MyVoice: Views of our readers 24th June 2020

Corporate hospitals fleece Covid-19 patients

Corporate hospitals which had grappled with financial resources seem to have engaged in a new business in the name of video consultations for home quarantined people. Charging hefty amounts for just consultations may impose a heavy toll on the people in general and the poor and the underprivileged in particular who had already been cash-crunched due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown. On one side, the governments are leaving no stone unturned in portraying the Covid-19 as a common illness in order to develop a sense of safety among the people, on the other, these hospitals with their lavish advertisements are causing unnecessary havoc in the society. Such humongous amounts ranging up to Rs 25,000 per person in home quarantine for two weeks for this pandemic are also resulting in a wider social stigma where the well-paid off strata of the society make maximum benefit of such treatment.

Satish Kanaganti, Tipparthy, Nalgonda

Let's pay respect to our soldiers

The gesture of Chief Minister of Telangana, announcing Rs 5 crore as ex-gratia to the family of Colonel Santosh Kumar and a Commercial Tax Officer (CTO) job for his wife is laudable. The martyrdom of 20 army personnel in the recent face-off with China is an irreplaceable loss to the nation. It is an undeniable fact that we, the citizens of the country are leading peaceful lives because of the relentless efforts of our defence forces, especially the Indian Army. Every now and then, there are some skirmishes at the borders, especially at the borders of Pakistan, leading to martyrdom of some of our soldiers. It is an irrecoverable loss for the nation and the family of those brave soldiers. In my opinion, these soldiers deserve much more recognition and respect as they sacrifice their lives for the nation, which everyone else cannot do. Besides the State funeral, and financial aid to the bereaved families, the government must take little more effort to recognise and to show gratitude towards the martyrs and their families. This can be done in several ways such as, all the leading newspapers can publish his/her life story, and all the prominent TV channels can telecast about the life stories of these soldiers, highlighting their sacrifices for the nation. The government officials and public representatives can hold public gatherings at the native places of the soldiers acknowledging their efforts. Wall posters and hoardings can be put highlighting their achievements and sacrifices according to the stature of the person. With respect to the soldiers in service, whenever we see them, saluting them with a smile would give them a lot of joy and they may feel proud of their service. Although these are small things, they can make a big difference in the society's perception and gratitude towards the armed forces personnel and these factors also can be motivating factors for them.

Mejari Mallikarjuna, Nadigadda, Chittoor, AP

China's tricks won't work

Chinese government accepting that its casualties in the Galwan skirmish are less than 20 is nothing short of one-upmanship or bravado or both rolled into one. It wants the world to believe that it lost less soldiers than India. And to say that it did not want to increase tension by admitting to actual numbers fearing that it will escalate tension is laughable. If Chinese reveal actual numbers, the Indians would attack immediately, right? China wants to play mind games!

Come on Chinese, it does not work that way. Be open. Seeing the Chinese response, I am reminded of the Pakistani army boasting, "One Pakistani soldier is equal to five Indian soldiers". That cheap chest thumping claim was effectively laid to rest right from 1947 to emphatically in 1971 and recently in the Kargil war!

Dr M. Anil Ramesh, Kompally, Secunderabad

No religion is greater than humanity

I wish for a world where people have the freedom to be themselves and are not pressured to fit into age old societal stereotype. We see what is happening with the trans community in America where they are just being punished for not fitting into societal ideas of gender. This has further led to innocent trans being murdered with no action taken against the perpetrators. I have read about cases in India where a kid was forced into conversion therapy where there came a point where the kid could not take it anymore and committed suicide, this is just one case out of many. I know that concept of the LGBTQ community might sound different to everyone considering the society we grew up into, but that is no excuse for demeaning someone who is just following their heart and soul. When prejudice is deeply ingrained; it is hard to see clearly because everyone has their version of what is right and wrong. Some people excuse hating the LGBTQ community in the name of religion and some would say that they are far off from our traditional society, but there is no excuse to be inhuman and hateful towards people who hold ideas different than your own. Justifying hate in name of religion and society says more about you than them. It says how you failed to be human being who just needed excuses to be hateful and did not hold themself back when you found one. When people talk about the transformation over the years and how far they have come; why can't gender be a part of that? When one calls oneself educated and yet at the same time gives others a hard time for being different, you should reconsider calling yourself educated. Education is less about the degree and more about how you evolve as a person and how you help others grow around you while showing compassion and empathy. If only we could respect the difference instead of hating it, imagine how beautiful the world would be. We have to understand that apart from our differences, we all are humans and no religion is greater than humanity, compassion, and love. It outgrows all the stereotypes and just teaches us to love one another unconditionally. Humans have an innate need to love and to feel loved. Don't let any society, politicians, and religion erode your humanity, because that is our very purpose of life and we all should live every day remembering it.

Shivani Rupani, Hyderabad