MyVoice: Views of our readers 25th February 2023

Maybe, biggest choke in Indian women cricket

We all believed and thought that the Women's World Cup had reached our doorsteps when we entered the semi-final stage of the championship. The scene was set for an upset win against arch rivals Australia. The start to finish was in favour of the women's team led by Harmanpreet Kaur. The score line stood at 69/1 in the first 10 overs stage then conceding 172 in the end as the fortunes tilted towards the Australian side. However, from having to score just 40 runs in just 33 balls with 6 wickets in hand to losing the match sealed our chances. 'Choking' as they say in cricketing caught up with us in the past. Both catching and fielding was poor and we paid a heavy price for the same. Indian women had a typical choking performance in the semifinals.

C K Subramaniam, Mumbai

Pawan Khera episode deeply disturbing

In which world are we? The arrest of Pawan Khera, senior Congress leader and party spokesman, and later grant of bail to him the apex court of the country showed how puerile our netas are and the blatant flaw of our democracy: Arrest at the whims of ruling party. Khera referred to the late father of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "Gautamdas" instead of "Damodardas." And he soon realised the blunder and admitted it and regretted it eve. The matter should have been settled there, in a mature democracy, but not in India, it seems to us. It was a genuine slip of the tongue. He was arrested on the charges of mocking the PM. But which law, I pray, restrais anybody from mocking anybody, legal consequences notwithstanding. India, it appears, appears to be practising a devious rule of the monarchies and despotes i.e., "lese majeste" - an offence against the crown. We are a very proud democracy, Modi says often. Are we?

Parvathi S, Hyderabad

Even the staunch BJP supporters are not very happy in the manner the Assam police have acted in the manner they did in arresting Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera. The comments made by Khera may be in bad taste, but the language of political discourse has fallen low as to make such jibes and insults as par for the course. The comments certainly do not warrant the charges that have been made. The BJP has done all it can to disrupt the Congress plenary at Raipur. First by setting the ED on Congress leaders and now arresting Khera on flimsy charges. The alacrity with which the Assam police acted is exemplary. Only if they had shown the same speed and determination in arresting those responsible for more serious crimes, it would have made Assam a beacon of light for other states in maintaining law and order.

Anthony Henriques, Mumbai

The unwarranted and arbitrary arrest of Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera indicated that anything said which is not to the liking of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and, by extension, to his supporters would be met with police action. It was an overreaction to what was perceived by the BJP as an 'insult'. Pawan Khera has every right to speak of the alleged links between politics and business or Modi and Adani. Khera certainly erred in making the businessman's name part of the Prime Minister's full name. He ought to have taken the utmost care to mention the Prime Minister's name correctly.

G David Milton, Maruthancode, TN

Congress leader Pawan Khera's aggressive personal remarks mocking at Modi over the Adani issue set off a high drama unfolding at IGI airport after the Congress spokesperson was removed from a Raipur-bound flight. It led to a bitter stand-off between Congress functionaries and the police over demand for a copy of detention papers, causing inconvenience to passengers. If congress is serious about rebuilding the party and putting up a united fight in 2024 polls, it is time the party ropes in such leaders. Attacking Modi with personal and intemperate remarks off and on is not fair.

K R Srinivasan, Secunderabad

With the arrest of Pawan Khera a good message has gone at grassroots level that in future no politician will use such type of low level language against Modi. It has become the culture of opposition parties to use undesirable language against Modi. Political parties should concentrate on their policies and programming, which will be good for a democratic country. Political battle should be based on debates and discussions We hope that after the episode of Khera, the political trend in the country may change.

Yash Pal Ralhan, Jalandhar