handful of locals.

By joining processions and endorsing diktats spelt out in mosques, he is simply buying peace for himself and his family. Remove the fear and one will find that the Kashmiri Muslim is secular.

Parvez Nabi
via e-mail

II

Prem Shankar Jha has twice drawn parallels between Kashmir and Iraq. He says a large section of Kashmiris still consider India as a brutal power and themselves as subjects of the Indian imperium. If this were correct, it should be a big jolt to the moral basis of our stand on Kashmir. Our indifference to the alienation of the people may have serious consequences. If the clock has really begun to run backwards, it is indeed a disturbing development.

RK Malhotra
Delhi

Shedding crocodile tears

The cunning move of the LTTE in expressing regret over the killing of Rajiv Gandhi is deplorable and deserves to be condemned. The good gesture by the then Indian government in response to the Sri Lankan government’s request in sending Indian troops to restore peace in the strife-torn Sri Lanka was spurned.
In an expression of anguish at the induction of the Indian troops into their homeland, a Sri Lankan naval member of the ceremonial guard had flung his rifle butt aiming to harm Rajiv Gandhi. So, any talk of reconciliation or regret now is tantamount to shedding crocodile tears.

PP Talwar
via e-mail

No way ahead

Sitaram Yechury in response to Samrat’s CPI(Muddled) (June 15) failed to address the points raised by Samrat. He admits that even after five decades, the status of SCs/ STs has not changed. It is a fact that the ‘creamy layer’ of these communities garners all opportunities offered by reservation. This has created an elite class.

Instead of asking for further reservation, a Marxist should demand reservation of economically backward classes that will cover all the economically deprived people irrespective of caste, creed or religion.

SC Dutt
via e-mail

Spare the DMRC

There is a tug of war going on between Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) over building commercial complexes and sharing of revenues accrued from advertising in the Metro’s properties.

The MCD has not made life easy for Delhiites. They should at least spare DMRC which has brought a semblance of good living conditions in Delhi.

HK Pandey
Delhi

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