Enemy within & without

Sir, - Mr. V. Krishna Ananth's scathing attack on the NDA Government (``The ISI bogey'', The Hindu,Feb. 4) for ``blaming'' the Inter-Services Intelligence for all its lapses is unwarranted. His article reads like a handout from Gen. Pervez Musharraf's PRO protesting the ISI innocence and accusing India of harbouring unholy thoughts about Pakistan. I am astonished at the baseless allegations of war-mongering made against a government, whose Prime Minister suo motuundertook a goodwill journey by bus to meet his counterpart in Pakistan and paved the way for a dialogue.

The disruptive activities of the ISI are not a new phenomenon invented by the NDA regime. They were there in noticeable intensity ever since Pakistan suffered defeats in the 1965 and 1971 wars. The ISI colluded with secessionist forces in Punjab, north-east and Assam and its role in training mercenaries in the Kashmir Valley has never been a secret. The hijacking of the Indian Airlines plane on December 24 last has exposed Pakistan's nefarious activities against this country to the world.

K. Krishna Kurup,

Kayamkulam (Kerala)

Sir, - This is in no way a brief for the ISI. In fact, its activities force us to think over the security system of the state as well the capability of our leadership. The leaders, cutting across party lines, have lost the moral right to rule the country. Lakhs of security guards and intelligence agents are just working for getting their salary. They have no responsibility.

How did the Mumbai riots take place and subsequently how were arms and ammunition imported? How did the Purulia armsdrop happen? Nobody has to answer these questions. Only the ``accused and culprits'' have to bear the burden. The words ``responsibility'' and ``duty'' are no longer cherished in our country.

Innocent people are arrested and booked for various anti-national activities. In the first week of January 2000, 11 ``ISI agents'' from Jammu and Kashmir were arrested in Hyderabad. Later it turned out that they were poor people who went there to collect alms in the month of Ramadan. In the name of security of state, every act of the Government goes unchallenged.

And the ruling elite covers up its failures. Indira Gandhi blamed each failure of her Government on ``outside hand'' and the CIA. It is easy to identify and kick out the external enemy. But it is very difficult to know about the problems in our midst!

Moinuddin Khan,

New Delhi

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