MyVoice: Views of our readers 17th November 2024

Spewing venom for political gains

The write-up by V Ramu Sarma in "Bold Talk" detailing the awful strategies adopted by all the political parties with an eye on votes reveals their desperation to win the elections by hook or crook in Maharashtra and Jharkhand and nothing else. Rahul Gandhi is continuing to provoke controversy by insisting on caste census to bring more castes in the quota while at the same time raising an outcry about protecting the Constitution by trying to manipulate political narratives is only to woo voters. Apparently, disappointment is palpable among those who hoped Rahul Gandhi and leaders of allies would adopt a more mature approach, focusing on significant pressing issues rather than demeaning Hindu faith by perpetuating divisive rhetoric only to build vote banks to come to power.

K R Srinivasan, Secunderabad

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It was an apt article. You have rightly said that political parties are trying to devide people on basis of caste and religion. Some parties are trying to create hate against Muslims and minorities and gain votes from the majority community. Slogans like 'Batenge tho Katenge,' 'Ek Rahoge tho Nek Rahoge,' 'Urban Naxals,' 'Nafrath ki Mandi' are all the products of hate campaign. Yogi Aditya Nath and Devendra Fadnaviz went extreme ahead and said that Razakaars buried Mallikarjun Kharge's family and Kharge is silent because Muslims vote will shift. Both leaders' comments are nothing but spewing venom on a particular community. Kharge never exploited the tragedy he faced in his life for political gains and never played the victim card like other top BJP leaders and never hated the entire Muslim community. The fact is that BJP is trying to divide the nation in the name of caste and religion.

Zeeshan, Kazipet

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The poll fiasco of INDI Alliance in Haryana has added to the frustration and impatience of the group seeking all possible avenues in order to come to power, in the elections in the remaining two states. Rahul Gandhi is coming out with all sorts of irrational things. His repeated insistence on the caste-based census is proof enough in this regard. His rant on corporates being given special place of importance, and the private sector being encouraged in the country is the venom to demoralise the corporate sector in the country. His negative and anti-national narration doesn’t seem to end; he is backing the newly formed J&K government by the National Conference wanting Article 370 and 35A to be reintroduced in the state.

K R Venkata Narasimhan, Madurai

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It's election time across the country, before dust could settle on the just-concluded general elections. Jharkhand and Maharashtra are voting to elect their assemblies, while Kerala will vote in bypolls in 3 constituencies. It’s back to politicians of all hues and colours taking to the streets. Big money will be spent to dangle carrots, organise road shows to flex muscles and make promises unintended to be kept and splurge on election material that will add to the already poorly managed waste. The taxpaying common man who is most precious to, and sought after by politicians, will be forgotten after the elections are over.

Dr George Jacob, Kochi

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The foremost thing that Rahul Gandhi and the INDI Alliance must learn is to be inclusive in the national scenario. 'Secularism' must not be namesake for them to safeguard Muslim interests alone. Rahul Gandhi’s needless habit of lampooning the government in power; and to be overly critical of every decision taken by the Centre must be curtailed. The vicious agenda by the National Conference in J&K, wanting to bring back Article 370 on the opening day of the Assembly did not matter to Congress or Rahul Gandhi. He, with such anti-India and anti-Hindu mindset, cannot be expected to become the future prime minister of the country.

K R Parvathy, Mysuru

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Political parties are now totally unmindful of their actions and consequences there of. This shows their desperation to come to power at any cost, be it by polarising the society - promising a variety of sops ranging from reservation in jobs for the Muslim community that is being faithfully reciprocated by the AIMPLB assuring its support to Aghadi; while the call given by Yogi Adityanath for Hindu unity “ Katenge to Batenge” is seen by the INDI group as extremely offensive and not in the national interest.The calculated silence maintained by the Opposition on the genocide of Hindu community in Bangladesh, and attacks on Hindu temples in Canada is dismaying which gives more fuel to divisive elements operating in the country to get more brazen and fearless.

K V Raghuram, Wayanad

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Election time can be messy, especially when politicians make impractical promises to win votes. The only solution is to make party election manifestos legally binding by registering them with the Election Commissioner. This would give voters a clear understanding of what each party stands for and provide a benchmark to evaluate their performance. Additionally, stopping the practice of buying MLAs like commodities would help reduce corruption and ensure that elected representatives truly represent the people's interests. We should move towards more transparent and accountable elections, where politicians can focus on serving the people rather than just winning the votes as a prime motive.

