Manipur again
THE fact that the “Smoke and Mirrors” (Cover Story, September 8, 2023) featured as the cover story in your magazine barely a couple of months after “Mayhem in Manipur” (July 14, 2023) reveals the gravity of the situation there. Rather than make sincere efforts to defuse the situation by way of immediate intervention and initiation of confidence-building measures between the two estranged communities, it is most unfortunate that the Centre preferred to look the other way for a considerable period of time. In an already surcharged atmosphere, political parties of all hues need to desist from stoking the fires of hatred for political mileage and should actively involve themselves in dousing them. The State government needs to act with political sagacity to restore normalcy in the state.
B. Suresh Kumar,
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
THE continuing mayhem in the hills and valleys of Manipur has sent shock waves across the country (Cover Story, September 8). The State has been kept on the boil for an unpardonably long time. And the government at the Centre seems clueless about what is really going on in Manipur. The simmering issues of the plains and the Kukis’ demand for autonomy have sowed the seeds of disruption. The Home Minister’s statement blaming illegal immigrants from Myanmar for the violence in Manipur cannot be swept under the carpet. It appears however that the demand for autonomy is more than the demand for independence. The Centre must seize this opportunity and work out a viable solution to the Manipur imbroglio.
Kangayam R. Narasimhan
Chennai
THE unprecedented April 19 judgment of the Manipur High Court directing the government to consider granting Scheduled Tribe status to the majority Meitei community has only ignited violence and terror in Manipur, with both the Meitei and Kuki communities at loggerheads for the last four months (Cover Story, September 8). The fact that Meiteis might or might not deserve ST status is a different question. The double-engine government in Manipur is nowhere close to finding a permanent solution even after four months. It was well within its power to immediately stall the violence by calling in the Army to quell the violence, or at least settle the issue to the satisfaction of both communities through negotiations, but it appears that the Manipur government has no such intent and is looking the other way.
M.Y. Shariff
Chennai
Gyanvapi survey
READING about how mosques in our country are being attacked was incredibly painful (“Courting controversy”, September 8). Destroying mosques, denouncing loudspeakers therein, and assassinating the imams seems to be the game plan to win the 2024 election, and a clear indication that some adherents of Hindutva will alter historical legacies to suit their personal ideologies.
Shaikh Husain
Malappuram, Kerala
IPCC
CLIMATE CHANGE is now a household word (“Is IPCC the answer to the climate crisis?”, September 8). Countries across the world are concerned about containing the increase in the global temperature within the threshold of 1.5 degree celsius. The “polar amplification” (warming above the global mean average) in the Arctic, the El Nino, the heatwave in Pakistan, the unprecedented rains in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and the extreme drought in the Horn of Africa (Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia) have put the world and its people in peril. The recently held COP 27 reached a consensus in creating a Loss and Damage fund to help developing countries make good the losses arising out of climate catastrophe, but failed to work out the modalities of making the fund operational. It is hoped that India can exert pressure on countries such as China and the US, the two biggest carbon polluters who are however reluctant to pay for climate-related damage.
R.V. Baskaran
Chennai
Cybercrimes
CYBERCRIMES have been widespread across the country for a long time, and not just in Nuh, Haryana. (“Cybercrime pandemic”, August 11, 2023) Thanks to fake call centres, job promoters, the cloning of debit/credit cards and tempting offers via the telephone, newspapers, and YouTube, people lose lakhs of rupees every day. Although it is necessary to develop additional police stations for the investigation of such crimes, the IT Department must find a solution not only to prevent hackers and fraudsters but also to eradicate cybercrimes altogether.
Ashok Nihalani
Pune, Maharashtra
The Dystopian Times
Many congratulations on the Back Page, which has turned out be the cherry on the Frontline cake. At a time when the goings-on in our country resemble an Orwellian Animal Farm, it takes a bold column like Appuppen’s “The Dystopian Times” to hit out at the government.
Dr Vinay Bharat
Ranchi, Jharkhand
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