MyVoice: Views of our readers 25th January 2022

It is illegal to oppose Hijab

M K Ashoka's, "Karnataka Hijab row triggers debate," article is thought-provoking. It is a matter of great pain that a group of Muslim girls are barred from entering college just because the reason is the piece of cloth on their heads or Hijab. It is sad to note that the students of a government college were forced to sit outside the classroom for weeks now.

This Hijab ban has sparked an outrage in India with students and right groups accusing the college administration of bias against the Muslim minority. The Hijab is a part of Muslim women's faith and wearing it is a right guaranteed under law.

The Constitution of India gives every citizen the right to practise his or her religious beliefs and prohibiting the Indian citizens from wearing Hijab inside a school located in India is unconstitutional. For Islamic women, wearing a Hijab is an act of faith and obedience to the creator. It provides the Muslim women with both spiritual and physical peace and harmony.

Zakir Hussain, Kazipet

Community transmission underway

According to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), Omicron is now in community transmission and it has become the dominant causative agent of Covid-19 in multiple metros in India.

The consortium has stated that most Omicron cases so far have been asymptomatic or mild and added that the sheer number of infected persons, among whom are high-risk groups, has led to an increase in hospitalizations and ICU cases. It is distressing that the death toll has nearly doubled in a week in India. It follows from this that now the protection of vulnerable groups should get priority in the management of the pandemic.

The population seems to have developed what was once called "herd immunity." Still we cannot say with certainty that new and more severe variants of the virus won't emerge and cause death and suffering. The best case scenario would be for Covid-19 to peter out as a deadly pandemic and become a mild disease. We have to heed the warning by scientists.

G David Milton, Maruthancode

II

The third wave of Covid 19 is spreading fast. My own experience is so unpalatable. I went to Government hospital for a test on 19th January. I was told that the result would be flashed to my cell after two days.

Even after four days, result is yet to be known. In the meantime, to be on the safer side. I isolated myself since the day I experienced fever. But hundreds of patients are moving around during their wait for results. They must be spreading the virus all over and further complicating the issue. More number of labs should be arranged to handle more efficiently. System must be more perfect to inform results in time and those found to be positive should be guided to the available Covid quarantine centers in time.

AG Rajmohan, Anantapur

Kudos to Chile President

When India is still not willing to pass the bill of 33% of women political representation/reservation, surprisingly Chile, a country in the South American continent with a population of about 18 million, has elected 14 women ministers out of 24 in the cabinet.

President Gabriel Borich has made a historic and better decision by keeping faith in the women's ability and credibility. Of late, a few women state administrators of foreign countries have proved better in leading their countries especially during the pandemic. Let our governments understand the real meaning of equal participation of women in all fields, especially in decision-making bodies, than simply conducting webinars on girl child/women empowerment.

Thummapudi Bharathi, Tirupati

Poisoning of turtles sad

In an unfortunate incident, dozens of turtles were found dead in a lake in Kalyan (Maharashtra). Wildlife conservationists and advocates say that the cause of such a huge number of these reptiles is due to poisoning and this, they say, could have been done by some of the people residing around that area who found these creatures consuming fish which they have been illegally breeding in the water body.

The locals could have sought permission in breeding fish from the authority concerned and if they had seen these turtles as a menace to fish breeding they could have alarmed the authority and sought their help. More campaigns, awareness drives is a must to avoid such tragedies.

M Pradyu, Kannur