Quotes of the Day

Homegrown Headache
Re "India's War At Home" [Oct. 26]: While it is true that New Delhi's military methods are alienating Kashmiri youth, we also need to appreciate that India has little choice in the matter. If the government follows a pacifist policy, the separatists and jihadis will indulge in bullying tactics and recruit more youth to extremism. When more repressive methods are adopted, they inflame passions and antagonize the local populace. In either situation, various steps taken by the Indian government favoring Kashmiris are forgotten. For example, non-Kashmiri Indians are barred from even owning property in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, thereby protecting Kashmiri identity and communities from the kind of occupation that exists on the other side in Pakistan or in Chinese Tibet and Xinjiang.
Kizhanatham R. Srivarahan,
Chennai, India

Peace in Kashmir will remain an illusion as long as there remains an Indian Kashmir and a Pakistani Kashmir. Instead of fighting against the prevailing poverty, illiteracy and other related problems in their respective countries, Pakistan and India have fought three wars over Kashmiri territory. Leaders of these countries should realize that their peoples are better served as partners than as rivals. Kashmir is not a volatile issue for India and Pakistan only: it is a threat also to world peace. The international community should, therefore, exert pressure on the two belligerent parties to resolve the problem amicably according to the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
Muhammad Muzaffar Alam,
Lahore, Pakistan

There was an error of omission in the story. The U.N. Resolution in 1948 on a plebiscite had an important preceding clause: the withdrawal of forces on both sides to the line they held prior to the outbreak of hostilities. This was not adhered to by the Pakistanis. Why then should India abide by the plebiscite clause? Unfortunately Kashmiri youth are caught in a vicious circle: they have few opportunities, and are misguided by peers to revolt over anything and everything when they should actually have their heads down in study or work. Of course, harassment by Pakistani-backed militants and, to some degree, by Indian law-enforcement agencies doesn't help. But let's not make heroes of these poor misguided boys.
Karun Khanna,
New Delhi

A Woman of Many Colors
I was very pleased to read your special report but disappointed that amid the well-deserved attention being paid to the American woman, she is continually displayed as white or simply all-encompassing [Oct. 26]. As an African-American woman, I am all too aware that feminism has not been inclusive of the issues of women of color — who have long been heads of household, sole or co-breadwinners, single parents, and caregivers to children and seniors. While many of our white counterparts were fighting for workplace equality, we were already working — as their maids and nannies, as well as outside the domestic sphere. I applaud TIME's vital look at the American woman and challenge you to explore her in all her colorful, varied glory.
Brittany Packnett,
Hillcrest Heights, Md., U.S.

Ms., May I Have My Ring Back?
Nancy Gibbs' humorous essay really hits the mark on the difficulty women face in choosing their titles and surnames [Oct. 26]. It makes no difference to me whether a woman keeps her name or takes her husband's. I wonder, however, in the interest of consistency, if Gibbs received an engagement ring from her husband. After all, if we can dispense with one outmoded patriarchal tradition, why not dispense with them all?
Mike Migliaccio,
Croton-On-Hudson, N.Y., U.S.

Keep It Real, Karl
Karl Lagerfeld's rejection of the "round woman" in Verbatim reflects his strange bent toward ultra-gaunt models [Oct. 26]. But then one look at Lagerfeld is an experience in weirdness. Kudos to the German magazine Brigitte for featuring real women and recognizing female beauty as something other than a skeleton.
Louis C. Kleber,
Las Vegas