MyVoice: Views of our readers 7th July 2021

Sad farewell to Stan Swamy

The arrest, imprisonment, denial bail, denial of a sipper for days on end and death were not just Stan Swamy's story; they, more significantly, demonstrated what 'the powerful' can do to 'the powerless'. Those who are imbued with a desire for justice and work to advance the cause of justice may look weak in worldly terms, but they are morally strong. Stan Swamy has said while undergoing extreme suffering that 'a caged bird too can sing'. Those who die for a cause never die; they are immortal. Father Stan Swamy was a martyr to the cause of human rights; he has become an inspiration for all those who cherish and champion human rights.

G David Milton, Kanyakumari Dt

It's sad that the 84- year- old Father Stan Swamy, an activist of tribal rights and accused in Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case died in a hospital, while his application for interim bail is yet to be considered by the court. The irony is that the fighter for rights of under trials has to die as under trial. He could have got his bail in time as he was not able to flee the country or influence the case. His case should draw attention of the society and justice delivery apparatus on the plight of countless under trials, who are languishing in jails for longer times.

D V G Sankararao, Nellimarla

It is matter of national shame that an octogenarian Jesuit priest and lifelong tribal activist Fr. Stan Swamy has been jailed on false charges ,denied basic human rights ,bail, and eventually led to cruel death in custody . ( Nothing less than murder, 6 July). Evidently, the deaf government and the blind judiciary are directly responsible for tragic death of Father Stan Swamy in custody. The nation and the world has lost a great patriot cum warrior for the human rights of the oppressed poor tribals. Hope his martyrdom will open the eyes of the Goddess of Justice.

P H Hema Sagar, Secunderabad

The death of tribal rights activist, Stan Swamy, who was imprisoned in a Mumbai jail under UAPA without any clinching evidence can be described, to say the least, as "murder by the State" The Government was waiting for an opportune time and he was, like many other activists, implicated in the Bhima-Koregaon caste violence case. Though suffering from many age-related health problems, the Jesuit pastor never lost his vigour for fighting for the underprivileged. Stan Swamy died of a massive heart attack, but one is tempted to see only a thin line of difference between his demise and the violent doing away of Gauri Lankesh some years ago.

Matam Somasekhar Prasad, Hyderabad

Farm loan travails in TS

The farm loan facility given by TRS in 2018 and its waiver is yet to be implemented even after three long years causing hardships to all the farmers who have availed this scheme . In the initial years the govt has waived 25 per cent with the promises to do the same in the subsequent years till the entire one lakh is completed but the govt has not done any after the first 25 per cent . From then on, the remaining amount is on the name of individual farmer and the banks have no information.

Hence the banks have calculated the interest on the balance amount kept on the name of the farmers. Now the accumulated amount is a heavy burden to the farmers . The farmer is being forced to pay much more than he has taken . Thus KCR farm loan scheme (2018) has made all farmers poorer by the Banks demanding to pay along with interest . This is highly disappointing and sad on the part of the Govt and KCR loan farm scheme. This aspect has to be noticed by all the elite and learned people.

V Vijayakumar, Warangal

Mithali's magic moments

Veteran captain and batter Mithali Raj on Saturday became the first Indian woman cricketer and second internationally to complete 10,000 runs across all formats. The 38- year-old Mithali surpassed former England skipper Charlotte Edwards' tally of 10,273 runs. Mithali now has 10,337 runs in her kitty. No other batswoman has more than 6,000 runs in women's ODIs.

She lived with criticism all her marathon with saga-like cool. These qualities have remained the foundation of the Indian Captain's great stature in international women's cricket tournaments. She added certain dimensions to her batting to enable her to reach the milestone of 10,000 runs which is quite remarkable. Well played Mithali. Congratulations on reaching the milestone. You deserve a place among the legends.

K S Rao, Thane