MyVoice: Views of our readers 5th April 2023

Communal violence a manifestation of politicians

The latest round of communal violence in some states, especially in West Bengal and Bihar coinciding with Ram Navami celebrations has yet again shown how we as a nation are yet to learn to transcend our religious distinctions and live together in harmony. It must be made clear at the outset that outbreaks of communal violence are almost invariably engineered on purpose.

Communal clashes or riots are unthinkable without politicians in the picture; they do not occur without the involvement of politicians who weaponise religion for political gain. They develop from the highly volatile situations created by politicians. Those who instigate communal violence are no less culpable than its actual perpetrators on the ground.

Sadly, it does not occur to those with a communal bent of mind that 'manufactured communal disharmony' is the antithesis of patriotism. Communal violence is nothing but man's inhumanity to man. It is sad to observe that religious processions end in communal clashes. Equality of religions is guaranteed in the Constitution and the virtue of religious tolerance or zero tolerance for religious intolerance is the vaccine against the virus of communalism, the causative agent of communal violence. All true patriots should raise their voice for secularism and inter-faith cordiality. As we all know, Mahatma Gandhi was a martyr to the cause of Hindu-Muslim unity; his martyrdom shouldn't go in vain.

G.David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

Farmers require handholding

Unseasonal rains and freak weather events are becoming alarmingly common nowadays. In this backdrop crop insurance becomes all the more significant and it is unfortunate that only 10% of farmers had crop insurance, and due to this lack of penetration it is the small and marginalised farmers who bear the brunt of mighty nature year on year. True assessment of losses requires both skill and transparency but even with the launch of PMFBY 7 years back, we are unable to achieve it, it speaks poorly of both central and state governments. Timely weather alerts are good but then how to optimally use those alerts to ensure minimal crop damage also requires a lot of knowledge and efforts and whether small farmers would be able to do that is a million dollar question. Need of the hour is to provide handholding to them.

Bal Govind, Noida

Dismiss China's move

In an effort to bolster its claim to India's Arunachal Pradesh, China has devised a third set of names for ten locations in the state, referring to them as zangnan, the southern part of Tibet. Following the State Council's regulations on geographical names, China's Ministry of Civil Affairs issued standardised names in Chinese, Tibetan, and Pinyin characters. The coordinates for two land areas, two residential areas, five mountain peaks, and two rivers, as well as their subordinate administrative districts, are included in the list. According to Chinese experts, the announcement of names is a legal move that respects China's sovereign right to standardise geographical names. At this point, India's external affairs should emphasise that assigning invented names to places in Arunachal Pradesh does not alter the fact that the state is an integral part of India. India has to dismiss China's move to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh.

Vijaykumar H K, Raichur, Karnataka

China renaming eleven places of Arunachal Pradesh is disgusting. It wants to reiterate that it doesn't authenticate the McMahon line and treat Arunachal Pradesh as its integral part. It objects the visits of Indian dignitaries vehemently. On one side China talks of good relations with India and Russia and on other side it continues provocative activities along the border. India has rightly condemned the China's overzealous acts.

Dr. D.V.G.Sankararao, Vizianagaram, AP