My Voice: Views of our readers 24th September 2021

Reorienting the male mindset

Dr Ramu Suravajjula in the write-up has rightly come out that despite plethora of laws and constitutional obligation to protect women, it is shocking that molestation and rape cases on the rise thereby revealing deep infirmities in our legal system which permits the use of power to subvert the process of justice. Though the country is on the threshold of many social changes, empowerment of women is non-existent.

Since more than 50 per cent of women face sexual abuse at some point in their life even as rape has engulfed the society on account of degeneration of values, mere offer of compensation and words of solace to the victim would neither lessen the pain caused by the heinous crime nor end this malaise spread like a cancer in the society unless the tormentors are dealt with utmost severity.

All in all, it is imperative that government meets the society's reasonable expectation of deterrent punishment commensurate with the gravity of the offence committed is awarded to the perpetrators without delay while at the same time ensure to bring awareness men that woman be seen as a human being and not as somebody to be marked, used and so on.

K R Srinivasan, Secunderabad

II

Boys and girls of our society are not given equal opportunities in addressing all vital issues thus keeping gender equality at bay. There is a lack of teaching techniques to create sensible people among us. Sex education should be rightly imparted to fix the issue of rape. The acts of ragging should be condemned in society and the sense of entitlement given to boys in our society may have to be withered away.

The films that promote sex inspiration among boys should be banned to instil a righteous conduct among the latter. The films that make an impact on the minds of gullible and illiterate youngsters espousing false notions on sex and its abuse in society must be kept out of the purview of boys in getting influenced. There should be a check-mate on screening of vulgarly created TV programmes.

It is all the more necessary to keep children out of the reach and use of alcohol, tobacco, drugs and pornography which are mainly responsible for the heinous crimes of rape to take place.

Social media that bears the tag for promoting obscenity in our present day society must be kept out of the reach of the youngsters who are getting despoiled by such platforms. There are several loopholes in our social system that should be plugged to create a rape free society which we indeed require in all eventuality.

BH Indu Sekhar, Hyderabad

UK's discriminatory behaviour

It is absolutely unbecoming of the UK government to insist on a compulsory quarantine for Indian travellers despite being fully vaccinated with Covishield vaccine, to follow the "non-vaccinated rules" which means Indian passenger must take a Covid test three days before departure and book in advance for two Covid test to be taken upon arrival in England; and remain in quarantine for 10 days; and can emerge after a negative PCR test.

This is a sheer highhandedness on part of the UK as India is in the forefront of vaccinating its citizen that is far more systematic and professional, compared to even the UK, which is digitalised and made foolproof, while the vaccination certificates issued in UK are handwritten, and are prone to manipulation, that can not be the case with Indian vaccinated certificates. India must come out strongly against this discriminatory mindset practiced by the UK that is reflective of the colonial mindset that the country still believes in.

S Lakshmi, Hyderabad

Freebie-for-all

Nowadays, the announcements of distribution of freebies and making the head or deputy head of the State from the scheduled communities has now become a trend among the various political parties to earn votes and hiding their failures. It seems that these two things have now remained the only key to get power.

The recent appointment of CM in Punjab is a clear-cut step to garner the votes of the scheduled castes in the coming elections. Notably, Channi is one of the most educated CM of Punjab till date but alas he has got a promotion by ignoring his qualification. Even, the newly formed AAP has also adopted the same path as they have already announced the Deputy CM to be made from the minorities if came to power in Punjab along with announcing the freebies in all the poll-bound states.

It seems that the parties have no vision to increase revenue and make development, declaring the above things has remained their only motto. Only time will tell that whether these announcements will help in crossing the raft or not?

Dr Navneet Seth, Dhuri, Punjab

Notable move

The National Disaster Management Authority's (NDMA) recommendation for payment of Rs.50,000 each as ex gratia assistance to the next of kin of those who succumbed to the virus while involved in relief operations and preparedness activities is welcome. The financial aid would be given provided that the cause of death is certified as Covid-19.

The States would give the money from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). Many would argue that the compensation is too tiny, but something is better than nothing.

N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru