Unjust analysis

‘A gift to Muslim radicals’ by Hasan Suroor (July 12) is a bundle of lies. He has tried to depict a horrid scenario as if a reign of widespread killings and lynchings is prevailing in India which can sway the understanding of a layman. He says there have been fewer deaths in Islamophobic attacks in Europe than in North India alone in recent years. Europe has less than half of India’s population. Violent incidents have occurred only in small pockets of western UP, Haryana and Rajasthan, where in all the cases, the accused have been booked. Sitting in London, the writer is leading a luxurious life. How has he watched the cycle of violence in India? There are bound to be omissions and commissions in every dispensation which cannot be treated as reiterative brutality. It is wrong to say it is happening mostly in BJP-ruled states. Are West Bengal, Kerala, Darjeeling, where atrocities on Hindus are perpetrated endlessly, being ruled by the BJP? It is absurd to suggest that a fake video of 2013, showing two Hindus being lynched by a Muslim, helped Modi win the 2014 polls. Suroor and his ilk seem much concerned about a few killings of Muslims in India, a vast country of 132 crore population, but they have never expressed sympathy towards thousands of Muslims who have been butchered in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Balochistan. It shows they have no real compassion for Muslims. Spreading false propaganda and misinformation will only disturb communal harmony. 

TR Goyal, Chandigarh

Anger justified 

This refers to the editorial ‘The outrage in Shimla’ (July 17). It mentions people’s anger and despair as mob violence, stone-throwing and vandalism while completely ignoring the people’s perception of a botched-up investigation by the SIT of the Himachal Police. People waited for nine days for the police to come out with a fair degree of investigation. Shoddy probe and the news of the victim’s family being offered Rs 3 crore appearing in the media to hush up the case at the behest of the real accused, had people coming out on the streets and protesting against the police and the government. Isn’t it ironic that the SIT probing the case did not have a single woman officer? The government should remove the SIT officers, including the SP, so that people’s faith in the police force can be revived.

Nitin Bhalaik, Shimla

Quick to inaugurate 

The 100-bedded hospital building at Paonta which was recently inaugurated by the CM lacks basic facilities and is also under-staffed. The hospital, designated as a referral, is still without the proposed two lifts and power generators. The government has also failed to provide dialysis facility and the trauma centre, which was the top priority at the planning stage of this project. It is surprising how the department invited the CM to inaugurate the hospital without it being made fully functional. Why was the OPD facility provided at the third level of the building without lifts? The state health minister should look into it. 

RM Ramaul, Paonta Sahib

‘Faqar-e-Hind’ 

Reference to ‘Army’s Poona Horse turns 200’ (July 18); on the eve of the raising day of  this highly  decorated armoured regiment, I wish to pay a tribute to its finest ‘saint soldier’, the late Lt-Gen Hanut Singh. He not only set very high professional standards, but also stood by moral values and self-discipline. Simple to the core, loved by his men, admired for his courage, the ramrod straight General was bravery personified.  A  hero of the 1971 war,  as a commanding officer, he won the Battle of Basantar, blazing through the heavily mined area, thwarting Pakistani designs. He was conferred with the MVC, and his youngest officer, 2 Lt Arun Khetrapal, won the PVC, as the unit walked away with a number of gallantry awards. Pakistan was so impressed with Lt Col Hanut as CO and his regiment that it declared Poona Horse ‘Faqar-e-Hind’. I was fortunate to have served under him. 

Col RD Singh (retd), Ambala Cantt

Why spare the Badals? 

Punjab CM Amarinder Singh is repeatedly trying to flaunt his large heart by proclaiming that he will not take action against the Badals for leaching Punjab to the last drop of blood, as he does not believe in vendetta politics. Whom is he fooling? This does not prove his generosity but smacks of the ‘spinelessness’ of the Congress government. His not taking action against them for causing any personal loss to him, if any, could have been termed as generosity, but not taking action for looting Punjab for 10 years amounts to abetment to a grave crime. It will encourage similar ‘thieves’ to follow suit. It may force people to suspect that this bonhomie may be a result of some financial deal between them to share the booty with the Congress. 

OP Singh, Chandigarh

Modi not sincere

PM Modi remained mum over 15-year-old Junaid’s lynching, but during his Israel tour, he hugged a little Jewish boy whose parents were killed in the Mumbai terror attack. It is nothing but media publicity. Modi knows that the monsoon session is about to start and the Opposition will corner him over the lynchings by cow vigilantes. To thwart it, he has made this statement. Also, if Modi is so much against corruption, why does he not order an investigation by independent agencies into the charges of corruption against him, rather than hide behind some views expressed by the apex court on the basis of shoddy data presentation? Why is Shivraj Chouhan, even after the Vyapam scam that claimed over 50 deaths, still the face of development in MP? 

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee, Faridabad

Wives without rights 

‘Molki’ wives in Sirsa forced to live in pitiable conditions’ (July 17) tells a story of alleged trading of women from other states by multiple men of families in Haryana. The condition of the women reveals the orthodox mindset of a section of society. The government should come out with a data of such women and provide them with social security. 

Rajesh C Bali, Jalandhar

Train journey a nightmare

I, a senior citizen, recently went on pilgrimage to Patna Sahib. My experience of the train journey was traumatic. I went to Delhi by Shatabdi that reached an hour late. I returned by Akal Takht Superfast Express that reached Patna Sahib over two hours late. Patna Sahib’s platform is virtually without sheds and hundreds of Sikh pilgrims, mostly aged men and women, perspired under the hot and humid weather. Despite reservation done two months in advance, travellers on the waiting list were allowed to crowd the coach. An NRI co-traveller kept cursing the rotten railway system. The less said about the toilets, the better. 

Jaswant Singh Gandam, Phagwara

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