Ganti Venkata Sudhir,

Secunderabad

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The Bold Talk talked very boldly leaving nothing to state about how once upon a time chief political administrators of Telugu States K Chandrasekhar Rao and Jagan Mohan Reddy are now in jitters to attend Assembly sessions. Pointing out needless errors starkly in a shameless manner from outside the people's houses is much against the code of ethics. After completion of assembly elections in some states in India, political thinkers of the day have arrived at a conclusion during the ongoing elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand to woo the voters by offering bribes in the style of freebies at the cost of taxpayers. Many economists opined that this mala fide culture once implemented becomes a demand and turns into a huge financial burden to the next governments. AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is facing financial crisis to implement his poll promises in letter and spirit. So long as political parties are clinging to free offerings, States or the country cannot see Viksit Bharat.

Dr N S R Murthy, Secunderabad

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Campaigns during elections in India have reached abysmal levels and politicians seem to place everything below the attempts either to stay in power or seize it. Hardly anybody thinks of the people whom they represent. Money flows like water. The media instead of being a watch dog of the people has

failed in its duty to the people by concentrating on the economics of the stand they take. Politics has divided the people. Opposition to PM Modi is taken to be anti-Indian or even anti-Hindu. When power becomes the ultimate goal at any cost, the nation is bound to suffer. Only the labels are different for the political class; they are the same inside.

Anthony Henriques, Mumbai

SC gavel flattens bulldozer

With one stroke of the gavel, theSupreme Court has halted the bulldozer that was given a free run. The apex court has ruled, and very judiciously so, that the bulldozer can no longer be deployed for engineering the whims and fancies of a political party (read, the BJP). That the bulldozer was being used in BJP-ruled states with a flourish was in itself an irony of ironies. Did not the PM (the face of the BJP) say that India is the mother of democracy? The media kind of glorified "bulldozer justice". So much so, that the phrase "Baba ka bulldozer" had gained traction and had a scary halo around it. Those entrusted with translating the orders into deeds (read, demolitions) did not have the spine to resist those who gave such unconstitutional and arbitrary orders, knowing fully well that the orders were unlawful. In a nation where even the apex court's orders are routinely flouted (ban on firecrackers in Delhi NCR is a recent example), it remains to be seen if this ruling is able to restrain our lawmakers from using the bulldozer for acts other than that it was meant to perform.

–Avinash Godboley, Dewas (MP)

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It is good that time and again our SC acts as a saviour of the masses. Now it has incisively ruled that bulldozing of various constructed sites is unacceptable and uncalled for. Those who can't build anything for public have no rights of demolition. The government and the police should restrain from crushing civil rights of people. The acts of pulling down buildings are terrible, savage and no less than a crime. It is extremely hard to build and so easy to destroy. People earn with the sweat of their brows, save pennies from their hard-earned money and construct homes. The authorities should act humanly and not in a demonic manner. At the most, a person who has done an illegal construction should be heavily fined.

–Dr Sunil Chopra, Ludhiana

Playful childhood turns elusive now

If we analyse the different kinds of stress that the present-day children go through, it makes us skeptical whether they are indeed having a playful childhood. Parents today are busy with their careers and hardly find time to spend with their children. Families are becoming increasingly nuclear and children lack elderly warmth at home. Mobile phones have invaded our homes and parents don't find time to sit down and talk to their children. After returning home from their schools, they are sent to various tuitions and coaching centres. On weekends , they are enrolled into sports, dance and drawing etc. Parents expect them to excel both in their Academics as well as in other activities. The burden of coaching has robbed them of a playful childhood. Access to social media is also a distraction.

Children are facing unprecedented academic stress. Unless they are addressed and changes made in our curriculum to promote holistic education, where personality development takes place and life skills are given importance over academics, it is difficult to say that our children are having a playful childhood today.

– Parimala G Tadas, Hyderabad

No lessons learnt

The shocking fire accident in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Maharani Laxmibai Medical College in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi, in which at least 10 newborn babies died due to burns and suffocation and some still struggling for their lives, is really heart-wrenching. Just a few months back a devastating fire in a newborn care unit of a children's hospital in Delhi had claimed the precious lives of infants. Now, each and every time an incident like this happens we make a big hue and cry, become extra aware, go in for all sorts of campaigns and compensations and talk about prevention methods and so and as days roll on we are back to square one - we completely forget and wake up when another tragedy occurs. The deaths of these little innocent infants pose a big question - when are we really going to learn our lessons?

