Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Beslan tragedy

Sir, — This refers to the report "Siege evokes global horror" (Sept. 5) in which the West Asian and the Arab media have been quoted as saying that most perpetrators of terror acts in the past one decade have been Muslims and that it is the "painful truth."

Muslims worldwide have rightly condemned the Beslan siege. For effective elimination of Islamist terrorism, they should take the initiative to isolate those who commit crimes against humanity in the name of Islam.

N.T. Swaminathan,
Chennai

Sir, — The Beslan killings are truly abhorrent. While the terrorists' action cannot be justified on any ground, it is also difficult not to take into consideration what the Russian Army has done in Chechnya.

Army atrocities are as unjustifiable as militant atrocities. It is this problem of double standards all over the world — one standard for militants and the other for the security forces — that makes so much anti-terrorism rhetoric lack credibility.

Shankar Gopalakrishnan,
London

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

• WHIFF OF FRESH AIR
• SYSTEMIC LAPSES
• Engaging Pakistan
• The dangers of retirement
• Manipur crisis
• Uma Bharti's release
• RSS & realpolitik
• Savarkar issue
• Census report
• India-Pakistan dialogue
• Beslan tragedy
• What about serials?

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu