Nation’s interest the guiding spirit

Refer to ‘Religious rigidity can hurt military ethos’; once a citizen chooses to become a soldier, he needs to place his personal preferences at the altar of discipline. He may wear any personal talisman, he may carry any fetish in his pocket, but the flag of his nation always guides his thoughts and actions. Naming of units, brigades and battalions after our chivalrous heroes and communities is not done on the basis of religion, but as a reinforcement of the cohesive defence setup. Such aberrations as in the case of Lt Samuel Kamalesan carry the potential of breaking the secular fabric of the armed forces. However, media reporting of such incidents should be avoided.

Abhyam Sharma, Pathankot

Military’s secular fabric

Lt Samuel Kamalesan’s dismissal from the Army is being blown out of proportion just because the officer belongs to a minority. The floodgates of communalism have opened in a big way in our society, though its effect is almost negligible in the Indian military. Everyone seems to be getting more sensitive about one’s religious beliefs. If an officer belonging to a majority community refuses to enter the precincts of a gurdwara or masjid or a church, would the commotion be as strong?

Deepak TAAK, Panchkula

No one takes responsibility

Refer to ‘Haryana Sports Dept gives itself clean chit over two cagers’ death’; it reflects the brazen apathy of all those who are at the helm. With no one taking responsibility for the poor maintenance of infrastructure, all stand exonerated of criminal negligence which snuffed out the lives of two basketball players. This reminds us of the unprecedented and exemplary decision that Lal Bahadur Shastri took by resigning as Union Railway Minister after a train accident in Tamil Nadu in 1956. Shastri was not directly or personally responsible for the tragedy but as the head of the ministry concerned, his ethics compelled him to step down. In today’s times, everyone passes the buck to keep oneself above board.

Deepak Kaushik, Kurukshetra

Unrealistic workload on BLOs

Apropos of ‘SIR chaos’; the pressure on booth level officers in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls highlights a systemic flaw. Updating voter lists for such a large population is essential for clean and credible elections, yet the compressed timelines and unrealistic workloads have turned a routine administrative process into a big problem. Reports of SIR stress-related deaths show how severely the burden has fallen on the ground staff, who must meet tight deadlines while facing scrutiny from political parties and senior officials alike. A more phased and transparent approach — supported by predictable timelines and consistent communication — would allow the Election Commission to achieve accuracy without compromising the well-being of its personnel or the credibility of voter rolls.

A Myilsami, Coimbatore

Need performing politics

Apropos of the editorial ‘PM sets the tone’; a responsible and responsive parliamentary democracy needs performing, not performative politics. For that the ruling dispensation NDA needs responsive accommodation whereas the Opposition INDIA bloc needs a responsible approach. Discussion and dissent do not mean disruption. There should be debates conducive to healthy outcome not heady drama. Let both the ruling party and the Opposition come together in the interest of the nation.

DV Sharma, Mukerian

Keep airports running

Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said in the Rajya Sabha that 15 airports across the country started under UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme have discontinued flying operations due to factors like expiry of Viability Gap Funding, poor visibility, runway closure and airline issues. The main reason for the discontinuation of UDAN flights is “poor to very poor load factor”, which was not mentioned by the minister. The government is spending much more on building new airports or renovating old ones, but isn’t it mere wastage of public money?

Gurpreet S. Malhotra, Chandigarh