M A I L B A G

Uma shouldn’t play politics with Tricolour

Hoisting of the national flag is a great honour and every citizen should feel proud of performing this sacred task. If you get an opportunity to unfurl the national flag, you should do it with due respect to the Tricolour.

Under the Flag Code of the Government of India, every citizen, irrespective of caste, colour, creed or religion, can hoist the national flag. However, the citizen should be aware that no disrespect should be shown to the flag in any manner.

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharati has been arrested for her forceful bid to hoist the national flag in Hubli’s Idgah Maidan, where prohibitory orders were in force. Clearly, she should not have tried to disturb peace by arousing communal passions. The law should take its own course in her case. No one should be allowed to play politics with our Tricolour.

Dr JASVINDER SINGH, Maloudh

II

The popularity graph of the BJP is on the decline. The top leadership of the BJP should realise that stunts of Ms Uma Bharati and Ms Sushma Swaraj together with the party’s continued disruption of proceedings of Parliament will push it into a ridiculous position, adversely affecting its prospects in the future.

HOSHIAR SINGH, Pathankot

III

Ms Uma Bharati has been maintaining that she is being punished for hoisting the national flag. The issue in question is: why did she try to hoist the flag on a Muslim shrine in Hubli when prohibitory orders were in force? Ms Bharati does not seem to understand that the Idgah Maidan in question is not state property or the BJP office to be misused for narrow partisan ends.

Surely, Ms Bharati’s motive was not patriotism, but an attempt to foment communal rioting. Five persons were killed in the violence in Hubli 10 years ago. Ms Bharati had been dodging for 10 years to appear before the court despite 19 warrants!

GHULAM MUHAMMED, Mumbai

IV

Ms Uma Bharati had to step down as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh after a decade-old case was re-opened against her in Hubli in Karnataka. She is now in jail. Two Rajasthan ministers are also in trouble. Already, parliamentary work suffered on the issue of tainted ministers.

The people feel dismayed to see the two national parties — the Congress and the BJP — frittering away their energies and resources in political vendetta, which is surely harmful for the country.

V.M. SETH, Hisar

Appeal to Baba Karamjit Singh On the eve of  Parkash Utsav, I, on behalf of millions of Sikhs, appeal to Baba Karamjit Singh Sodhi and his followers to permit the moving of  the original copy of the holy Guru Granth Sahib, now with them at Kartarpur, to Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar, so that the vast throngs from various parts of India and abroad can pay obeisance there, more freely and easily. The holy Granth need not be confined to just a few. Baba Karamjit Singh would earn everyone’s gratitude if at least for Parkash Utsav the handwritten Granth Sahib is installed at the Golden Temple. This would be a great contribution of the Baba to the Sikh religion. Maj-Gen HIMMAT SINGH GILL (retd), Chandigarh

Trained nurses

Apropos of the article “Nurses at home for patient care” (Aug 10), there is an increased demand for trained nurses today. By giving a four-month theoretical and practical training, a matriculate can’t become a trained nurse to look after the sick. In fact, it would be dangerous for the authorities to leave patients in the hands of such so-called nurses who may not be able to meet an emergency.

Moreover, we would like to emphasis that in accordance with the norms of the Indian Nursing Council, a nurse is a person who has undergone a course from a recognised nursing school and who has met the requirement for a registered nurse in a state in which she is licensed to practice.

The Red Cross would be able to provide training in first aid but it is not qualified to give certificates in nursing. All the training courses will have to be recognised by the Indian Nursing Council, which is the regulating body for this purpose.

NANTHINI SUBBIAH, Assistant Secretary, The Trained Nurses’ Association of India, New Delhi