MyVoice: Views of our readers 20th December 2024

Amit Shah exhibits Manuvaadi mindset

Amit Shah commented that, “it has become a fashion to chant ‘Ambedkar.’ If they had taken God’s name, so many times, then they would have got a place in a heaven.” It is an insult to those who re-vere Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar no less than as a God. Dr Ambedkar has freed crores of people from hellish life and gave them salvation in this very life. Ambedkar is the ideal for crores of people of the country. By insulting Ambedkar, Amit Shah has hurt sentiments of crores of the people of this country. Ambedkar is our pride and passion. Amit Shahs comments are evidence of the “Manuvaadi” mindset that has always been opposed to the Constitution.

Zakir Hussain, Kazipet

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As a Union Home Minister, Amit Shah could ill-afford to take an indirect swipe on Dr Ambedkar with his unsavoury comment. What is worse, his extra-terrestrial reference to heavens above reflects a bit of his unscientific temper.

Seshagiri Row Karry, Hyderabad

Pollution now a pan-India problem

Sub: Editorial – Indian cities are yearning to breathe better (Dec. 19). Many Indian cities are turning into virtual gas chambers, of late, due to increasing pollution levels. The winter season is an addition to woes as the growing fog tends to suspend pollutants making it not only difficult to breathe, but drasti-cally reducing visibility on roads and rail services. Flight services must be cancelled on this account. Pol-lution has become a pan-India problem, leading to a variety of health problems.

K R Parvathy, Mysuru

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The problem is not just of lifestyle but also policy and enforcement which is lacking on account of in-terplay of silly politics. Further, it is disheartening to note that governments turn a blind eye to the suf-fering lot and act only when court intervenes. It is time Centre establishes a monitoring cell on the lines of IMD in each state capital to monitor pollution and suggest remedial measures, giving no room for parties to indulge in blame game in order to escape responsibility and accountability.

K R Srinivasan, Secunderabad

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Obsessing about the likes of Nehru, Ambedkar and Patel is going to do nothing about the present tox-icity that is going to affect our lungs and more so the health of the younger people, condemning them to a lifetime of sickness and many health-related problems. Leaving everything to the courts is not a good idea. The courts have intervened in the matter but the people themselves will have to decide on their priorities. It is time for the people to realise their future is at stake if they continue to ignore the effects of breathing toxic air and how it could affect their future.

Anthony Henriques, Mumbai

Real issues relegated in Parl

The winter session of parliament appears to be jinxed for many reasons. Adani, Soros, ONOE, Ambekar and what not, both the ruling and opposition parties are “finding” some lame excuses to stall the proceedings. Holding sessions under such circumstances means a colossal as well as criminal waste of public money. What exactly these parties achieved all these days by stalling the proceedings is any-body’s guess. Amit Shah could have toned down his rhetoric against the Congress party on issues per-taining to the Constitution of India and B R Ambedkar. The habit of Congress party is to distort the re-marks and try to gain some political mileage.

Govardhana Myneedu, Vijayawada

ONOE contradicts merits of democracy

Separate elections and, that too held frequently, ensure greater political accountability by keeping po-litical parties on their toes and compelling them to be sensitive to voter concerns. An undesirable fall-out of ONOP is that an election in the event of a fall of a government, of which there is likelihood, for the remainder of a 5-year term means truncation of a tenure. Election expenses are a small price for a robust democracy to pay. Remember elections are hailed as ‘festivals of democracy’. Hence it cannot be justifiably cited as a reason for ONOP if we are to be a vibrant democracy. Elections must be held to meet the need (for governance according to the will of the people) and not to suit our convenience, or parties’ self-interest, or fulfil a leader’s vanity, or cash in on a leader’s mass appeal.

G David Milton, Maruthancode, TN