MyVoice: Views of our readers 4th January 2026

Patriotic films blend entertainment and nationalism

Among the Christmas-New year film releases the Hindi film 'Ikkis' - a biopic based on the life of one of India's youngest, most fearless and greatest soldiers of all times Second Lt Arun Khetarpal is all set to create records at the box office in India and abroad. 'Ikkis' directed by Sriram Raghavan is a poignant biopic that pays tribute to the extraordinary life of a young soldier , Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, India’s youngest recipient of the Param Vir Chakra.

Young actor Agastya Nandas stellar performance as Arun Khetarpal is another highlight of the movie. Set against the backdrop of the 1971 Indo-Pak War, the film follows Arun’s journey from military training to the battlefield, highlighting his courage, patriotism, and ultimate sacrifice, at the age of 21 during the fierce Battle of Basantar.

The film is also the last movie of Indian film legend Dharmendra.

The film beautifully portrays themes of love, duty, family life and patriotism, making it a must see movie. Films with subjects like patriotism and nationalism based on true stories if infused with good story line, screenplay, direction and blending it with hi-tech cinematic effects and carefully written scripts can make for interesting viewing.

The film is sure to inspire more filmmakers to churn out movies with patriotic subjects.

J P Dutta’s Border, Vidhu Vinod Chopras 1942- a love story, Maniratnam’s Roja, Chetan Anand’s Haqeeqat, Anil Sharma's Gadar Ek Prem Katha, Uri - The Surgical Strike, to name a few, are films that had patriotism as the subject and did wonders at the box office in the past.

These patriotic films besides providing immense entertainment serve as a guide for the younger generation to imbibe the essence of our freedom struggle, our national security and our love for the mother land. Besides, these films serve as lessons to be learnt about our great martyrs and soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the cause.

M Pradyu,Kannur

Curiosity, the engine of lifelong learning

Thisis with reference to the article "Cultivating Curiosity: Why Early Classrooms Must Prioritise Questions Over Answers" published in your esteemed newspaper on January 3. The author has brought up a very pertinent point about the importance of curiosity in early education. I agree with the author's perspective that classrooms should prioritize questions over answers.

The current education system puts emphasis on finding the right answers, which can limit children's curiosity and creativity. By rewarding correctness over exploration, we are stifling children's natural instinct to ask questions and seek answers. This approach may prepare children for exams, but it does not equip them with the skills needed for life. The author points out that curiosity is the engine of lifelong learning.

When children are encouraged to ask questions, they develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity skills. These skills are essential for success in both personal and professional life. I believe that teachers play a crucial role in nurturing curiosity in children.

By creating a supportive and encouraging environment, teachers can help children feel comfortable asking questions and exploring new ideas. To cultivate curiosity, teachers can start lessons with open-ended questions, celebrate thoughtful questions, and model curiosity themselves. By adopting this approach, we can lay the foundation for lifelong learners who are adaptable, resilient, and engaged. I urge educators and policymakers to rethink the current education system and prioritize curiosity-driven learning. By doing so, we can empower future generations to tackle complex problems and create innovative solutions.

Kolluru Raju,Kakinada

Nationwide scrutiny of water purity is essential

The Indore administration, always vigilant for cleanliness and good governance, has undertaken Herculean efforts to earn Indore the distinction of being the cleanest city in the country more than half a dozen times. However, the recent deaths of nearly a dozen people due to contaminated drinking water have cast a serious doubt on this achievement.

This incident is the result of an inexcusable lapse on the part of the responsible officials and those connected with the system, a failure that cannot be compensated for by any award. Undoubtedly, the government has initiated action in this matter, but this problem is not limited to Indore or Madhya Pradesh alone. Complaints about the purity of drinking water are constantly surfacing in cities, towns, and metropolitan areas across the country. In most places, drinking water pipelines are buried underground, and they are not monitored unless there is a major leak.

Due to rapid urbanisation, drainage lines for houses and multi-story buildings are also being laid through underground pipes. Often, construction agencies and contractors use substandard pipes to cut costs or connect drainage lines incorrectly, disregarding regulations. As a result, sewage water accumulates around the drinking water pipelines and contaminates them, posing a serious threat to the health of citizens.

The Madhya Pradesh government has taken the Indore incident seriously and alerted district administrations across the state regarding the drinking water system, which is a commendable step. However, there is now a need for state governments across the country to review their respective drinking water policies and formulate concrete and stringent rules to ensure that drinking water pipelines remain leak-free.

In particular, the drainage systems of houses and multi-story buildings constructed in the last five years should be mandatorily inspected. Strict action should be taken against any agency, contractor, or individual who fails to meet the prescribed standards. Only then can safe and pure drinking water be provided to the public. Otherwise, just as deaths from adulterated liquor occur periodically in the country, deaths from contaminated drinking water will also become a common occurrence, which would be a disgrace for any civilized society.

Arvind Rawal,Jhabua (MP)

India should protect Hindus, evict infiltrators

Post Sheikh Hasina's ouster in August 2024, attacks began on Hindus, with Hindu homes, businesses and places of worship being targeted en masse, as Islamist factions have filled the power vacuum leading to a surge in Anti- Hindu violence.

