MyVoice: Views of our readers 10th October 2022

A daring decision by KCR to launch BRS

This refers to Ramu Sarma's Bold Talk "A big gamble or an astute or strategy?" (Hans Oct. 8) which has projected a vivid picture as a soothsayer without any inhibitions on the prospects of newly launched national party Bharat Rashtra Samithi by replacing Telangana Rashtra Samithi very ambitiously by KCR aiming to counter fascist BJP in the ensuing 2024 Parliamentary elections. Many state parties have expressed their inability to go to polls without Congress support while BRS is unwilling to align with it at any cost. At this juncture, on what hope BRS is expecting to garner its desired goal. It may be mentioned here that KCR said that BJP took thirty years to come to this stage and hence BRS has a bright future in the years to come. It is not at all a palatable statement. There is nothing specifically to write further as all valid points are thought provokingly narrated in-depth by the writer. Anyway it is a daring decision taken by KCR by launching a national party.

Dr NSR Murthy, Secunderabad

Crimea bridge explosion may rattle Russia

The "Alleged" Ukrainian hands behind the explosion of the $3.2 billion road-and-rail bridge that connects mainland Russia with the Crimean peninsula, could further deteriorate the Ukraine conflict. Crimea possesses political as well as strategic importance for Russia, and to have control over Crimea, this bridge plays a crucial role, as it is the prime source of logistics for the Russian military. The news of an explosion will surely boost the morale of the already enthusiastic Ukrainian military. Hence, Russia can give the pretext of this incident, as it hurts the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Russia, to launch something massive on Ukraine, maybe a tactical nuclear missile, though the probability is very low.

Jayesh Khasgiwale, Ujjain

Curb cell phone use while driving

Despite the police warning that talking on cell phones while driving is dangerous, motorists are acting like they don't care. Some RTC and lorry drivers are also talking on cell phones while driving. Around 31% of the road traffic accidents could be attributed to the use of mobile phone while driving, leading to an estimated loss of 3% of the gross domestic product. Innocent lives are lost due to negligence of motorists. It is the government's responsibility to curb such violations. Penalties for wrong-way driving should be applied to cell phone talkers, too. Only then can the roads be seen without bleeding.

TVS Suchitra, Khammam.

Historic mission of ISRO on Oct 22

India's heaviest rocket GSLV-MARK III will make its entry into the global foray on October 22. For undertaking man's mission and inter-planetary journey, such massive rocketry power is indispensable. In fact, such capability had been acquired by America and Russia decades ago and China recently. It is noticeable that Indian technical expertise in this regard is less expensive. Hence, in case present mission is victorious, in future, sizeable share of commercial launchings of world countries will be available to India, a super power in space technology in Asia eventually.

B V Thampi, Thiruvananthapuram

We keep clinging to colonial narratives

Both the contradictory nature of Mohan Bhagwat's statements and the resultant criticisms result from the basic failure of our intellectuals to truly describe India except in colonial terms. Our indigenous phenomenon is Sanatana Dharma, a huge conglomeration of traditions, based on rituals and with the essence of an indifference to differences. What came from alien lands were religions, inherently intolerant, with the idea of 'My One True God' against 'Your Many False Gods'. The transformation of traditions into proper religions (Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism) and then applying the mantra of secularism, a solution for European Christendom at a specific time of its history, is the cause of so many problems, including the so-called Hindutva. The Indian solution to pluralism was 'traditionalising the religions' which allowed Sanatana Dharma to absorb any number of faiths. 'Religionising our traditions' in reverse, remains the single biggest failure of our academic-political-legal systems. Varna-jati-ashrama is a civil societal system which allowed India to survive brutal invasions from across centuries. Of course, untouchability was a terrible weed which we could address from within. Colonial-missionary narratives with a purpose to break India superimposed caste, a western idea, on varnas and jatis and then made them into an 'idolatrous' religious phenomenon fit for condemnation. Our discourses and counter discourses have not deviated a single bit from the colonial narratives.

Dr Pingali Gopal, Hanamkonda