– M Pradyu, Kanpur

All states must follow TG

It refers to 'Govt to roll out mobile cancer screening vehicles in all districts.' Kudos to the Telangana government for taking this initiative and rolling out mobile cancer screening vehicles across the state. We have about 50,000 cancer cases in Telangana and approximately 15,00,000 cases in India and it is very critical to get the patient screened at the early stages of the cancer so that their survival chances are increased manifold. We have observed that in most of the cases, patients or their family gets to know at a late stage of this dreaded disease so they lose out on critical time. Against this backdrop, it is appreciable that the state government has thought about such a service. Other state governments must take a leaf out of their experience and follow the suit. Screening is the first but most critical aspect of the whole cancer cycle.

–Bal Govind, Noida

Epilepsy manageable

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder marked by recurrent, unprovoked seizures or fits caused by sudden bursts of electrical activity in the brain. These seizures may be accompanied by physical, emotional, or behavioural symptoms. People of all ages, genders, and backgrounds can be affected by epilepsy m, the condition often requires lifelong management. Keeping in mind all these aspects of epilepsy, the National Epilepsy Day is observed on 17 November every year in India. November month is also observed as the National Epilepsy Awareness Month.

The National Epilepsy Day was initiated to bring awareness on epilepsy and to the challenges faced by those suffering from epilepsy. The additional purposes of National Epilepsy Day include support to patients and families, educate public in general, reduce stigma, and medication available. On this day various seminars, debates, stage shows, etc are organised to educate people about epilepsy and its treatment methods.

Antiepileptic drugs are most common form of treatment. If the drugs won’t respond properly, surgical interventions are used. In some cases, dietary changes have shown promising results. The other options are Vagus Berve Stimulation, lifestyle modifications, and psychological support. Epilepsy is manageable through proper diagnosis, treatment and support.

– Dr Burra Madhusudhan Reddy, Karimnagar

Beware of steady rise in inflation

The Indian psyche is still tuned to things "foreign" and what a foreign analyst thinks about the country. If a foreign firm praises Indian economy, a section of the people are immensely happy even if they are not enjoying the fruits of the situation. But there is another section, the opposition, which won't believe what a foreign firm, even if it is Moody's, tells about the strong growth of Indian economy. In 2014, the Indian economy was 10th in the world and after 10 years of NDA rule, it jumped to the 5th place and is racing ahead to take its rightful 3rd position within the next couple of years. Whether one agrees or not, the NDA's balancing act in the management of finances has been better than its predecessors. However, there is a lot more to be done to alleviate the sufferings of the poor. Hindutva alone can't deliver welfare and development in the country. As such it is the ruling NDA's responsibility to devise ways and means to improve the living conditions of the poor in society. A good majority of the constantly bickering middle class people "refuse" to vote during elections as none of the parties in fray would make any difference in their life. It is in this regard the NDA should focus and ensure the inflation comes down to tolerable levels and all sections of the society get to enjoy the fruits of a vibrant and strong economy. The NDA also should wipe out the allegation of the opposition that it is always pro-rich.

–Govardhana Myneedu, Vijayawada

No central relief for Wayanad victims

We could not fully comprehend the scale of the disaster that struck Wayanad on July 30 in the form of landslides. The damage caused by it was incalculable. Still the Union government has not yet provided special help needed for rehabilitation. This is nothing short of a callous disregard for the needs of the people of Wayanad.

The only plausible explanation is that the Modi government is biased and prejudiced against Kerala for political reasons. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Wayanad in the aftermath of the disaster and saw the extent of the damage first hand and commiserated with the victims over their loss, we thought he would announce disaster relief on the spot or at least on his return to Delhi. But it was not to be.

It is now more than 100 days since the tragedy struck the hill district. The Union government is taking its own time, apparently unconcerned about the economic distress and precarious condition of the affected people in Wayanad, to decide in which category the disaster is to be included. Its step-motherly attitude to Kerala is starkly evident from the fact that the Union government promptly sanctioned funds for the BJP-ruled States for calamities of a lesser magnitude. It is unconscionable and even cruel to leave the people of Wayanad to fend for themselves. The Union government must fulfil its responsibility to help the people of Wayand rebuild their lives by releasing funds without further delay.

– G David Milton, Maruthancode, TN