Advantage India, advantage Modi: Letters to The EDITOR

Advantage India, advantage Modi

The recent terror strike on a CRPF convoy at Pulwama in Jammu & Kashmir was a blow to India. The souls of 40 CRPF personnel martyred in the one of the worst attacks by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists might have rested in peace because of the number of immediate fallouts of their sacrifice. Because of the counter-attack on terrorists' camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) by Indian Air Force (IAF) and Pakistan Air Force's desperate attempt to strike military installations in India by crossing the Line of Control (LOC) have together done it all – India's long-cherished dream of getting Masood Azhar declared an international terrorist, exposing Pakistan for aiding and abetting terrorists and ostracizing Pakistan at the international level. Now the move to get Masood Azhar an international terrorist has taken a few steps at one go. Apart from these, through the entire episode Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Cabinet team have proved beyond doubt their credentials in diplomacy. Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj being invited as the guest of honour to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in UAE where the Pakistan Foreign Minister was conspicuous by his absence is an immediate fallout of the military and diplomatic victory.

In the long-term, this air strike on terrorist camps in POK has already got its message across that gone are days when India exercised restraint as when as militants from across the LOC struck Indian installations, besides killing civilians.

On the Home front, Indian citizens are all praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for being 'macho at heart'. And all these have happened when the Lok Sabha election is barely two months away and the BJP is struggling to woo voters.

Topo Singha,

Milan Nagar, Barbari, Guwahati.

Which is the key priority?

The present BJP government at the Centre is hellbent in implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in this country. The BJP leaders of Assam have been advocating for this Bill 'to save Assam and its people'. Our two main ministers, the Chief Minister and the Education Minister, have been trying to show themselves as savior of Assam and its people by the way of passing the Bill, without considering the sentiment of the general public. As a layman of Assam, I want to ask them a very simple question -- to save Assam and its people at the present situation, which is the first choice: to detect and deport the illegal foreigners from Assam or to make more 'illegal foreigners legal' by giving them Indian citizenship? The sealing of the international boarder with Bangladesh is not yet completed.

Dr P.C.Sarmah,

Jorhat-1.