MyVoice: Views of our readers 14th September 2020

Postpone LRS for two years

The Telangana government has announced that the applications of the LRS have to be submitted before 30th Sept,20 and the applicable fee should be paid before 31st,Jan, 21.

I would like to appeal to the Chief Minister that all people are in trouble due to Covid-19 and several people have lost their jobs or their salaries reduced substantially. Further all are in financial trouble due to someone being sick in the family especially old parents and the medical expenditure is very high. Therefore, I request the Chief Minister to reconsider the LRS scheme and it may be postponed by two years or till situation improves and people are relieved of this severe pandemic which is shaking all the nations of the world. Meanwhile, the people who want to sell their lands, it may be made compulsory getting LRS approved by the govt because it would be easy for them as they would be getting money on sale of their lands. Please reconsider the implementation of the scheme so that Telangana 'biddalu' are not put into extreme difficulties. Eagerly awaiting your helping hand to the people who had purchased house plots with a dream to have a house of their own.

A M Daniel, Hyderabad

Growing Islamophobia needs to be stopped

In a chilling incident of Islamophobia, a 28-year-old Muslim man was assaulted, and his right hand was allegedly chopped off by two men in Haryana's Panipat town. The incident happened on August 24, and the man's family members lodged an FIR on September 7. They took this time to recover their wits post the trauma. The victim identified as Akhlaq, had left his home in Nanauta, near Saharanpur city to find work in Panipat. When night fell, he sat down to rest in a park. Some youths came by, asking for his name and whereabouts. As soon as they came to know he was a Muslim, they beat him up and when they saw tattoo of 786 (means, in the name of God The Most Gracious The Most Merciful) on his hand, they got jealous and hacked it off with a chainsaw. He was then taken to the railway station and dumped on the tracks, to pass it off as an accident. The victim got help from a man crossing by who helped him inform his family about the mishap. This is absolutely a condemnable incident. Such unexpected incidents have been increasing in some parts of the country. But the government authority takes no accurate step against culprits to stop such bad things. As per reports, the family members reported to the police but unfortunately, they seemed to have already decided to dismiss the case by calling it an accident. I appeal to the government to take strong actions against those who committed such heinous act, which is destroying the peace and harmony in the country.

Noor Ahmad, Hyderabad

Violence no solution to any problem

The biography of our nation is scarred by indescribable acts of individual and collective violence. Headlines of morning newspapers regularly disburse news about the latest incident of, often, incredible brutality etched onto the bodies of women, of children, of the so-called lower castes, of minority groups, and of vulnerable others. Violence is executed with deadly precision.

At any given day and time, everyday violence ranges from road rage, to major destruction that follows brutal and completely amoral terror attacks, to crowds that run amuck setting fire to public property, to demonstrations that go painfully wrong and lead to death. Some forms of violence are extraordinarily collective – such as communal or caste riots, or civil wars resulting in thousands of deaths. Some penetrate deep into the body politic and appear as the ordinariness of everyday life, such as violence against women. Sadly institutions, procedures and agents which are supposed to protect citizens, such as tribunals, committees and courts, are compromised. All governments are arbitrary and heedless of the interest of their citizens, particularly the most vulnerable sections of society. Such arbitrary exercise of power has to be kept in check in a democracy by institutions, laws, processes, and civil society organisations.

Niharika N K, Hyderabad