MyVoice: Views of our readers 30th September 2020

A new awakening for Indian farmers

There is a concerted and deliberate attempt by opposition parties to discredit and slander the recently promulgated farm bills which are path-breaking and paving the way for a prosperous life to the farming community.

All these years, the Left and other secular parties along with bogus farmer groups comprising middle men and commission agents were misleading and misguiding the farmers for their own political benefit. The farmers have been released from their bondage and can opt for many easy ways to handle their produce resulting in good and fair returns.

Pawar family in Maharashtra and Batala in Punjab have been keeping the farmers under their stranglehold and hence shed crocodile tears at the turn of events. This will be an awakening moment for the farmers.

BJP lost in Punjab mainly due their ally viz. SAD who had, over the years, have gained bad reputation due to their corrupt and high handed actions. BJP was just waiting for a way to get rid of them and now a golden opportunity has landed on their lap. Good riddance SAD.

Let all the other chief ministers wake up and do a honest study of the bills, understand them properly and take reasoned decisions in order to help the genuine farmers. In every state the politicians form a cartel to force the farmers to sell their produce to the caucus promoted by these self appointed guardians.

J Kannan, Hyderabad

The new agri Bills are pro-business

The Prime Minister in his Man Ki Baat programme has taken some pain to convince the agitating farmers on the advantage of the three Bills passed in the Parliament recently. The argument he has placed looks and sounds good to hear but in reality it carries lurking dangers of annihilating the small and medium farmers from the field and create a comfortable field for the corporate firms to play havoc that is likely to see the end of days of India enjoying self reliance in food.

It is true the farm productivity needs to be increased keeping the future needs in mind. But none of the provisions of the controversial Acts can address this need. It is too imaginative to expect a farmer in a corner rural area of a remote state to sell his produce in a market in Delhi or Mumbai. Even if it is enabled by the corporate firms or licensed middle men the benefits may not reach the farmer or consumers.

Even if MSP is not done away with in the competition with giant private firms allowed to carry on procurement the government institutions will fade away leaving the farmers without any viable alternate. The agreement under contract farming has its compulsions like buying seeds, pesticides, fertilizers specified by the contracting party leaving no choice for the farmer over these materials or their costs. Grading is likely to play its havoc in accepting or rejecting the produce as already faced by many in the field.

In all the entire effort of the government is to facilitate the corporate companies in the field and not at all to benefit the farmers. A minister resigning and trusted partner like SAD leaving NDA further make the fears of the farmers to be genuine. Therefore instead of viewing this issue from political angle it is better to review from nationalist spirit and repeal the Acts at the earliest.

A G Rajmohan, Anantapur

Disgraceful honour killing

Though we are living in 21st century, we are witnessing honour killings. On one hand humans are sending satellites to the Mars to explore, on the other hand killing others on caste basis. How disgraceful! Perhaps this is the act, that demeans human race more than any other issue.

Manthena Madhukar in Peddapalli district Mathani, Pranay in Miryalaguda and a couple of days back Hemanth Kumar in Hyderabad were brutally killed on caste bias.Dr B.R Ambedkar said "we can neither build a nation nor a moral on caste basis."These words were said half a century ago but even to date there is no change in the nature of humans regarding caste free society.

As the poet Rabindranath Tagore said we are building narrow domestic walls among us in the name of castes.Inter caste marriages play a vital role in making caste system disappear.But people with extreme mind set,are making these honour killings happen.

Governments should also proceed strictly in punishing the people that kill others on caste basis. And they must think of 'Moral Education' making a part of syllabus for school children. Children right from the beginning must be taught how annihilation of caste strengthens our society and unite us. Where there is a caste free society there is unity.Humans must rise above caste system.

K Manoj Kumar, Huzurabad, Karimnagar

India shows aggressive intent

Trust deficit in dealing with China seems to be the main stumbling block for India in resolving the stand-off along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh according to a senior officer as China wants the talks to be confined to south bank of Pangong Tso while the talks should cover the entire eastern Ladakh and begin from Depsang as the south bank ought to be the last point of discussion.

It is clear that China is apparently not attaching importance to the ongoing diplomatic and military engagements by India to defuse the situation and pave the way for de-escalation and disengagement on the LAC. India deploying an array of missiles, tanks and big guns all along with LAC, now seems to be the only way out of sabre-rattling by China to prove that India is no longer what it was in 1962.

Pakistan on the western front is in cahoots with China, where the former is in illegal occupation of large chunks of Indian territory under its occupation to the tune of 5,180 sq kms, that Pakistan had no compunction to donate large parts of these areas to China, for the building infrastructure and road construction as an economic corridor between the two countries with a view to intimidate and undermine India. India has proclaimed it would reclaim the territory under Pakistani occupation, in a not distant future. The mischief by China on the LAC will not be allowed and tolerated as before since India is preparing more systematically, and is engaged in infrastructure development in the area in activities of road construction and connectivity, in these areas that are going on day and night.

K V Raghuram, Wayanad