India has suffered another blow with the torching to death of two Dalit children in Faridabad due to caste conflicts (“ >2 die as Dalit family set afire in Harayana ,” Oct.21). This condemnable cruelty comes in the wake of disturbing reports of religious intolerance from different parts of the country. Resorting to violence, rather than sorting out issues through negotiations, goes against all tenets of equality, justice and human rights. Our glorious tradition of tolerance and goodwill bequeathed to us by the freedom fighters should not be buried.
N.K. Vijayan,
Kizhakkambalam, Kerala
The editorial (“ >Beyond the blackening ,” Oct.21) has pointed out the ominous long-term implications of the rather obscure, Hindu right-wing group — the Hindu Sena’s — recent ink-and-oil attack on Jammu and Kashmir MLA Engineer Rashid. As the BJP, along with the PDP, is in power in the State, it can no longer continue to live in denial and procrastinate over taking action on the alarmingly growing political unrest sweeping across it. Lest the international community equates it with the Taliban, it is high time the BJP-led government at the Centre reins in the obscurantist fringe elements in the party and takes stringent action against them at the earliest.
Nalini Vijayaraghavan,
Thiruvananthapuram
