Farewell to arms

It is heartening to know that more than 1,600 militants belonging to nine separatist groups in Assam laid down their arms. Now it is the government’s responsibility to take care of these rebels and let them live a normal life. Home minister P. Chidambaram has rightly said that “there is no problem that can’t be resolved with dialogue”. However, the Assam government should not be complacent and should keep working at bringing such groups into the mainstream of society.
Bornali Bhuyan
Guwahati, Assam

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A transparent Bihar

With reference to Dilip Cherian’s Guilty cops (Jan. 22), though we applaud Nitish Kumar for his relentless efforts towards making Bihar corruption-free, he still has a long way to go. What has worked in his favour, undoubtedly, is that he has had the support of the media. But as Mr Cherian points out, there are a lot of things that Mr Kumar would need to address before we can call Bihar a success story. Transparency in the bureaucracy is vital, as it is responsible for implementing the government’s policies. Bihar needs more administrative reforms.
Shalini Verma
Via email

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Ponting’s power

Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has proved that hard work and dedication are the key to keep scoring big. He scored 221 runs in the first innings of the fourth Test match against India. Just before the Down Under series commenced, there was huge pressure on Ponting as the Australian Cricket Board was planning to drop him from the Australian squad because of poor performance. This double century will surely silence Ponting’s critics and those who are demanding that he retire.
Ravneesh Pathak
Via email