MyVoice: Views of our readers 3rd October 2023

30 yrs on, justice done to rape victims

The verdict of Madras High Court in the three-decade-old Vachathi case, where 215 public servants were brought to book is praiseworthy. They committed heinous crimes including rapes against the villagers of Vachathi of Tamil Nadu on the pretext of supporting bandit Veerappaan in 1992. The poor tribal victims couldn’t get support from the State machinery as all the culprits were employees of the government. As Madras High Court had taken proactive role the case was taken up by CBI which got concluded by penalising 215 culprits out of 269 by the sessions court. Now it’s heartening that Madras High Court has upheld the judgement. Though delayed, the verdict gives hope to the weaker sections that the justice would not be denied to them, however, strong the culprits might be. The grit of poor tribals and the support of civil society for right cause are the things to be lauded.

Dr DVG Sankara Rao, Vizianagaram

The wanton brutalities committed by police, forest and revenue personnel at Vachathi, a tribal hamlet at the foothills of Chiteri in the Western Ghats in Tami Nadu’s Dharmapuri district for three days from June 20, 1992, cannot be narrated enough in words. The Tamil word used to describe the crimes is Vankodumai which roughly translates to ‘extreme atrocity’. The Vachathi verdict pronounced by the Madras High Court invalidated the principle that ‘might is right’ and asserted that the right of life of the meek and vulnerable is constitutionally guaranteed as it is for the rest of the citizenry and inviolable apart, from giving the victims a sense of closure. Defenders of human rights, public-spirited lawyers and members of the Left parties, imbued with a sense of justice, stood by the people of Vachathi in their fight for justice.

G David Milton, Maruthancode, TN

Has the BJP given up on the South?

This refers to Hans editorial, “All parties brace for ‘Kisme Kitna Dum Hai’ test” (Oct 2). Prima facie, I am not in agreement that BJP is not much interested in its journey towards South. It has a lot of interest to conquer the South also. But after its debacle in Karnataka, tough fight only between BRS and Congress in Telangana, DMK’s durability, AIADMK’s exit from NDA, unmoved Communist party’s stableness in Kerala, all these factors are like a Rock of Gibralter that are disabling BJP to surmount the hurdles and hence it is concentrating on North alone. Once in second place and fast approaching to go to first place in Telangana State, BJP suddenly slipped into the third position. Talking very less about Andhra Pradesh the better as BJP has its deep roots with YSRCP without winning a single seat. One thing is sure. Modi’s BJP has marred its image in South and partly in North.

NSK Prasad, Hyderabad

Get children sound advice from experts

Refer: ‘Children with mental health problems.’ This has reference to the exhaustive article on the issue. It is unfortunate that, as per new study, some of them have poor mental and physical health in their late teens and early 20s. They can be easily motivated to be actively provided all the academic institutions shall involve successful personalities and professionals to inspire them with their lectures. It is common that being humans the deficiencies among such youth are easily traced out by the knowledgeable people.

G Murali Mohan Rao, Secunderabad

Rains spoil World Cup practice games

World Cup practice games started on a bright note, but the games were disrupted by monsoon rains and the very purpose of playing practice games got defeated. This is after the Asian Games got disrupted by rains in Sri Lanka. Thus far, only a few matches could be completed and a reserve day for practice games was the need of the hour. Cricket is a game of luck and it is commencing from the toss to the ultimate result. No match is won or lost until the last ball is bowled. Keep the fingers crossed.

C K Subramaniam, Mumbai

Creating ruckus in name of festivities

Sometime in 1800, the great freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak introduced Sarvajanik (public) Ganesh Utsav to unite Indians and in particular to stand up against British rule. He would have never imagined that over the period it would not only be trivialised but would become all show with no sanctity. The size and scale has gone beyond imagination with DJ music blaring - and what not. A mourning family was attacked when he made the group stop playing music outside. Moreover, I was surprised that visarjan (immersion) is happening even now. On Sunday, a small group which seemed to be of hooligans was leading the procession of an oversized idol blocking either side of the road. What was more shocking was the tune of the song was highly communal, openly threatening a particular community. Don’t know whether Tilak or even Lord Ganesh would be happy with such songs. Why are the police allowing processions even after celebrations are over?

N Nagarajan, Hyderabad