Leader in the making

Sir — The quick acceptance of Omar Abdullah as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, giving up the three-year rotational model, was an excellent gesture on the part of the Congress (“Sonia steps in, anoints Omar”, Dec 31). Abdullah is a pragmatic leader with an agenda that is inclusive. The Congress should give him its full support and a free hand to rule the state. It is also significant that Abdullah has expressed his unwillingness to induct tainted Congressman, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, into his cabinet. His decision should bring the focus on the conduct of Muslims in public life.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader, Mohammad Shahbuddin, was sentenced for murder. Muslim clerics were quick to declare Zaheera Sheikh, the witness in the Best Bakery case, an outcast for her alleged perjury, and ostracize the actor, Salman Khan for doing Ganesh puja. Then why should the misdemeanours of Muslims politicians go unnoticed? Hopefully, Abdullah’s uncompromising stand would set new ethical standards for the community.

Yours faithfully,
Mookhi Amir Ali, Mumbai

Sir — In the midst of continuing violence in Jammu and Kashmir, the look of triumph on the face of newly-elected chief minister, Omar Abdullah, brings in a ray of hope to the people of the state. The swearing in of a charismatic, well-educated and committed leader like Abdullah confirms the people’s trust in enthusiastic young leaders with a clean record.

Keeping the results of the assembly polls in mind, political leaders of the country preparing for the forthcoming general elections should realize that people can no longer be fooled with empty promises. They want effective leaders rather than a bunch of corrupt and self-serving individuals, who are only interested in exploiting the common man.

Yours faithfully,
Jayanta Banerjee, Jalpaiguri

Bitter fruit

Sir — In his article, “In violent slow motion” (Jan 8), Mukul Kesavan should have discussed in detail the six points of contention between Israel and Palestine: the status of Jerusalem, ownership of the Temple Mount or the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the resettlement of Palestinian refugees, clearing the Jewish settlements on West Bank, vacating the Golan Heights, and control of the water from Lake Tiberias.

An objective analysis would have revealed that the intransigence of Hamas has much to do with the crisis that Gaza is currently going through. The late Yasser Arafat shared a great deal of the blame for keeping the problem alive, despite genuine efforts by the former Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak, to end the impasse. The Israeli pull-out from southern Lebanon was Barak’s opening gambit but the final outcome, Sharm el-Sheikh notwithstanding, was zilch.

Even after the 1973 Yom Kippur war, Anwar Sadat did his best, including addressing the Knesset, but to no avail. George W. Bush and Mahmoud Abbas set on a course to create an independent Palestine state, but this too ended in a stalemate. The Hamas expects Israel not to react to its rocket strikes but to accept these terror attacks docilely, in a way similar to the Indian response to insurgency. But unlike India, Israel has self-respect, which upsets Hamas! The apparent uselessness of the Arab League is also perplexing. Are Arab nations genuinely interested in ending the six-decade-old crisis?

Yours faithfully,
J.K. Dutt, Calcutta

Sir — Instead of providing a separate state for the Palestinians, Israelis are hounding out the legitimate inhabitants of the land they occupied by force years ago. The way Palestinians are being compelled to live in ghettos is reminiscent of the treatment of blacks by the erstwhile white apartheid government of South Africa. Incidentally, Israel maintained a cordial relationship with the latter since the 1970s. It is also bitterly ironic that at a point in history, Israelis themselves were at the receiving end of organized cruelty; now they are giving it back. And as for Israel’s fight against ‘terror’, has it forgotten that its own territory was established at the end of World War II using unfettered terrorism?

Yours faithfully,
H.P. Mitra, Calcutta

Sir — Towards the end of his article on Israel’s attack on Gaza, Mukul Kesavan mentions that there is an “attempt to construct a Hindu polity in India with Muslims cast as fifth columnists”. This is precisely the kind of pseudo-secularism that has been causing havoc in this country. Nowhere is it mentioned that India is to be a Hindu polity. Even the so-called Hindutva outfit, the BJP, does not say so. Kesavan may think otherwise, but the truth is that radical elements like the Lashkar-e-Toiba and al Qaida are actually trying to establish their kind of hegemony. A blind disregard for such facts by the ‘secular’ intelligentsia is responsible for incidents like 26/11.

Yours faithfully,
Pratik, Iowa, US