The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Unfair comparison

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Saturday, Dec 27, 2008
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Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Unfair comparison

The comparison between two statements — one by Minority Affairs Minister A.R. Antulay questioning the circumstances leading to the death of former ATS chief Hemant Karkare during the Mumbai terror attack and the other by BJP leader Jaswant Singh defending the NDA government’s action to free three terrorists in 1999 in exchange for the hostages on board the plane hijacked to Kandahar — is inappropriate (“A tale of two statements,” Dec. 25). Mr. Antulay’s statement was disastrous, almost playing into the hands of the Pakistani media. On the contrary, Mr. Singh’s comment was only a statement of fact.

Given that the plane was hijacked to a hostile soil and the hijackers had the support of the ruling establishment, little could have been done to rescue the hostages.

N. Ramakrishnan,

Chennai

* * *

The comparison between the statements of Mr. Singh and Mr. Antulay is unfair. While it is true that Mr. Singh’s remark justifying the release of hostages and his reiteration that he would take a similar decision under similar circumstances were uncalled for, one cannot find fault with the NDA government’s decision to release the terrorists. It was justified by humanitarian standards.

V. Rahul,

Bangalore

* * *

The article ignores the circumstances under which the NDA government was forced to release the dreaded terrorists. No government can see its people dying.

As for Mr. Antulay’s remarks, surely it would have been more responsible for a Union Minister to confirm the facts before going in front of television cameras.

Nikhil Tuli,

Ambala

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