MyVoice: Views of our readers 29th March 2021

Intellectuals should spread awareness

In tune with the adage Yatha Raja thatha Praja (As the king, so as the people) people always imitate leaders and so leaders need to practice sincerely before preaching the common man (VIPs throw Covid protocols to wind, March 28). It is high time right thinking citizens take initiative and guide the society to come out of this pandemic. This is because Covid is going to stay for many more years and that vaccination is not 100 per cent fool proof according to various experts . Country will be at loss - more due to the silence of intellectuals than ineffective politicians .

Kshirasagara Balaji Rao, Hyderabad

Out of the 5 strategies to curb Covid spread as envisaged by the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and his team, Government should take care of increasing testing, providing more health care resources and vaccination drive. The other two, to be followed by the people, isolation and Covid related behaviour are easy to implement but very difficult to monitor and enforce, since people (mostly heterogeneous groups ) will have different perceptions about the virus. Hence it is imperative to enforce people to follow the preventive measures of the pandemic strictly and any laxity should not be tolerated to effectively counter the second wave of the virus.

G V N Murthy, Hyderabad

Why is SC secretive?

The Supreme Court as part of an in-house enquiry absolved the future CJI of all the charges levelled by another constitutional authority, albeit retaining it as a secret. Transparency is the hallmark of any true democracy. If in-house inquiry has absolved the future CJI, then what is the fate of the complainant who is also a constitutional authority. It is a minimum expectation that neither the CM nor the Supreme Court Judge could escape accountability from people's perspective.

The issue should have a logical conclusion instead of burying it once and for all. The SC owes to the people of India the reasons for keeping it as a secret because grave allegations cannot be set aside under the umbrella of secrecy.

D Nagarjuna, Hyderabad

The world should intervene in Myanmar

It is tragic that over 90 people were killed by the military junta in Myanmar where people gathered to protest against the establishment of military rule. Hundreds have already died in the protests. And to see butchering of people by the military daily there is heart breaking. What the UN body is doing? Is it defunct? Is there is one to question the killing of innocents? Pathetic it is for the poor people of Myanmar. World leaders, including Modi, should take steps to check the deaths of innocent people of the country. Human killings by the military junta is a violation of human rights too.

If the November elections were rigged, as proclaimed by the military junta, then it is for the judiciary to decide the future of the politicians and the people and not the military. So, release the leaders and hold talks to bring in calm and peace in this region.

Sravana Ramachandran, Chennai

This refers to the news report, "Myanmar forces kill dozens of protesters", The Hans India, March 28. The 76th Myanmar Armed Forces Day will stay engraved as a day of terror and dishonour as the armed forces killed 120 citizens taking the total death toll to 440 since the coup was staged by military on February 1. Security forces are murdering unarmed civilians, including children, the very people they swore to protect. These are not the actions of a professional military or police force.

Ever since the military captured power in Myanmar, the country has steadily descended into political and economic chaos. When the Generals toppled the democratically elected government, detained its leaders, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and declared a state of emergency with prohibitory orders, they may have thought that they could quickly consolidate power through force. But they were proved wrong as tens of thousands of people turned defiant and stood up against the junta.

The Generals now find it increasingly difficult to consolidate power and restore order. How long will the Generals continue to kill their own people? And even if they quelled the protests through more bloodshed, what kind of a Myanmar would they be left with? Surely, no one wants an extremely poor, isolated country with a broken society and a shattered economy. The Myanmar Generals should, without further bloodshed, heed the public's demands, end the coup, respect the election results and restore the country's democracy. That is the only way forward.

N Sadhasiva Reddy, Bengaluru

It is galling that Myanmar's trigger-happy military has gone on a killing spree, gunning down protesters with impunity. On Saturday, security forces killed about 100 people, including little tots, in one of the bloodiest days since the military coup. Myanmar's military has exterminated 400 civilians since ousting elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1. The killings have shocked the international community and mark a new low for the country's junta.

N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru

Lanka is also to be blamed

Apropos T K Nandanan's views on India-Sri Lanka relations (Readers'Pulse,THI March 28), let me beg to differ with his view that LTTE engaged in crass violence and bloodshed throughout their existence in Sri Lanka. Let me draw the esteemed reader's attention to the turmoil of the Indian Tamil who settled there had undergone through. As I listened to news in late 60's that the Lankan Army perpetrated atrocities on Tamils to the extent that their women were molested in front of men and like now fingers point to President Rajapaksa's role in the disappearance of thousands of people then also many people had such ill-fate.

I concur that in 1987 IPKF was deployed by Rajiv to kill our own brothers and sisters. It was a mishap that led to Rajiv's demise. In 1971 Bangladesh was delivered from the clutches of Pakistan with the heroic fight of Indian Army while IPKF had an indelible slur in history.

Dr T Ramadas, Visakhapatnam