M A I L B A G

Society in the jaws of a moral crisis

The killings at Nithari as also elsewhere are a shame on the country, needing strong condemnation. All those involved in the crime must be brought to book expeditiously.

Humans are complex creatures rounded up by prevalent surrounding forces. It is said that ‘Physician heal thyself’. Freud and Jung did in-depth research on the working of human minds. Freud’s theory in essence was that hunger and sex are the primary instincts, shadowing humans.

What are the scenarios dominating the ambience of India’s skyline today? There is a heavy dose of sex on television and cinema. The beauty celebrities on the romp are assessed by their body anatomies. The formative minds of youngsters are thus fed. In the Western world, sex has no taboo and their maturity could be differentiated whereas here it is hypocrisy and thus perversions creep in.

There is speed money in abundance. The youngsters in such families mature without moral scruples. The parents have hardly any time to shape them. Sex abuse of children is even rampant at the hands of security forces, posted under the UN aegis. The neo-princes are another new force coming up here.

Industrialisation and immigration have broken up homes, killing century- old traditions and moral values. Our traumatic society is in the jaws of a moral crisis. And if its health needs to be cured, some pragmatism should be injected.

V.I.K. SHARMA, IAS (retd),Jalandhar

II

I am shocked to read about the Nithari killings. Children are nation’s wealth. India’s progress depends upon the safety, education and economic welfare of the children and common masses. In the last two years, thousands of children are missing, but the police are taking no interest to bring the guilty to book. The reason: they are hand in glove with the criminals.

In Noida’s Nithari, Moninder Singh Pandher and Surinder Koli are the main accused. There must be many others behind the episode. The CBI should do a thorough job and catch all the criminals. No person should be spared. Those found guilty should be sentenced to death.

For the present, all the police officers concerned who did not pursue the complaints of missing persons should be dismissed immediately, giving them no benefit of law that “a proper opportunity is to be given to the accused”.

PREM KUMAR GOEL, Advocate, Muktsar

III

I welcome the CBI probe into the Nithari killings. As it is a matter of national importance, involving criminal conspiracy, the state government rightly handed over the investigation to the CBI.

Our society has three classes — the rich, the common and the poor. The rich people are hand in glove with the high and mighty. And thus, they commit heinous crimes with impunity. There is also the nexus of politicians, bureaucrats and criminals. They have three controls (administrative, economic and social) with three powers (money, material and muscle). So they commit crime without fear.

The poor people are the worst sufferers. Their petitions are not entertained though they run from pillar to post. Their grievances are never redressed and they never get injustice. This has happened in Noida too. Though several people filed petitions for tracing their missing children, the authorities turned a deaf ear.

DILDAR SINGH SIMBALPURI, Phillaur

IV

The Nithari episode has stirred the soul of India’s one billion people. The nature of crime is not only heinous and inhuman but also bears a deep and dark spot on our ancient glorious civilisation and culture. There is need for a thorough probe. The guilty must be brought to book. Remedial measures should be taken up to prevent recurrence of such an episode.

DAYANAND, Bhiwani

Sledging in modern sports Sledging is a way to intrude into one’s psyche, to disturb one’s concentration and force best players and strikers to develop butterfingers. The aim is to unsettle the opponent by verbal sparring, abuse or with touching remarks. Most sports experts did not know about its impact on one’s mind, which would force a player to react and commit the blunder by disturbing his own mindset. This problem is endemic in football, cricket and hockey. On Sept 27, 2005, during the India-Pakistan Hockey test match at Chandigarh, Sohail Abbas, world class flicker of Pakistan, had disclosed that his team has resorted to sledging to unsettle the Indian team. The India-Pakistan matches are such that even a minor lapse in concentration could become the difference between national pride and humiliation. In the Football World Cup 2006 in Berlin, Italy’s Marco Materazzi targetted French ace striker Zindane. The former’s comments so provoked the latter that Zindane resorted to the head butt sending Materazzi to the ground. To counter this menace in modern sport, mental training is needed to develop mental toughness by rehearsing mental skills along with Qigong (a Chinese art for fixation of mind) on and off the field. This would help develop emotional residency or bouncing back or non-venerable mindset. Dr J.P.S. SIDHU, Joint Director (Sports), Chandigarh UT

Lalu’s acquittal

It is surprising to learn that Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mrs Rabri Devi have been discharged in the disproportionate assets case. Mr Lalu Prasad is first accused in the Rs 900-crore fodder scam. Subsequently, he is charged with unaccounted assets of Rs 46 lakh. What a contradiction!

If Laluji swindled fodder worth Rs 900 crore, then his assets should have been in hundreds of crores. If in one scam he made so much, then he must have made many more crores.

The court has acquitted Laluji and his wife in the assets case. I feel the other case is also false and the then BJP-led NDA government instituted these false cases to tarnish Laluji’s reputation and ruin him politically. Why not institute a case against the CBI Director for filing the false case?

Col V.S. KOSHAL (retd), Kosli (Rewari)