Reform their minds

Sir, - Your Editorial ``The naxalite menace'' (The Hindu, March 14), throws light on dealing with certain vital issues pertaining to the eradication of the guerilla warfare being waged by the extremists and how to save the precious lives of countless innocent people, enthusiastic politicians and duty-conscious police personnel.

You have rightly mentioned that it is not merely a law and order problem and that the naxalite menace cannot be wiped out simply by banning certain militant groups or by gunning down as many extremists as possible in the name of encounters, and that the basic socio-economic issues such as poverty, unemployment, corruption, social inequality and economic deprivation, which the extremists seem to be exploiting, should be tackled urgently by implementing down-to-earth reforms.

Your Editorial has missed to mention one basic issue of reforming the minds of the extremists and bringing them to the mainstream to live in peace and with prosperity. It can only be done by enlightening their minds and touching their hearts.

For this the media can do wonders by throwing light on the after- effects of militant violence and the untold misery of the members of the affected families. They too are human beings but they have trodden this steep dangerous path because they are bent upon taking vengeance on the corrupt.

T. P. S. Sastry,

Hyderabad

Sir, - The observation in the Editorial that A. Madhava Reddy ``did not pay heed to the warnings and take extra precautions'' is not entirely correct. Howsoever careful a VIP might be, it is not always possible to escape every single plot of the extremists.

Unless the naxal menace is ruthlessly crushed, the possibility of recurrence of such incidents cannot be avoided.

The naxalites have earned popular disgust by killing the Minister. The appeals made to them time and again to give up the misguided path of mindless violence and join the mainstream unfortunately have not kindled any sane thinking in the minds of many naxalites. Ordinary laws are insufficient to deal with terrorism and a law on the lines of TADA is required to tackle it effectively.

Avuthu Srihari,

Secunderabad

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