TERRORISM

The article 'Terrorism Scares Visitors to Khajuraho' (The DayAfter, February 16-28, 2003) was timely and necessary and it is good that you have focused on such a vital aspect of our heritage that is being held to ransom by terrorists. Genuine tourists are thus denied the privilege and the aesthetic pleasure of viewing these masterpieces of our rich past.

The same kind of situation is prevailing at the Taj Mahal in Agra. We are not allowed to see the famous 'wonder of the world' by moonlight or after dark because of the terrorist threat.

MADHYA PRADESH

The poll scenario is rightly hotting up in Madhya Pradesh (The DayAfter, February 16-28, 2003) and it is a pity that the Congress too has fallen prey to the 'religion' card that the BJP played successfully in Gujarat. It can be safely said today that the BJP win in Gujarat was purely on the matter of religion and not on either development or governance. If this card is repeated in other States and the other political parties too succumb to it, it would be a real pity, because in the long run, it is not going to benefit either the political parties or the nation. One wonders when our leaders will wake up and realise that their actions in the name of religion, which otherwise is a good thing, is really detrimental to progress and development.

Simantini Mishra
Bhopal

BJP

The article on the BJP (The DayAfter, February 16-28, 2003) was good and well-written. The author has taken up all the facets of the prevailing situation in the party and placed them in the right perspective.

It is indeed time that the BJP re-invents itself and the situation it finds itself in is a tragic pointer to the priorities in politics today that are dictated by the compulsions of remaining in power at any cost and not by the welfare of the citizens of the country. In fact, the citizens seem to figure right at the bottom of the list of priorities of all political parties to be thought of only at the time of election when their votes are required to perpetuate their continuation of holding the reins of power.

Most political parties seem to have run out of genuine issues to go to the people with and seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel. That is why they have to rake up a non-issue like the Ayodhya temple and now finding that the issue has been milked dry, they are now turning their attention to Dhar where a similar situation is being sought to be created and exploited.

However, the public now has become enlightened and I doubt whether the efforts of the political parties to whip up religions passions will succeed.

Mahesh Chand
Mumbai

AGRICULTURAL INCOME

We welcome the recommendation of the Kelkar Committee to abolish the misused exemption to agricultural income from income tax. With the proposed further reduction in the tax-rate and increased basic exemption, there is no sense to oppose the levying of income tax on agricultural income. The bitter fact is that corrupt people in high posts mostly use non-taxable agricultural income to generate unaccounted money earned through corruption. So even if there is a hypothetical situation of a tax-free regime, such corrupt people will find it difficult to cover up their black deeds.