Media
IT has become the wont of the political dispensation at any time to blame the media for everything (“A new low for media freedom in India”, December 2). It is not only a new low for media freedom in India but also the new normal. The media in India is increasingly beset by engineered problems through no fault of theirs. The article put the issue of media freedom in perspective and rightly called for unfettered rights of the Fourth Estate within the bounds of the Constitution.
The ruling party ought to foster an independent media so that it can find out what people feel and their reactions to its policies and actions, whereas what is happening is that the media is compelled to toe the party line.
B. Rajasekaran
Bengaluru
Gujarat
At a campaign material stall in Gandhinagar on November 7. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI
THE arrival of Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP in Gujarat with its Delhi model has intensified the electoral battle in the State (“Modi’s battle”, December 2). One should not forget that the Congress is still the largest opposition party in the country. Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra has received a good response from people. However, the State’s social indicators are poor. It ranks 21 among the 36 States and Union Territories in the Human Development Index. Its highways are world class, but villages off the main road have mud roads and garbage dumps. People elect parties to solve their social and economic issues. Parties should work to solve people’s problems, not create conflicts such as riots.
Shiakh Husain
Mumbai
The Congress
Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi (centre) with other leaders when the Bharat Jodo Yatra was in Hyderabad on November 1. | Photo Credit: Mahesh Kumar A./AP
THE article “Reinventing the Congress” (November 18) made a painstaking effort to explain what the Congress represents for India. The party ruled the country until 2014 when it was convincingly thrown out by the people. Hats off to the writer for a detailed essay on Congress rule under former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. I only wish the article had dwelt honestly on all aspects of Indian politics, including the coalition era during which the Congress played a supporting role in running a conglomerate of about two dozen parties, which was a great feat in the subcontinent.
Similarly, the article chose not to educate the public about the people’s downright rejection of the United Progressive Alliance-II government for its stark failures and various scams unlike the CPI(M)-supported UPA-I regime where sensible policies were carried out. The well-written article failed to pinpoint people’s fast switch to the Right.
Harish Pandey
New Delhi
TWO clear signs of the Congress’ resolve to make a comeback are the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra and the election of a full-time president from outside the Gandhi family. This will surely serve as a wake-up call for the sleeping giant. The yatra has brought out Rahul Gandhi’s full potential as a mass leader in his own right. The fact that Shashi Tharoor got around 10 per cent of the votes in the election despite unfavourable circumstances is a clear pointer that there is tangible desire among Congress members for change.
Ayyasseri Raveendranath
Aranmula, Kerala
WHILE one can appreciate the calibre and administrative capabilities of former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi and other members of the family who were at the helm of the party after Independence, it is a harsh reality that they treated the Congress as their personal fiefdom, stifling inner-party democracy and creating a coterie around them that encouraged the politics of sycophancy (“The rise and fall”, November 18). The result was a lack of transparency and internal democracy, which continues to be the bane of the party to date. Although a president has been democratically elected now, it is anybody’s guess who will rule the roost.
The party leadership needs to nourish its grassroots, purge itself of power-brokers and sycophants, conduct organisational elections in a free and fair manner, and adopt a people-centric approach in its policies and programmes in order to prevent itself from becoming politically extinct. Its now all-too-familiar “secular-communal rhetoric” has outlived its utility and is proving to be counterproductive. Staring at its worst ever existential crisis since Independence, it would have been more appropriate for the Congress leadership to have undertaken a “Congress jodo yatra” before a “Bharat jodo yatra”.
B. Suresh Kumar
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
Stray dogs
A dog trapper deployed by the Kottayam municipality captures a stray female dog so that she can be given an anti-rabies vaccine. | Photo Credit: VISHNU PRATHAP
ONLY dog nets and the sack-and-loop method should be used to trap stray dogs to vaccinate them against rabies (“In a dogfight”, November 18). Dog catchers using inhumane methods to trap stray dogs should be punished. Instead of releasing stray dogs back on to the streets after they are vaccinated, they can be trained as police dogs, drug detection dogs, guide dogs for the blind, and so on.
Regular mass anti-rabies vaccination camps should be carried out, and all dogs should be fitted with a luminous collar that has the expiry date of the anti-rabies vaccination on it.
To prevent stray dogs from scavenging garbage, wet and dry waste should segregated and stored in locked dustbins that are cleaned and disinfected on a daily basis. Organic waste should be converted into a compost for use as a manure or as gobar gas. Abandoning dogs worsens the stray dog menace, so online and offline dog courses should be mandatory for people planning to keep a dog. In these ways one can prevent the stray dog menace properly.
Peter Castellino
Mumbai
The hijab
On February 17, students leaving Dr G Shankar Government Women’s First Grade College, in Udupi, Karnataka, after they were not allowed to attend classes wearing the hijab. | Photo Credit: SHAILENDRA BHOJAK/PTI
THIS is with reference to the article “The case of the hijab” (November 18). For decades, the hijab or burka was never an issue. It is common sense for schools and colleges to have a fixed uniform. The sole reason for using uniforms is to promote a feeling of togetherness and prevent feelings of separation because of caste and/or religion. But I regret to state that politicians are the ones causing the problems by playing cheap politics. People of all religions and castes not only live happily together but also celebrate all festivals together. It is politicians who create fights and differences between people. Therefore, politicians should refrain from such activities for the sake of peace.
Ashok Nihalani
Pune, Maharashtra
Crime
A photograph of Ankita Bhandari. | Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
THE murder of 19-year Ankita Bhandari one month after she started working at the Vanantara Resort in Rishikesh was hard to digest (“Murder in a resort”, November 4). There has been a significant rise in serious crimes across India, with governments doing nothing or denying justice by delaying it. The Central government promised minimum government and maximum governance, but this is followed more in the breach than in principle, and funds are diverted to areas that have nothing to do with the welfare of the common public. Ankita’s death is just one of the umpteen incidents that have taken place in the recent past. The government needs to fulfil its primary duty and make the country safe for one and all and allow them to educate themselves, choose a gainful career, and live a dignified and honourable life.
M.Y. Shariff
Chennai
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