The interim Government led by Mohd Yunus has failed miserably to prevent communal attacks by Islamic radical groups on the Hindus that have continued with alarming regularity since the fall of Sk. Hasina's Government.

A sedition case was registered against ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das for allegedly disrespecting the national flag and was arrested. When bail was denied by a court, it triggered a wave of violent clashes between ISKCON followers and the law enforcing Agencies.

After the killing of Inquilab Manch leader, Osman Hadi in December 2025 by an unknown gunman, it heightened fears over law and order and Political instability as the Country is moving closer to February 2026 National Elections.

Meanwhile, the radical Islamist elements exploiting the worsening situation in the country, have targeted Hindu youth Dipu Chandra Das, who was lynched in public by a frenzied mob and then hanged the body from a tree and was set on fire. A few days later, another Hindu youth Amrit Mondal was killed by a mob who was initially described to be a goonda, later an extortionist and finally a Terrorist.

Very recently, Brajendra Biswas, a factory worker was shot dead by a co- worker for being a Hindu. In an another incident, one Konak Chandra Das, a pharmacist was initially beaten and stabbed with a machete and after pouring petrol on his body, he was set afire. However, he ran and jumped into a nearby pond and somehow got saved.

The mere 8 per cent Hindu population living in Bangladesh now would face more and more attacks till the time of national elections in February 2026. The Government of India, meanwhile, must implement the Citizenship Amendment Act- 2019 at once and the persecuted Hindus living in Bangladesh, Pakistan must be allowed to enter into India and grant them Indian citizenship without any further delay.

Meanwhile, the Government of India must detect and evict all Bangladeshis, Rohingyas, wherever, they are residing in India and send them back to Bangladesh without showing any iota of mercy.

R J Janardhana Rao,Hyderabad

FAIL: First attempt In Learning

Inher broad view 'Between memories and promises, hopes remain' (HANS, JAN. 3), Dr Hyma Moorty opined that hope keeps a person to get a better life than before. It is absolutely right perspective. In life in the past, we may not get what we planned. We try again and if necessary once more. Then our hope(s) will come to reality.

KFC owner faced all failures up to his almost fifty or sixty years of age. He made another plan hoping it successful. He succeeded. His business under the name and style KFC with his white bearded face on the board, developed leaps and bounds around the world. Many scientists failed in a few attempts in their experiments. Finally they smiled with pride.

Abdul Kalam defined FAIL as First Attempt In Learning. Every success erases our past failures and encourages for further growth. Youth, therefore, should utilise their energies for investing on their future goals instead of wasting it for unproductive products.

Dr N S R Murthy,Secunderabad

Congress lacks vision, refuses to reform as BJP marches on

The Gandhi family continues to dominate despite repeatedly failing to deliver electoral success

The Indian National Congress, a party more than a century old, has squandered every opportunity to reinvent itself. Even small neighborhood shops periodically renovate to survive; the Congress, despite repeated electoral humiliation, remains stubbornly unchanged. After losing power, it failed to grasp that political survival demands renewal, not entitlement.

The crushing defeat of 2014 should have been a wake-up call. It was the moment to halt, introspect, and fix systemic failures. Instead, denial prevailed. Rahul Gandhi has shown neither the political depth nor the stamina required to confront a disciplined, ideologically driven, RSS-backed BJP. Repeated failures have been explained away rather than corrected.

History is unforgiving to institutions that ignore reality. Gordon Woodroffe, founded in 1868, once dominated multiple sectors. Lack of vision and timely reform reduced it to irrelevance, forcing asset sales and eventual surrender of its core business.

The Congress now stands at a similar crossroads. Survival demands ruthless honesty and decisive leadership change. Priyanka Gandhi offers charisma and connect; Rahul Gandhi’s continued prominence only accelerates decline. Sentiment cannot substitute competence. Without radical reform, the Congress risks becoming a political relic—remembered, not relevant.

N Nagarajan,Hyderabad

Placing opportunism above conviction

Apropos, “Congress in 2026: Need to shed strategic obstinacy,” THI, Jan 3. The Opposition in India, particularly the Congress, increasingly appears incapable of performing the essential democratic role of a constructive Opposition. Instead of presenting coherent policy alternatives, the party has largely reduced its politics to a single-point agenda: personally targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This fixation has substituted strategy for substance. The party’s core failure stems from leadership paralysis. The Nehru–Gandhi family continues to dominate despite repeatedly failing to deliver electoral success. Rather than demanding accountability, many Congress leaders seem content to play sycophants, normalising defeat and stifling internal democracy. Leadership posts are retained despite successive humiliations, eroding respect both within and outside the party.

Congress also suffers from ideological confusion. It oscillates between temple-centric symbolism one day and strident leftist posturing the next, creating an image of opportunism rather than conviction. At times, its rhetoric appears to echo adversarial international narratives about India, blurring the crucial line between legitimate criticism of government and needless denigration of the nation. Perceptions of selective minority appeasement and populist economics have further alienated large sections of the electorate, especially aspirational voters seeking growth and stability. Instead of connecting with the masses through grounded organisation and rational policy, the party relies on slogans, social media outrage, and personality-driven politics.

