Letters to the Editor

SIR - The undignified behaviour of some Muslims over the past few weeks has done as much if not more damage to the name and honour of the Prophet Mohammed.

Danish cartoonists who were previously unknown are now martyrs for 'freedom' while the hooligan element of Muslims has taken international centre stage.

Intelligence and restraint, two of the many qualities the Prophet possessed, seem to be non-existent among these so-called protestors.

The anger of Muslims is justified - we deeply love our Prophet and his examples are at the core of our way of life.

However this does not give us the licence to wave offensive placards and shout "7/7 on its way" because some ignorant cartoonist decided to spitefully portray a prominent religious figure in a hateful manner.

Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that Jyllands-Posten rejected cartoons depicting Jesus about three years ago on the grounds that they would be offensive to readers.

It rather makes their current 'apology' a bit weak and far from genuine.

Mrs Ashiya Hussain, Arncliffe Terrace, Bradford.

Hidden agenda?

SIR - I was always given to understand that the idea of a lake surrounding City Hall was just a concept, open to interpretation and much amendment before anything was finalised.

However, according to the T&A (February 22) the Council's executive committee is expected to approve a plan next week to rebuild the Bradford Canal and that "the new canal would be fed from a major water feature outside City Hall".

Am I missing something here or is there a continued hidden agenda regarding the city centre masterplan with certain controversial matters already in place?

Bob Watson, Springfield Road, Baildon.

Canal concerns

SIR - I see the Council is confident about securing most of the land required and sure of new business and housing on the route of a canal between Shipley and Bradford.

As a local resident who lives within 25 yards of the old line of the canal, I wonder when the residents will be given some idea of the line of the proposed new canal as it could jeopardise my house and other houses in my vicinity.

R Craig, Poplar Drive, Windhill.

Vital architecture

SIR - Let me add another reason why we must save the Odeon building. A city's history, and therefore its present, speaks through its buildings. We still have some fine Victorian architecture, but the Odeon is the only art deco building in the city centre.

Its presence takes us from the end of the 19th century into the first decades of the 20th century.

Great cities are made up of buildings which are the evidence of each age they have lived through. These buildings express the character of the city and its people in each period and stage of development.

Take away the Odeon building and you erase an important part of Bradford's history. Once removed, it can never be brought back.

As we all know, we can now only look at photographs of Kirkgate Market, Swan Arcade and the Mechanics' Institute.

Julie Ivanov, Thorncroft Road, Wibsey.

Ban visitors

SIR - Regarding the present fear of the MRSA infection being brought in and spread by visitors of patients in the hospitals, surely some sort of restrictions could be enforced to reduce this risk.

My personal experience of this was during the winter of 1949-50. During that time there was some virulent infection in the maternity unit at St Luke's Hospital and I understand some babies died.

To combat this no visitors were allowed during the then normal ten-day period during which mothers were confined, not even the fathers. Although there were some complaints no-one wanted to put their baby at risk.

I suppose some such measure could infringe present-day "human rights" legislation but vulnerable patients have rights too.

B German, Greenwood Mount, Bradford.

Fight for justice

SIR - T Hill (T&A, February 23) seems to be ignorant of a few facts about the miners' strike of 1984/5.

It was the NCB (with government backing) which broke a long-standing agreement on the procedures when judging a colliery to be no longer viable.

Instead of following procedure, the NCB told the miners of Cortonwood that their colliery would close in six weeks.

It was those Cortonwood miners who voted with their feet in opposing the closure and who were soon joined by thousands of miners throughout the country who began the strike.

Arthur Scargill did no more than support his members in fighting for justice, something that eluded Mrs Thatcher all of her political life.

C Cheetham, Rossefield Road, Heaton.