Grow up

Grow up
Lars Vilks, the Swedish cartoonist whose cartoon depicting Muhammad in a derogatory way enraged many Muslims, was attacked while giving a lecture about freedom of speech. Will these zealots ever understand that their fanatic acts besmirch the image of Islam? This bigotry and acute intolerance have only added to the general perception of Islam being a very intolerant religion. The maturity of a religion is measured by its latitudinariansm. If the followers react in such a puerile manner at every provocation, it’ll only sully the image of a faith, however great it’s considered to be.
Sumit S Paul, Pune

Coalition politics
This refers to ‘A coalition of compromised opinions’, (DNA, May 14). In spite of the widely varying characteristics of the vast Indian electorate and the comparatively smaller one of Britain, we should watch with interest not only how Britain’s coalition government is functioning but also how its media is commenting on the latter’s performance. An article in The Daily Telegraph quoted Lord Norton on hung Parliaments, a feature common to both our countries. It reads thus: “A hung parliament is not a ‘people’s parliament’, it is the opposite; it is politicians’ parliament. The people do not get a look in. Compromises are reached which may bear no relationship to what electors want...”. I quote this because it is relevant to us. Compare the treatment meted out to two ministers of the Congress and two from the coalition. Shashi Tharoor was asked to go and Jairam Ramesh has been reprimanded by the PM.

Compare this with the royal treatment being meted out to A Raja and Praful Patel. Also a vital decision on including castes in Census 2011 was taken at the spur of the moment just to meet the demands of the Yadavs whose support the UPA needs for survival. For a few more years, both our parliamentary democracies would be usefully comparing the functioning of our coalition governments.
S Subramanyan, Navi Mumbai 

Only cricket
The edit ‘A beautiful mind’, (DNA, May 13) was thought-provoking. But you say “The mood in the country… was sullen and accusatory. Not directed at Anand, but at the Indian cricket team which was unceremoniously ejected from the world Twenty20 championship the same night.” I feel the reason for this is the hype that the media created for the T20 world cup, which led to underplaying Anand’s deeds. Please don’t say that the readers want only cricket. It’s all the media’s creation. See the sports pages which are full of cricket stories. 
RK Bowrie, via email
 
II
I sincerely thank DNA for having given Vishwanathan Anand’s achievement front page coverage (‘Anand greatest king of 64 squares’, DNA, May 12). It was definitely a positive thought to have a legend’s feat published prominently so as to enable readers look at it first thing in the morning. It was better than focusing on the not-so-committed bunch of players trying to find reasons for their failure instead of working for a win with a killer instinct. It would also be appreciated if the women’s India XI’s achievements are given equal focus, as they appear to be more consistent in recent times than Dhoni’s men.
Ramani Venkat, via email

State and terrorism
This refers to the edit ‘Friends like these’, (DNA, May 12). It is really intriguing that despite heinous crimes being perpetrated by terrorists from Pakistan, the recent one being the Times Square failed bombing in the US, Pakistan gets away with a mild rebuke. Even if these attacks are not necessarily engineered by the Pakistani government but by terrorists who are Islamic fanatics, Pakistan cannot absolve itself of the moral responsibility for allowing terrorist training camps on its soil.
Jitendra Kothari, via email

Radioactive scare
Apropos ‘Radioactive threat: Special team to ensure safe Games’ (DNA, May 13), a minor radioactive (RA) contamination took place at BARC when the RA sample was transferred to the lab on May 11 by a scientist. Recently one person died and six were hospitalised on account of mishandling the RA cobalt-60 machine by Delhi University. Two scientists were burnt to death due to exposure to radiation in December, 2009, at BARC. The concerned authorities should keep utmost watch on the safeguard measures while handling RA materials.  
Achyut Railkar, Mumbai