Mathura ban illogical

THE decision of the UP CM to ban the sale of meat and liquor in Mathura defies logic. Does Mathura not have locals who are followers of different religions? Isn’t it visited by people from other countries and Indian states who consume ‘both’? Don’t personnel from the armed and paramilitary forces in Mathura consume liquor and meat, which the Government of India allows them to as part of entitled ration? It is easier said than done that the affected sellers should change their profession. What about banning cigarettes, bidis, tobacco, paan, gutkha and bhang, etc?

SPS NARANG, NEW DELHI

Disability no hurdle

The greatest sporting spectacle continues to bring happy tidings for India as the Tokyo Paralympics takes off from where the Tokyo Olympics left. At the halfway mark, India have gone past their best-ever medal tally, winning two gold medals with a world record to boot. Shining in the glittering star cast is javelin para-thrower Devendra Jhajharia whose silver is as bright as his 2004 gold at Athens. Wheelchair- bound shooter Avani Lekhara’s gold revives our memory of Indias first individual gold winner Abhinav Bindra, who is also Avani’s idol. Our differently abled men and women athletes have proved that their disability hasn’t disabled their spirit to shy away from any competition. Getting due recognition from the PM and the President, besides Neeraj Chopra, will go a long way in bringing more glory for India in these competitions.

SK SINGH, by mail

Fruits of labour

lt is a moment of pride for India at the Paralympics as debut shooter Avani Lekhara has scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in the history of Paralympics. Indian athletes are shining at the world stage, despite all odds. Though the number is still small, which is likely to increase in coming days, it’s significant, given the multitude of odds, right from the lack of world-class infrastructure to lack of encouragement. India has to go a long way in making the country a sports star. The encouragement from the government and private entities should go beyond praising the winners and rewarding them in a knee-jerk fashion.

Yash Pal Ralhan, Jalandhar

Captain ‘tweetless’

The ongoing slugfest that started with CM Khattar alleging that the Amarinder Singh government was instigating farmers, has now taken an interesting turn. Khattar, in a series of tweets, listed out several steps taken by the Haryana Government in the past seven years for crop diversification, water conservation, smart farming and direct benefit transfer of several incentives to farmers — the areas which have been completely ignored by successive governments in Punjab, leaving the Captain ‘tweetless’. The onus is now on the Captain to respond and match facts with facts.

Pankaj, Kalka

Judicial appointments

‘Future woman CJI sworn in’ suggests that judicial appointments are not made on merit alone, but there are some other considerations also. The other considerations are political party affiliations, caste, religion, region, gender etc. At times, there are public demands that a Sikh, Muslim, Dalit, an OBC be made CJI, and that was done. Recently, it was demanded that a woman be made CJI, and now that may also get fulfilled in near future.

Baldev Singh, Australia

Evacuation operations

Although evacuation operations after Kabul bombings have resumed, airlifting all foreign nationals by the deadline will be difficult. This can create a hostage situation where the Taliban or other militant outfits could detain the remaining foreigners. US President Biden has vowed to hunt down those behind the airport bombings, but there is no denying that his administration messed up the evacuation process. Pulling US troops out before complete civilian evacuation was a huge mistake, as was prematurely leaving the Bagram airbase. which Taliban later took over and released thousands of prisoners housed there. The fear of Afghanistan once again becoming the launching pad for international terror groups may become a reality. With such a large number of Taliban fighters and weapons, Afghanistan descending into civil war is a possibility. This puts India in a spot. Its focus is on evacuating its citizens, but it would soon need to have contingencies in place if Afghanistan becomes a terror haven.

MS KHOKHAR, by mail

Act against SDM

It was shocking to learn that the Karnal SDM ordered the police to ‘break the heads’ of the farmers who were protesting in Karnal and gave a free hand to the police to lathicharge them, leading to serious injuries to several farmers. The SDM must be punished and be given only jobs which may be performed in office confines. Action must be taken at the earliest. Any delay will prove counterproductive.

Subhash C Taneja, Gurugram

Letters to the Editor, typed in double space, should not exceed the 200-word limit. These should be cogently written and can be sent by e-mail to: Letters@tribunemail.com