Be prepared

Be prepared
The decision of the US administration to grant billions of dollars as ‘economic aid’ to Pakistan must have sent alarm bells ringing in the corridors of South Block. The mandarins in the ministries of defence and external affairs have to now take a fresh look at India’s preparedness to meet the threat of a renewed attempt in the near future of cross-border attacks for destabilising the country’s economy.
—Arun Malankar, via email

Speedy resolutions
The edit ‘Fast track divorce’, (DNA, September 24) was spot on. Divorce proceedings in India take a very long time. Only divorce with mutual consent is relatively ‘fast’ and at the end of the day, both the partners have the satisfaction of having separated without any bad blood. However, if one party opposes the divorce, God save the party who has asked for the divorce. The court cases drag on for years without any results. Law minister Veerappa Moily’s suggestion of resolving divorces in a year have to seen in this context. The fast track divorces may present some loopholes but a majority of couples will be happy with a speedy resolution of their marital conflicts.
—Ganapathi Bhat, Akola

Harsh criticism
Madhu Jain has been unnecessarily harsh on Shashi Tharoor in ‘The slippery slope to becoming an icon’, (DNA, September 25). First, Tharoor has not yet achieved the iconic status attributed to him by Madhu Jain. He will soon learn the kind of inane rubbish our ‘seasoned’ netas spout to fool the aam aadmi. And why can’t we Indians tolerate some humour by politicians? If Churchill had made the ‘cattle’ remark, we would have praised him for his wit. Tharoor’s remark, apart from being funny, has not caused any harm to the aam aadmi whose condition has been only slightly worse than cattle since Independence.
—DV Dongre, via email

A game of monopoly
With elections round the corner we see defections almost every other day. Shiv Sena candidate Sada Sarvankar’s exit from Sena saw him being inducted into the Congress party  within hours of his exit (‘Defections are worry number one’, DNA, September 25). Every politician who defects from his party knows well that he would be securing a promising position in some other party. As the sun shines on politicians, it is a gloomy time for the common man. As voters we must judge the candidates on their own individual merits and not of the party. One should also look for the candidates’ suitability and past records. We have the power to make the change.
—Bakul Raut, Navi Mumbai