Fewer pilgrims

As against the expected 5,000 pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan, daily, the turnout so far is below even the 1,000 mark. For many devotees, lack of proper awareness about online registration, the necessity of a passport and service charges of $20 are responsible for a lukewarm response. Also, many persons, particularly the youth from Punjab, are apprehensive about not getting visa to other countries after visiting Pakistan.

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Balbir Singh Kakkar, Jalandhar

Planet ailing

Refer to the editorial ‘Let’s do it for our kids’ (November 16); the time for talking about who did what centuries ago, and who would be responsible is the past. We should remain united against those who remain inactive to control global warming. Also, people still discussing if climate change is real, is also a real issue. We were taught that ‘we do not inherit this world from our ancestors; we have borrowed it from our children’. So, we have no right to make Earth an ailing planet.

Anmol Singh Gandhi, Ujjain

Climate changing

Climate change is impacting environment across the world in a big way (‘Let’s do it for our kids’; November 16). It is the most important issue of the present era and needs serious attention of political leadership across the globe. Each one of us needs to contribute a little to save the planet. There has to be awareness among all classes of society towards saving water and forests. There should be massive plantation of trees. If not tackled properly, our generations to come will curse us for giving them a polluted climate to live and breathe in.

SANJAY CHOPRA, MOHALI

Landmark decisions

The recent landmark decisions of the top court have provided fresh hope for Indian democracy and sanctity of the Constitution. The tenure of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi has been exceptionally eventful, putting an end to the Ayodhya dispute so convincingly. Bringing the office of the Chief Justice of India under the RTI Act is another landmark decision. The farewell advice and warning from the CJI to the courts and judicial fraternity for maintaining sanctity is also timely. Now that the standard of political discourse has reached its nadir, judiciary is the only hope. Let us express our gratitude to the outgoing CJI for the sterling service he rendered to the nation and the topmost institution of the country.

Madan, Palampur

Himachal teachers

The two main reason for gaps in HP schools (November 15) are: being a small state, majority of the teachers are the real foot soldiers of politicians, and thus education is a secondary job for them. Secondly, transfers are a big business in HP and the teaching community is the biggest ‘clientele’. Once a teacher masters the trick of managing postings, and feels ‘politically protected’, he/she becomes irresponsible towards the teaching profession. It results in poor results, poor attendance and arrogance.

Vinod parashar, Solan

The predicament

Apropos ‘Sabarimala review’ (November 16), Article 25 is a fundamental right that allows an individual to profess, practise and propagate religion. On the other hand, Article 26, which is also a fundamental right, says that one has the right to manage religious affairs. The perplexity between these two Articles seems to be creating incertitude among judges. Now, the SC is taking multiple issues under its jurisdiction. For instance, the custom of female genital mutilation in Dawoodi Bohra community. A-pig-in-a-poke approach regarding such issues will not be sagacious.

Arpana chaudhary, Amritsar

Efficient telegram service

Drafting a telegram was a skill taught in schools (Middle ‘It happened in times of telegram’; November 16). The trick was to omit auxiliary verbs to make it short. If the message consisted of two or more sentences, a complete word, STOP, would be inserted in place of the dot (.) or full stop to avoid ambiguities like the one in the write-up. The middle transported me to the hoary past of Panjab University immediately after Partition, when it was located at Solan. They had a well-oiled system to approach every examination centre telegraphically, if required, to rectify a misprint in a question paper. We, examiners, were expected to mail to the Head Examiner, a test instalment of the scripts, and he would send his approval of the standard of marking, telegraphically or message ‘STOP MARKING’, if the situation demanded. The Department of Posts and Telegraphs was known for efficiency. But, in spite of advancements in communications technology, we now have more howlers everywhere, and a letter bearing a stamp is expected to go by snail mail.

MOHAN SINGH, AMRITSAR

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