MyVoice: Views of our readers 2nd April 2021

Dada Saheb Award for Superstar

No doubt Rajinikanth is a public figure actor with huge fan following not only in India but also worldwide. He is great in acting gimmicks, stylish appearance and fighting with lots of people with single hand. But if you compare his acting to Kamal Haasan, you find the difference of commercial super star and talented actor. Yes Kamal is very much talented as an actor than Rajini. Now the question is why Rajini, why not Kamal?

Rajnikant is not in politics but his huge number of fans are there in Tamil Nadu. By giving this Dada Phalke award the BJP is trying to catch the fans as favourable voters for their party in this assembly election. That's the only reason why he has been announced as an awardee. Coming to Kamal Haasan, he has a political party, alliance with two other political parties and above all he is anti- BJP politician.

Similarly in Andhra Pradesh the Phalke award was not given to NTR (Senior) and awarded to ANR. If awards also become the ladder for power, then the words "impartial and unbiased valuation of art and culture" will be meaningless.

Dr T Mahadev Rao, Visakhapatnam

II

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar announced on Thursday that Rajinikanth will receive the country's highest film honour for 2019. The jury which picked him for the top award included singers Asha Bhosle and Shankar Mahadevan, actors Mohanlal and Biswajeet and filmmaker Subhash Ghai. Rajini is a versatile actor and brought up from the grassroot level. He made his presence as an actor in every film in Tamil and other languages. However, he was not able to hit a purple patch in Hindi film industry but compensated with his character role in Tamil cinema as a lead actor. He was confident and took each of his roles with force and made the Tamil audience to look at him as a superstar. He is a veteran actor and made a mark with his style, mannerism and much appreciation. He is a living legend and deserves Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

Krishnan Ramani, Ghaziabad

Modi's campaign techniques, unique!

The flair for coining slogans by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with alliterations and acronyms has become widely known. The present Assembly elections in the state of Kerala and in the Union territory of Puducherry are the latest examples. In prime minister parlance, Kerala has five diseases viz.,Corruption, Casteism, Communalism, Cronyism and Criminalism. Its proposed target of FAST, denoting F for Fishery and Fertilsers, A for Agriculture and Ayurveda, S for Skill development and Social justice and T for Tourism and Technology. Not lagging behind Puducherry is promised to be made into BEST, B for Business hub, E for Education hub, S for Spiritual hub and T for Tourist hub.

Seshagiri Row Karry, Hyderabad

Reopen schools

When whole state is normally working, why should schools only be closed. The TS government must reopen all schools and colleges to run them immediately. The hostel students face problems. Managements of private schools and colleges find it difficult to pay salaries to teachers, staff, van drivers, rents to buildings, and to return fees paid by students without running them. The government should not pass any student without conducting examinations. Students will have satisfaction, only when they pursue learning in a studious environment, and writing exams in school to obtain pass marks.

J Vijay Kumar, Secunderabad

Mamata's moves untested

The effort by TMC's supremo Mamata Didi to cobble up together a united front to fight the BJP while the BJP wishing to hoist its saffron flag pan India could, I seem, turn out to be a vigorous battle . TRS, who initially started this exercise has toned down its pursuit. The TDP isn't willing into get into the heat of this ongoing exercise., perhaps realising that fighting BJP is an onerous task .

Both TRS & TDP have their own valid reasons for this. The results of the ongoing assembly election will show the way to the opposition and could also help them chalk out their future strategies according to the outcome. The opposition has a huge task ahead of itself and has to work really hard to succeed. The electorate has to be convinced beyond all doubts about its promises which it proposed to put forward and prove that it will emerge as a more viable alternative than the present ruling dispensation if given an opportunity to rule the country Only then it can succeed. Will it happen, time can only reveal.

N R Raghuram, Hyderabad

II

Opposition parties in the country have been divided time immemorial and this fact had made ruling parties fascist and the then regime of Indira Gandhi led Congress and the present Modi led BJP prove this point. We have no dearth of talented leaders in the opposition but their egoistic attitude marred the unity and comes as blessing in disguise to Modi government (Mamata calls for united fight against BJP, April 1). It is time opposition parties shed their reservations and come together in the interest of the nation. This is because a strong opposition is needed to counter strong government in the democratic setup.

Kshirasagara Balaji Rao, Hyderabad

III

West Bengal has become a boiling pot with leaders of the TMC, BJP, Congress and the Left indulging in allegations and counter-allegations among themselves. Further, the Assembly elections in Bengal are marred by violence and hate campaigns. Recently, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her BJP rival Suvendu Adhikari stepped up the attack against each other, just days before their high-profile contest in Nandigram.

However, as the real fight is between the BJP and the TMC, the Left and the Congress are just trying their fortunes. The 'Grand Old Party' has lost ground and differences among its leaders will cost it dear. The Left, which has an alliance with the Congress, also has very negligible chances of resurgence in the State's politics. The BJP, on the other hand, is fighting Mamata aggressively.

Nitesh Mandwariya, Neemuch

India and Myanmar

Indian presence at the Myanmar Army Day parade was unfortunate and likely to cause a lot of misgivings especially in the west. It seems like an endorsement of the actions of the military on unarmed protestors. Now this government has gone several steps ahead and issued directives to neighbouring states not to give asylum to the refugees who are fleeing from the atrocities of the military. If true; reports that more than 100 were deported back must make our heads hang with shame, because it negates all that India has stood for. Even in India there is studied silence about the entire affair. The road we seem to be taking is not the one the founding fathers fought for.

Anthony Henriques, Mumbai

Pak move welcome

Pakistan's decision to allow imports from India is a welcome move. Pakistan is finally permitting the import of yarn and five lakh tonnes of sugar from the country. This will help India to explore the market and reduce carry overstock for the following season.

Pakistan had stopped the import of cotton and yarn from India after a political fallout over the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir. Pakistani textile manufacturers have been demanding that imports from India be allowed, as it would be a cheaper option for them. Both nations should come forward to encourage bilateral trade by creating livelihood for the people.

Amit Singh Kushwaha, Satna (MP)