Runaway fan
Sir — Bengalis have spent decades obsessing over East Bengal versus Mohun Bagan matches. But the strange case of Vincenzo La Porta may enthuse the police when it comes to such fanaticism. Porta, a dangerous Italian fugitive, was on the run for 11 years before his love for Napoli’s soccer team gave him away. He was booked by the police after he was spotted celebrating Napoli’s win. Given India’s high number of fugitives and offenders, perhaps the country should invest in improving its sports infrastructure to catch some of them — if not as ordinary supporters then maybe as supporters on the run.
Sukumar Datta, Calcutta
Optics first
Sir — For close to a decade, Narendra Modi and his government have paid no attention to burning issues and instead celebrated smaller victories that fuel the prime minister’s need to stay in the limelight (“What is Modi celebrating?”, Sept 14). The optics of the G20 Summit have allowed the Centre to overlook glaring misgovernance in other parts of the country. It is a shame that three security personnel died in Jammu and Kashmir while the Bharatiya Janata Party supremo engaged in festivities.
P.K. Sharma, Barnala, Punjab
Sir — The prime minister had no qualms about participating in a gimmicky celebration of the G20 Summit even as two army officers and a policeman died in Jammu and Kashmir during an operation and a sub-inspector was shot dead in Manipur. Instead of managing the situation, Narendra Modi is trying to divert attention towards a petrochemicals project in Madhya Pradesh. Despite claims by the Modi government that demonetisation and the revocation of Article 370 tackled militancy in the Union territory, it remains a formidable challenge for the army. Quick fixes that reap electoral benefits will not help. The Centre needs to address militancy by including the Opposition in the decision-making process.
S.K. Choudhury, Bengaluru
Sir — Narendra Modi is yet to set foot in Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur to pay respect to the officers who have died. He is busy touring some of the poll-bound states. Ironically, Modi had won the 2019 general elections by milking the deaths of army personnel during the Pulwama attack.
A.K. Chakraborty, Guwahati
Other shores
Sir — The chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, is visiting Spain and the United Arab Emirates to attract investors in the fields of industry and agriculture, especially for the Bengal Global Business Summit in November. This will hopefully accrue positive results.
Murtaza Ahmad, Calcutta
Sir — Mamata Banerjee and the Sri Lankan president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, exchanged pleasantries during a chance encounter at the Dubai airport. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader, Suvendu Adhikari, chose to make tactless comments about Wickremesinghe and Sri Lanka’s internal affairs (“Suvendu’s Lanka misadventure”, Sept 14). Such irresponsible remarks about foreign dignitaries reflect the ethical degradation of the BJP.
Arun Kumar Baksi, Calcutta
Behind bars
Sir — The Bajrang Dal worker, Monu Manesar, accused of spreading inflammatory posts on social media during the violence in Nuh, was arrested by Haryana Police and later handed over to Rajasthan Police for interrogation regarding a murder case. This is heartening. Manesar and other vigilantes were accused of burning two men alive. His arrest has thus come as a relief.
Jahangir Ali, Mumbai
