Sir - American ignorance is legendary. It is only fitting that the American president himself should be displaying it to the world ('Frog-in the-well crisis stares at superpower', June 22). What was most entertaining about George W. Bush addressing British students as 'young Americans' was the little riddle it offered readers. Do Americans think that Britain was created after it broke away from the United States, thus getting history a bit mixed up, or is it their ethnic vocabulary that is limited? No doubt the training in American schools should be improved. But an insular attitude cannot be changed so easily. After all, any syllabus would reflect the American penchant for shutting out the rest of the world. Yours faithfully, Nandita Bhattacharya, via email Militant stand Sir - In the last few years, militants have taken refuge in mosques on more than one occasion, posing a problem for security forces which have been faced with the dilemma of how to deal with them ('Iron fist crushes shrine fugitives', June 13). The government of India has finally adopted a tough stand against militants using places of worship as refuge. The operation, carried out by the national security guards commandos and resulting in the killing of the six militants, could help discourage militants from using places of worship as hideouts. Yours faithfully, A.K. Srivastava, Salbani Sir - This is not the first time that militants have taken refuge in mosques or places of worship. However, the storming of religious shrines by security forces has been a sensitive issue since Operation Bluestar. In their desire to avoid any political controversy, successive governments have avoided taking action against militants. As a result, their activities have continued unabated. The P.V. Narasimha Rao government had invited criticism from political rivals by granting safe passage to the militants who occupied the Hazratbal mosque in 1993. It is high time the militants realized that the government will have no choice but to take action against them if they continue to misuse religious places. Yours faithfully, Tapan Kanti Nandy, Barasat Sir - In the last one and a half months, the government of India has given safe passage to Kashmiri militants on one occasion and flushed them out on the other. In the first incident, the militants who had been surrounded by the armed forces were allowed to escape. Both the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah, and K.C. Pant agreed that this was the best course of action. But the second incident ended with the death of all six militants. Amazingly, despite the fact that India has been waging a losing battle against terrorism for the last decade, it does not have a foolproof strategy to deal with such situations. An unwillingness to learn from past mistakes has made matters worse. Yours faithfully, Nita Singh, via email Dangling system Sir - That a passenger could be ferried, dangling, from one station to another with his arms stuck between the doors of a tube train indicates the poor level of maintenance. Given that such incidents are usually followed by an elaborate cover-up, one wonders if the authorities will conduct an investigation. The lives of thousands of commuters could be at stake here. Yours faithfully, S.N. Mukherjee, Calcutta Letters to the editor should be sent to: The Telegraph 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street Calcutta 700 001 Email: ttedit@abpmail.com Readers in the Northeast can write to: Third Floor, Godrej Building, G.S. Road, Ulubari, Guwahati 781007