N Sadhasiva Reddy,Bengaluru

GOP should ‘prove’ its patriotism

As Rahul Gandhi and the Indian National Congress desperately attempt to find a foothold in the country – it is imperative that they give up the needless anti-India diatribe, attempt to belittle the nation on foreign soil, as if the required platform is unavailable within the country.

Most of the disappearing acts by Rahul Gandhi who visited foreign countries, even when the Parliament was in session, in order to create a narrative against the country – be in Britain, Germany or the US, hosted by inimical elements and pseudo-seculars, to rundown the country; and even seek their help and assistance to re-establish democracy in India as the Congress is losing elections in the country for no fault of the government in power. When President Donald Trump said the Indian economy is 'dead' Rahul Gandhi has no compunction parroting it.

The petition by eight US lawmakers, including New York mayor Zohan Mamdani seeking bail for anti-nationals like Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and Gulfisha Fatima is unwarranted, at a time when these individuals are in jail for unlawful activities against the country, and the matter is subjudice.

These individuals are involved in the anti-CAA riots in Delhi, and have been jailed since 2020. India has its own judicial system in place and there is no need for the US to impose their opinions. These gentlemen have no concern for the victims who were killed in the Delhi riots which speaks of their double standards in presenting the case for justice for imprisoned anti-nationals.

The “vote chori” narrative by Rahul Gandhi is falling flat as people are laughing at his repeated idiotic narrative. Interestingly, in a survey conducted by the government of Karnataka on EVMs reliability – a stunning 85 percent of people who took part in the survey have shown their trust and confidence in EVMs.

This is seen as a rude jolt to Congress-ruled states, where people do not take the narrative of Congress leaders seriously, when irrational allegations are levelled against the EVM or Election Commission of India.

K V Raghuram,Wayanad

Refusing to change with the times

Apropos ‘Congress in 2026: Need to shed strategic obstinacy’ (Hans India; January 3, 2026).Congress, as the chief opposition party has the responsibility to ensure preservation of basic principles on which India is founded. This calls for a strategy of cooperation and accommodation, rife with etiquette and decency, and shorn of acrimony and pandemonium leading to Parliamentary adjournments.

A Parliamentary democracy as India can thrive only on healthy debates and discussion on issues relevant to nation-building. It is not the decibel a political party produces in Parliament that bears fruit. It’s the content and quality of involvement that do.

Times have changed, as have political circumstances. Today’s Congress must free itself from its outdated ‘Nehru-Gandhi-fixation’. Current Congress leaders, who are politicians by chance and compulsion must preserve the party’s national relevance by mature politicking, which the ruling alliance must cooperate for, in democracy’s interest.

Dr George Jacob,Kochi

Encourage opinion-sharing

This refers to write up “Bold Talk”. What ails Congress is the lack of confidence and low esteem among the electorate of the country – it is rather a slippery ground for the Congress and the INDI Alliance when their diatribe and anti-national narrative against the performing government is reaching a crescendo.

The methods of course correction and changing strategy never seem to occur for Congress even as the party is reaching cliff’s edge – unable to fathom the pulse of people, who are not ready to fall into the traps of narratives contrived by the Congress as every move of the party is vividly exposed by the alert and vigilant media, in turn to be blamed as pro-BJP.

The Opposition to be relevant must learn to be responsible, asking relevant issues faced by people of the country that are being taken for granted. These exercises must prove sustainable and sincere with a view to elicit proper and tangible answers from the government.

The Congress must encourage open debate and opinion sharing, without becoming ‘self appointed’ spokespersons for the party, only to portray views expressed by Rahul Gandhi and perpetually justifying them as Commandment for cadres and supporters.

S Lakshmi,Hyderabad

Priyanka can make a difference

This is with reference to "Congress in 2026: Need to shed strategic obstinacy" (HANS Jan. 3).

The entire narration is like a garland of flops fully stuffed with the kind of tenacity, irresolution and stubborn nature of once upon a time mighty Congress Party. Now its name is still remaining without trying to restore its fame.

The last stalwart of Congress is former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao and his successor, a great loyalist to Gandhis Dr Manmohan Singh. Downfall began with Dr Singh. This grand old party miserably lost its glory due to disnomy with dabbling characters in it without possessing any dedication, commitment, conviction and self reliance.

Until Narendra Modi took over shackles of the Union Government, to speak the truth, nobody knew about him especially in Southern States. As of now there appears absolutely no interregnum for Narendra Modi for his fourth term also.

People have experienced with Rahul Gandhi who proved himself that he is not a suitable match with Modi. Others in the party are just moving figures and mouthpieces of Gandhis. The alternative is Priyanka Gandhi, daughter of Rajiv Gandhi, who looks like her grandma Indira Gandhi in appearance and tone. She is the only last ray of hope to rejuvenate Congress Party from grass roots.

N Ramalakshmi,Secunderabad