Blasphemy law

Faruqui’s unfortunate arrest and his subsequent detention in jail must force us to reconsider the tenability of Section 295 A, IPC, which criminalises ‘insulting religion or religious beliefs’. It is legally antiquated and inconsonant with public morality which hails free speech. Moreover, the provision fails to make a distinction between fair criticism and malice, permitting a sensitive few to misemploy the provision. Therefore, it must either be repealed or amended to delineate what actions precisely would provoke the imposition of this provision.

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Nissim Aggarwal, Chandigarh

Nothing new to say

Refer to ‘PM’s outreach’; Modi in his reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha has only reiterated what the Agriculture Minister and others have said on the contentious farm laws. The stalemate continues in the absence of any concrete proposal to resolve the issue. The government, if it is genuinely interested in resolving this issue, needs to show more empathy and minimise the trust deficit widening between the protesting farmers and lawmakers.

Prem Singh, Chandigarh

Pendency of cases

Majority of political and legislative decisions taken by the state/Central government are being challenged in courts through PILs and other cases. A final decision may come after years. If the government and bureaucracy are sincere and consult all stakeholders before passing laws/strictures, the chances of conflict will diminish considerably, thereby obligating the need for any intervention by the judiciary. This shall go a long way in reducing the workload on the overburdened courts and save precious time and resources of the government as well as the litigants.

Ramit Bagga, Panchkula

Farmers need cover

The government’s wise agro policies in favour of the farming community are the only way to bring desired and required changes. Any change, if it has monetary stimulus in techniques as well as for assured marketing of produce, will make the way to divert current thinking and make crop diversification easy. Eco resources and land fertility can be saved. Foreign trade on agri imports on edible oils may be put on favourable terms. All this is possible only if the government is sincere.

Mukhtiar Singh, by mail

They know better

Refer to ‘Give agri laws a chance’; does the government really think that the farmers don’t know about the pros and cons of their profession? If they have struggled so hard and have come this far, they are very clear about their demands. The government is just making excuses to divert attention. Farmers’ demands must be fulfilled. Not only are farmers disturbed but also the other citizens who have to face a lot of problems.

Simran Ahuja, Yamunanagar

Infra push at a cost

The Uttarakhand tragedy has sent a warning how infrastructural push in this ecologically sensitive region is taking place without rigorous local research. The danger here is that instead of mitigating the climate challenge, ill-conceived projects could end up multiplying the risks, and for all of India that lives along Himalayan rivers. The Kedarnath tragedy of 2013 should have been a wake-up call. All such tragedies should not be treated as an isolated incident. Pursuit of environmental and economic goods in a democracy does involve complex calculations, but the importance of expert knowledge cannot be overstated. Policy decisions shaping such projects must be swayed by scientists, not contractors and builders.

LAL SINGH, Amritsar

Environmental disruption

Apropos of ‘Himalayan tragedy’, the latest tragedy is a reminder of coming close to the frontier of climate change and global warming. There is a necessity to tackle the widening mismatch between the model of development championed by governments and the need to preserve land and water resources. The village of Raini, where the disaster struck, was ironically the cradle of the Chipko Movement initiated in the 1970s to save trees. Alas, the benefit-versus-loss debate has no clear winners. The immediate economic growth at the expense of environmental disruption is a matter of concern.

TV JAYAPRAKASH, KERALA

Uttarakhand disaster

Large gap between sustainability and development is the bane of humankind. Climate change has a direct influence on species living on earth. Climate change itself is a slow pandemic. Rise in temperature on one side of earth impacts the other side too. The concept of sustainability needs to be applied practically to save life on earth.

Rohit KumaR Gupta, Shimla

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