Vox pop

With reference to Barkha Dutt in Don’t wait for a crisis (Third Eye, March 2), the political differences between the Centre and the J&K government must be resolved as quickly as possible to ensure long-term peace in the state.

Put the Afzal Guru debate on hold and address other problems now
With reference to Barkha Dutt in Don’t wait for a crisis (Third Eye, March 2), the political differences between the Centre and the J&K government must be resolved as quickly as possible to ensure long-term peace in the state. Instead of continuously debating the legitimacy of Afzal Guru’s trial and the mercy petition, politicians should understand that they need to solve two other issues as quickly as possible: the boundary issue with Pakistan and terrorism. India has to be very careful once the American troops withdraw from Afghanistan and should start strengthening its intelligence and security apparatus.
-Subhash Vaid, via email

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The Centre’s decision to hang Afzal Guru has put J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah in a difficult situation, especially at a time when the residents of the Valley are already angry over a myriad other daily problems thanks to the decades-long insurgency. The situation has shown no improvement over the years and there is anguish among the youth over the presence of the army in the state. The Union government should take Abdullah into confidence and control the situation before it spirals out of control once again.
-CP Chinda, Delhi

Forgetting the other victims
Shreyas Navare’s cartoon (Big Deal, March 2) is brilliant. It is truly sad that the coverage of the rape and murder of three minor sisters in Bhandara was almost negligible as compared to the coverage of the December 16 Delhi rape case. While as a tribute to the 23-year-old Delhi gang-rape victim, the finance minister set up a R1,000 crore fund for safety and empowerment of women, his Cabinet colleague committed a gaffe by revealing names of the Bhandara victims in Parliament.
-T Bhattacharya, Bhopal