MyVoice: Views of our readers 8th February 2023

Cataclysmic earthquakes

Tragedies do not seem to end. We have just emerged from the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic. Before long two massive earthquakes, attributed to the Anatolian fault system, struck Turkey and Syria and cast a pall of gloom all over the world. We seem to be destined to be sorrowful. Most of those who lost their lives were asleep when the earthquakes struck. The few who were awake would not have thought about the imminence of the earthquakes. The trail of destruction with thousands of buildings levelled to the ground and in ruins attested to the enormity of the disaster.

Apocalyptic scenes in the aftermath gave little hope of many trapped under the rubble being rescued. It was deeply moving that the rescue personnel needed quiet to capture 'sounds of life' and their search and rescue work was hampered by freezing winter weather and heavy rains. Still it is brave of the rescuers that they continue to dig tirelessly through the piles of debris to find and save survivors. The faces of kids saved by the rescuers touched our hearts. Information is still to emerge from some worst-hit areas to know the full scale of the disaster. Damaged roads make some quake-hit regions inaccessible.

It is one tragedy after another for those who fled the war from Syria to Turkey to be hit by earthquakes. Countries around the world - governments as well as organizations - are sending rescue teams and humanitarian aid in the form of food, medicine, and fuel and shelter equipment. International sanctions should not come in the way of providing succour to Syria in this time of great calamity and desperate need. The international community should take the alleviation of untold misery engendered by the earthquakes and the post-earthquake reconstruction of Turkey and Syria as its responsibility in an affirmation (and a demonstration) of the spirit of common humanity.

G David Milton, Tamil Nadu

Pakistan paying for misdeeds

Apropos editorial 'India must steer clear of Pak crisis'. As aptly said in the editorial; Pakistan is now reaping what it has sown in terms of hate and inimical attitude against India, by way of acute poverty, hunger and terror mushrooming in that country cultivated so far and terror groups are turning against it by way of repeated incidents of suicide bombings taking place in Pakistan.

Tehrik-E Taliban of Pakistan (TTP) is wreaking havoc in the country snuffing out the lives of its own religion. Pakistan was never serious about taming terror despite international condemnation and warning. This came handy for Pakistan to bleed India, though India had extended the hand of friendship several times, offering the status of most favoured nation to it. But, such offers were rejected, while the trade route between Kashmir and Pakistan was utilised for transporting drugs into India. Whatever be the situation now prevailing in Pakistan is its own making. Pakistan has turned into a pariah among the Muslim countries of the world. Pakistan made the grave error to forget that the Indian Muslim population outnumbers its own population in Pakistan.

K V Raghuram, Wayanad

Banks need to be prudent with depositors money

Banks are required to be prudent and can't play recklessly with the monies of the depositors. Bankers like Chanda Kochhar of ICICI and Usha Subramanian of PNB have paid price for their apparent lack of prudence. Both were sacked as heads of banks. The Adani issue had shocked the stock markets and lakhs of crores of money is evaporated. Amidst such a crisis, no banker worth his salt will go anywhere near the group till at least the issue is settled. Surprisingly, BOB Chairman Sanjiv Chada had gone on record saying that the bank will continue giving loans to Adani group. This, to say the least, is an irresponsible statement from the head of a prime bank. It is clear that bankers have not learnt any lessons from the past.

Vinay Bhushan Bhagwaty, Hyderabad

Parliament paralysis part and parcel in a preconceived society

Disruptions are now very much a part of established parliamentary practice in India. While trying to wish them away is unrealistic, trying to minimise them is in the best interests of democracy and deliberation. The erosion of decorum and gravitas in parliamentary proceedings is a phenomenon often seen in Parliaments of democracies with a multi-party parliamentary system, with no party strong enough to enforce its political will on the conduct of the parliamentary proceedings. The near washout of the monsoon session of Parliament brought back memories of the past. The waste of the taxpayers' money on a vulgar display of filibustering, through obstruction of proceedings by legislators, should alert our citizens to the need for a rigorous mechanism that can hold them accountable for their misdemeanour and penalise them accordingly. It is high time the government came up with rational solutions to recall problems that restored the people's faith in democracy.

Jayanthi CK Subramaniam, Navi Mumbai