MyVoice: Views of our readers 3rd September 2021

Indian govt should keep close tabs on Taliban

Since the Taliban has assured India that it has no Kashmir agenda as in the past, India should be watching how this public assurance translates on ground in Afghanistan. If the present Taliban regime lives up to its word, then Mullah Akundzada should tell terrorist groups like Al Qaeda, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Tayebba to keep their Kashmir agenda out of Afghanistan. In this context, India must be on self-preservation mode as Pakistan-based terrorist groups have gained in confidence and in land for jihad after Taliban victory.

N Sadhasiva Reddy, Bengaluru

TS village hails birth of baby girl, shows way

When there is a birth of a baby girl in any family of the village Haridasapuram in Sangareddy district, Telangana, the sarpanch and other elders of the village are distributing sweets in the village and celebrating the birth as a festival. This is a welcome one. Even today we are witnessing killing of baby girls in wombs, leading to low percentage of women in sex ratio. We must put an end to these happenings. Naming rivers and hills ofter women is not enough. Women should be treated on a par with men. Now-a-days, when compared with men, they are behind none. Achieving top ranks in civils, winning medals in international events, giving tough fight to men in politics, many are CEOs of multinational companies, flying into the space and many more. We are the heirs of the culture that treated women as deities. Government must appreciate the villagers for their idea of celebrating the birth of baby girl and should spread the message across the State. Then the other villages will definitely emulate the villagers of Haridasapuram.

K Manoj Kumar, Huzurabad

Political bias in religious affairs unfortunate

Continuing restrictions on the opening of temples in Maharashtra and celebrating popular Dahi-Handi on the occasion of Janmashtmi (30.08.2021) by the Maharashtra government despite the opening of bars, malls, shopping complexes, restaurants and other crowded places is a sign of pseudo-secular government led by a party which before being in power posed as being the biggest preacher of Hinduism. On the other hand, it is recalled that the Kerala government lifted all Corona restrictions on the occasion of Eid despite the State being still the worst-affected Corona State for which even Supreme Court expressed its anguish.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal, Delhi

Diminishing democracy

Hundreds of farmers were injured in police lathi-charge and one farmer allegedly died after suffering injuries. It is disgusting to note that the CM of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, is defending the SDM Ayush Sinha. The video clip shows the SDM emphatically extracting a commitment from the policemen to break the heads of farmers, directly to attack on heads and nobody should escape with injured heads. Asking the police to break the heads of farmers is not acceptable under any circumstances. It is wrong on CM Khattar's part, instead of condemning the police brute force, to defend them. I feel very sad to note that till now 600 farmers have lost their lives while sitting in protest and our 'Pradhan Sevak' is maintaining stoic silence. Those who are supposed to serve the people start talking of breaking the heads of people is an example of our diminishing democracy.

Zeeshaan, Kazipet.

Central govt needs to go in for course correction

The government seems to labour under the misapprehension that renaming awards, roads, stadiums and hospitals, refurbishing or renovating places of historical importance like Jallianwala Bagh (to suit its aesthetics and narrative), monetising national assets and implementing policies for accumulation of wealth by a few industrialists will suffice to usher in acche din. It is sad that it does not spare a thought for low-income families that struggle to make both ends meet and how they find it extremely hard to withstand the onslaughts of soaring fuel prices and their cascading effects in this pandemic time. As opined by Rahul Gandhi, the Modi government indeed needs to change its vision, adopt a new approach and avail expertise for effecting a turnaround in the economy.

G David Milton, Maruthancode

Open loot by oil cos, dealers

Price increase apart, oil companies and dealers are also treating the consumers unfairly. We booked an Indane refill on August 24. We received a confirmation of expected delivery in 12 days (anticipating increase). While waiting for the refill, the price was increased, and we immediately received a new invoice raised for Rs 937 and the balance payable Rs 25.

When the order has been received and invoice is generated, how can the oil companies/dealer generate another invoice to collect the difference amount? Previously, we used to get a message invoice cancelled and a new invoice generated. This has been stopped to bypass the consumer forum case. It is an open looting by oil companies and dealers while increasing the LPG price.

N Nagarajan, Hyderabad

GDP growth numbers nothing to cheer about

Even a small amount of positivity when compared to negativity is considered as a big achievement but the catch is the arithmetic calculation (GDP rebounds after Covid slump, grows 20.1 % in Q1, September 1). From minus 24.4% GDP growth in Apr-Jun 2020 to plus 20.1% in the corresponding quarter of 2021 may show that the growth is positive but still negative by 9% against Apr-Jun 2019 (pre-Covid period) performance. So, the report may look good but nothing to cheer about in a big way.

Kshirasagara Balaji Rao,Hyderabad