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Rahul's boast

I was a Nehru family loyalist till Rajiv Gandhi's time. But with all my reverence, I am not able to relish Rahul Gandhi's boast about his family. Nehru committed a blunder by stopping the Indian troops from recovering the area occupied by Pakistan in Kashmir in 1947 and taking the issue to the U.N. Again the 1971 war was not initiated by India. It was forced on it by the Yahya Khan-Bhutto clique. We won it but the victory cannot be attributed to a single family. Rahul should learn the first lesson in politics — keep quiet as far as possible.

M. Rajaraman,
Puducherry

* * *

The creation of Bangladesh was a historical necessity born out of the neglect of East Pakistan by the rulers thousands of kilometres away. Indira Gandhi and Mujibur Rahman were only cogs in the wheel of economic and political compulsions. To reopen the wound inflicted on the neighbour at a critical time of reconciliation and engagement is unwarranted.

Radhanath Behera,
Koraput

* * *

I don't understand why there is such a furore over Rahul's remark. We in Pakistan have long suspected that the Bangladesh operation was planned meticulously by the Indian Government after it failed to defeat Pakistan in 1965 and its army was halted outside Lahore. Indira Gandhi took advantage of the blunders committed by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Yahya Khan to divide Pakistan.

Shakir Lakhani,
Karachi

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