Officer Courageous

IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal’s tirade against the sand mafia is a step in the right direction (“The Officer Who Dared”, August 19). Nagpal should be eulogised for cracking down on the sand mafia for illegal and rampant quarrying which has been flourishing all these years under the very nose of the local administrative authorities. Our nation has only a few such officers who have the capability to fight corruption and injustice. Officers like Nagpal can help this nation fight corruption and should therefore be given more responsibility. CHIDANAND KUMAR, Bangalore Akhilesh Yadav has compared Nagpal to an errant child who needed correction. Akhilesh needs to be reminded that it is he who resembles a schoolboy who, thanks to his father’s influence, has got admission to a class higher than he deserves and is now neither able to understand his classwork nor do his homework. KRSNA KARNA, Patna The suspension of Nagpal is a testimony to the fact that politicians consider themselves as rajas and the citizens as praja ( subjects). Yet, there is no reason to be pessimistic. As long as we have officers like Nagpal and Ashok Khemka, and honest citizens like Arvind Kejriwal, our democracy is safe. Let us raise our voice against corruption and reject such power- hungry, dishonest and tainted politicians. No one can suppress an honest voice. R. D. SINGH , Ambala