MyVoice is to lift up the voices and experiences

Rama, Ramayana and Ayodhya belong to the country

This is with reference to the article published on August 19 titled 'Need to focus on Lord Rama's teachings' by a respected professor, Dr Bharat Jhunjhunwala. He is unfortunately at it again with his poor understanding of Hindu traditions. He obfuscates the issue of Rama's birthplace with the present Ayodhya debate.

In the article mentioned, as is typical of our secularists, the message is to focus on the teachings of Rama and not his birthplace. Similar to other wonderful messages like 'Hinduism is good, Hindutva is bad'. There is absolutely no similar dispassionate mention of the construction of the mosque on the same premises as an existing temple.

It is a strong advice to the author of this spiteful article to read Meenakshi Jain's 'The Battle for Rama: Case of the Temple at Ayodhya' before making any ill-informed statements on this issue. It is impossible to prove or disprove the birthplace of Rama; and everybody is quite aware of that.

The seculars and the liberals in their extreme quest to appease the 'minority' and abuse the 'majority' confuse on wrong lines of reasoning which are difficult to counter.

Rama and Ayodhya are of extreme value to most Hindus in the country, and it is wrong on the part of the author to write such pieces which can only be mischievous and harmful in intent.

Rama, Ramayana and Ayodhya belong to the country and all its people; irrespective of faith, creed, caste, or gender. It is our country's legacy and a great civilizational high point.

The whole polarisation is an unfortunate outcome of vested political, academic, and media interests with its own twisted principles of secularism and liberalism.

Dr Pingali Gopal, Warangal

People need to change mindset

As a resident of Telangana, I am pleased to hear that six districts of Telangana secured the first rank in the national rankings in Swachh Darpan Phase 111 for (ODF).

Congratulations to those who made this possible. But we must keep in mind that we have just done a little job more than we need and without cooperation it would not be possible.

It is entirely up to our attitude and equally (or rather more) important is a mindset change of the people. We need to have a change required to make Telangana first, not districts and take responsibility.

Adil Qasmi, Shaheen Nagar, Hyderabad

Pehlu Khan verdict exposes chinks in criminal justice system

The recent verdict by a sessions court in Alwar, acquitting the six accused in the lynching of Pehlu Khan, a Haryana dairy farmer, two years ago, is baffling. It will only embolden the so-called cow vigilantes to further take the law into their own hands.

Here's a question that if they did not lynch Pehlu Khan despite having strong evidence in the form of video footage, who was responsible for this humongous tragedy? If its veracity is in doubt, the court could have well directed the prosecution to seek the opinion of forensic experts.

Is it so difficult? The verdict depicts the sad reality of the criminal justice system in India. A horrific murder was recorded on camera yet there is no justice. We should not forget that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. It is an irony that this judgement came a day before we celebrated our Independence Day.

A country's legal system which cannot ensure justice to a poor victim who was lynched because of the perception that he was an alleged cow smuggler has no right to proclaim it stands for the principals of the constitutionalism, rule of law, equality, right to life and liberty.

An utterly disgraceful murder takes place and the legal machinery of the State fails to punish the culprits. A host of factors such as an insincere investigation, ineffective prosecution and accused-friendly laws are what have led to miscarriage of justice.

The Congress government must make amends by filling an appeal against the verdict. All the official concerned should be hauled up for their acts of commission and omission.

The Pehlu Khan case not only exposes the chinks in the criminal justice system but also vulnerability of all governmental agencies. Such developments will only encourage hate, intolerance, especially against a particular community.

Muhammed Umar Qasmi, Hyderabad