Letters to the Editor

May I take this opportunity to congratulate the partners on the new Manchester Road guided bus-way development for the excellent facility they have provided.

The coned-off cycle lane running along the outside of the southbound carriageway is really first class. One must, of course, make way for the occasional JCB or spade-wielding workman, but this is infinitely preferable to running the gauntlet of cars turning left across you and buses pulling out without warning as was the case until recently.

How encouraging it must be to the motorist to see us cyclists pedalling safely past while they queue in their new narrower lanes. Perhaps it will encourage some of them to leave the car behind and cycle to work instead.

I realise this provision is only temporary, but it provides a good model for cycle provision elsewhere, being nearly a full lane wide and located outside the car-queuing lane away from the danger of traffic turning across one's path.

I have not been able to study the plans in detail but I trust something similarly farsighted will be included in the final scheme once it is complete.

Ms Orbit Bianchi, Reynolds Avenue, Bradford.

SIR - A grand old lady has died here in Greengates. Emily Mooney was her name. She couldn't walk far, but she managed to go round the flats at her own pace as long as she could.

When we were fighting for a crossing on New Line and collecting signatures, it was Emily, in her back yard, who stopped passers-by. We collected nearly 200 signatures, but it was Emily who showed us the way.

When we were collecting for the Neighbourhood Watch and were having a jumble sale, it was Emily who stood in the biting wind and kept me company (we didn't have a building, just a makeshift table). I begged her to go inside. At last she did, then came out again with a cup of tea for me.

That was Emily Mooney, who always thought of others before herself. She loved Greengates. Emily had a great community spirit. I miss her.

Joan Foulds, New Line, Greengates.

SIR - We are sisters born and raised near Bradford. We have received a copy of the T&A "Riot Special" and the contents are devastating.

What on earth has gone wrong? The Bradford of years ago, as we grew up, was nothing like this. It was a safe place to live. Racism is a problem always but it seems to be worse in Bradford than any other town in England.

We feel sorry for all the people who have experienced the violence. Is there any solution? We hope so.

D Ward and B Mitchell, Laurier Boulvard, Brockville, Ontario, Canada.

SIR - I have been following the comments and letters from all over the world about the riots.

Thank you, T&A, for the wonderful coverage of these sad events. Bradford has hit the world headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Will those young thugs who set out to destroy their city tell their children that they were among the villains and rogues, or will they hang their heads in shame?

The police did a fantastic job under terrible provocation, as did the ambulance service, hospitals and fire fighters. They deserve our gratitude.

I would like to mention also Jim Greenhalf's contribution. It was excellent.

He said everything for us all - especially those of us who were too frightened to say such things in public, in case we were branded intolerant.

Philomena Hingston, Leaventhorpe Avenue, Fairweather Green, Bradford.

SIR - With reference to the recent riots in Bradford, I wish to clarify that most of the Asian youths involved in them would probably identify themselves as Kashmiris (also known as Mirpuris) rather than Pakistanis.

One significant factor behind these riots which has not been highlighted is the deprived background of these youngsters' parents who were uprooted from their homeland in the 1950s, and their lack of proper upbringing due to the breakdown in communication between the two generations.

It is important to understand that years of illegal occupation by the Indian army of their beautiful country of Kashmir has contributed in making these youngsters frustrated and criminally inclined. Having created this problem at the time of Partition, Britain has a moral duty to use its influence on India to allow the Kashmiris the right to self-determination in accordance with UN resolutions.

I feel sure that most Kashmiris would choose to return to the independent state of Jammu and Kashmir rather than participate in riots in Britain.

M A Choudhury, Ashwell Road, Heaton

SIR - Re your report on July 25 about the University offer to Asians "with nous" to pay them £1,080 if they finish the course.

Can't people see such generous offers only help to increase racial tension and bad feelings within the city?

I know plenty of "whites" and "blacks" who would love a "second chance" as the report so nicely put it - but unfortunately they won't be able to qualify for this "golden handshake" because of the colour of their skin.

As L Grimshaw stated in your columns on July 25, "People should be treated the same whether black, white or Asian!"

Only when all citizens of Bradford are treated equally, regardless of ethnicity and postcode, will any system be regarded as being fair and equal to all.

J Townsend, Bunting Drive, Clayton Heights, Bradford.

SIR - Can anyone tell me if it is true that our Government is selling the lamb quota back to the EU?

If this is so, does this mean that when our beleaguered farmers are able to restock, they will be unable to do so because there will be no quota?

Does our Government have a secret agenda to make us completely dependent upon Europe?

Our fishing, steel and most of our manufacturing industries have gone. Is the farming industry to follow this decline and is this why the powers-that-be seem hell-bent on destroying the national herd and any other living creature in the countryside?

I do not wish to live under the European thumb but that prospect seems to be rapidly approaching.

Mrs Edna M Cowan, Airedale Avenue, Cottingley.