Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Malegaon blasts

The report that a few relatives of the Malegaon blast victims refused to accept the token ex gratia of Rs.25,000 saying the Government had not kept its promise of even providing a decent hospital to the town, perhaps because it is inhabited largely by Muslims (Sept. 10), shows that the people are seeing through the games of politicians. What the citizens want is efficient, responsive, and corruption-free governance, not money, in their hour of crisis.

K. Brunda,
Salem, T.N.

The tolerant Muslims of Malegaon have rightly emulated their Varanasi Hindu brethren in defeating the motive of the perpetrators of the mindless, inhuman violence. The Muslims' feeling of official neglect should be addressed and proper civic infrastructure provided to the marginalised town. More damage seems to have been done to the secular fabric by the exploiters of terror acts than the terrorists themselves.

Sambi Reddy Endreddy,
Hyderabad

The Malegaon blasts have once again shaken the whole nation. But this time the target was the community that has been eyed with suspicion after every blast. The blasts have proved that terrorists do not target people belonging to any community but the entire humanity.

Mohammed Amin Mir,
Sopore, J&K

The police failed to read the ominous signs. They should have anticipated the blasts in such a sensitive town as Malegaon. We should focus on neutralising the symptoms, which include lack of basic civic amenities, rather than raising a hollow cry after every act of terror. The media can help in identifying volatile places and raise an alarm before the actual storm strikes.

V.G. Bijoy Philip,
Chennai

One more blast with 31 dead, several injured, and an air of despondency everywhere. The official reaction has been on familiar lines — that it is a cowardly act, and we should all bear it with equanimity. The man on the street wonders what the bold and valiant steps taken to avert the acts of cowardice are. Is protecting citizens' lives not the primary duty of the government? Alas, nothing in our system compels politicians to fulfil their responsibilities.

M.L. Kantha Rao,
Hyderabad

The editorial "Lessons from Malegaon" (Sept. 11) rightly says the investigation should be even-handed and make a swift breakthrough. But the problem of the police is that they are under pressure to procrastinate rather than get to the bottom of any crime, be it the Naxalite problem in Andhra Pradesh, the Ujjain episode in which a professor died recently, the Mumbai bomb blasts or the blasts in Malegaon. They are unable to nab the principal culprits of any major crime. The need of the hour is to end political interference in crime investigation.

M.K.D. Prasada Rao,
Ghaziabad, U.P.

The media, particularly television, pass judgments without any proof and implicate Muslims in acts of terror. Let the investigating agencies do their work and establish the identity of the culprits. Media speculation is not a healthy practice.

A. Mohamed Aslam,
Madurai

The article "Malegaon: the road to perdition" (Sept. 9) seemed to have been written in a hurry and was similar to the analysis aired on the 24/7 news channels whenever an incident takes place. It was based on `ifs' and `buts'. The writers themselves do not seem to be very sure of their prognosis.

Ashish Kumar Jha,
Varanasi, U.P.

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