Apropos of the news story “UDMF, UML blame each other for Rangeli.” (THT, Jan. 23, Page 1), it is a tragic incident to hear that three persons, including an elderly woman, were killed in police firing in Morang’s Rangeli. It has been more than five-and-a-half-month of ‘Madesh Movement.’ Due to this, innocent people are killed in the Tarai districts. In Kathmandu, the ruling CPN-UML and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) have been playing the blame game against each other for the incident. It is painful to say that our political leadership lacks vision to address the crisis. This is the reason why innocent people have been killed every day. Such a tragic incident would not have occurred had the Madhesi Morcha maintained restraint while the youth wing of the ruling party organized its rally. How can we take democracy to the grass-roots level when one political outfit resorts to vandalism at a rally organized by others? In a democracy everybody has the right to express his/her opinion in a peaceful manner. The question is why the Madhesi Morcha obstructed the peaceful rally of another political party. One cannot enforce his/her ideas on others in the name of agitation. The UML youth wing had simply organized a rally to highlight the salient features of the new constitution to the community which was misinformed by those in agitation. Saroj Wagle, Bara For justice With the latest killings of three persons in Rangeli, the tyranny of erstwhile autocrat Gyanendra in the dying days of his 14-month rule seems less tyrannical when “Woman among three killed in police firing” (THT, Jan. 23, Page 1). Unfortunately, it may not leave too many options to the protesters other than to follow Matrika’s prescription for armed revolt “Madhes liberation not possible without armed revolt: Matrika” (THT, Jan. 23, Page 5). If the situationdeteriorates further, we may come to a sorry pass. People responsible for running the country cannot afford to stick their heads in the sand and delude themselves into assuming that everything is honky-dory. The Nepali political parties are also clearly testing the patience of the victims of the 10 months old deadly earthquake by leaving them to their fate, to the mercy of merciless cold weather “Irate earthquake survivors padlock VDC office demanding cash relief” (THT, Jan. 23, Page 5). It would not be surprising if they (victims) too come up with Quake Liberation Army to get relief out of the massive 4.1 billion dollars fund. Another way would be for the victims to solicit assistance directly from the international community. Unfortunately, looking at the country’s political landscape, force may be the only means for justice, be it for warm clothes and Rs10,000 for quake victims, or from the violence in the Madhes. Any political issue must be settled through dialogue, not through any means of violence. Both the sides must maintain a level of restraint to the extent possible. Manohar Shrestha, Kathmandu