MyVoice: Views of our readers 12th July 2023

Manipur violence: SC fails to rise to occasion

It was sad to note that Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud could do little more than asking the lawyers not to use the Supreme Court as a platform for further escalation of violence in Manipur. It was hard to figure out what he exactly meant. The fear of escalation of violence cannot dictate the proceedings of the Supreme Court or free exchange of views by the lawyers before the lordships. We thought that the apex court would make it absolutely clear that a situation in which vulnerability invites violence cannot be countenanced. The county’s top court which is held in great esteem as a repository of wisdom cannot observe that siding with the weak and vulnerable is ‘partisan’. It may be politically incorrect, but certainly not morally wrong to state the fact that the tribal people have found themselves at the receiving end of attacks carried out systematically. It was possible that the weapons looted from police stations were used against them. We expected the Supreme Court to rise to the occasion and direct the state govt to perform its duty of protecting the lives of people. It is true that the Supreme Court cannot take over ‘the governance of a state’ or run its security apparatus. The Meiteis live mostly in the Imphal Valley and Kukis and Nagas in hill districts. For the sake of peaceful coexistence, the Meiteis should give up their demand for ST status made with a view to acquiring land in the hill districts.

G David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

BRS need to stop towing AIMIM ideas

It is imperative that the overt camaraderie of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, with Owaisi’s AIMIM in opposing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Parliament is fraught with grave connotation to the country. It is high time for BRS to emerge from the shadow of the AIMIM in entertaining ideas that are not in the interest of the women folk of the nation, who stand to benefit by way of self-respect and dignity from the UCC that AIMIM and other Muslim bodies in the country deliberately want to ignore. The recent opinion poll on UCC conducted by the Times Now indicates that more 75 per cent of women in different parts of the country are in favour of UCC as they are fed up with the highhandedness of males as an object of exploitation.

K R Venkata Narasimhan, Madurai

Govt duty-bound to ensure fair prices

In India, tomatoes and onions have been notorious for their volatile prices, which can have significant political and economic implications. In the 1990s, during the Delhi govt led by the Janata party, there was an incident known as the “onion bomb” that left lasting scars. This year, India experienced another surge in tomato prices, reaching an astonishing record of Rs 150-200 per kg in different parts of the country. Unfortunately, such exorbitant prices do not bring benefits to the hardworking farmers, as they are often compelled to sell their produce at lower prices due to the lack of adequate storage facilities. Regrettably, it is the traders’ cartel that benefits from this situation, reaping enormous profits while the farmers remain impoverished. There have been concerns that some business tycoons in India may also be involved in hoarding, yet the government has failed to take appropriate action. It is the government’s responsibility to bridge this gap by purchasing tomatoes from farmers at fair prices.

Md Imdadullah, Muzaffarpur

Governor has set an example

The Governor clarifying that no bills are pending from her table is creating a great hope for the people of TS. Similarly the TS Government officials are requested to clear all the pending issues and grievances of the people from their departments within a specified time frame. It is common that hundreds of people run around various offices to seek time with the relevant officials to get clearance for their long pending issues and grievances. The time frames for resolving the pending submissions of the people need to be announced.

G Murali Mohan Rao, New Bowenpalli, Secunderabad

Govt mute spectator to tax evasion

While talking to media, Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Mithali Madhusmitha made a statement that Government, Public Sector and Software employees got about 84 percent IT refund in 2022-23 by filing pseudo returns in both Telugu States. In India, as per statistical reports only 5 percent people are submitting returns since long. Business magnates, politicians, realtors, corrupt officials and a host of unaccounted income groups are directly cheating the government by evading IT by adopting many malpractice methods. Govt is well aware of this. Why is it silent? What mechanism the IT authorities have to bring them under scanner and punish such culprits? Why salaried employees alone are targetted? Where from hundreds of crores black money is emerging during election period? Are there realistic and convincing answers with GOI/ITA?

Dr NSR Murthy, Secunderabad