Universal testing unviable

This refers to ‘Test, trace, vaccinate’ (Nous Indica). Universal testing is an ideal solution sans viability. People get the RT-PCR test results only after a couple of days. Do we have adequate staff and testing kits for the entire population? Does everyone in India possess a smartphone to download the relevant apps? Have our rulers the will to do it? The best alternative is to distribute quality masks to all venturing out and to ensure that there are no large gatherings. Vaccination drive has to be at the greatest possible pace. The present alarming Covid wave is the making of the deadly mix of politics and religion that we are exposed to in today’s India. Unless we rid ourselves of such politics, we will continue to fall prey to such calamities, natural or man-made.

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HL Sharma, Amritsar

Time for quick action

Weekly testing and isolating the infected 20-30 per cent, allowing the rest to carry on with their livelihoods, is easier said than done (‘Test, trace, vaccinate’; Nous Indica). The meltdown reflects the failure of the executive, prompting judicial activism. The situation warrants synergetic emergency action and control. Vested interests must not be allowed to fish in troubled waters. It is not moot that universal vaccination is the ultimate way out. Till then, all congregations — indoor or outdoor — should be banned.

Lalit Bharadwaj, Panchkula

All must cooperate

Refer to ‘Over 200 Sikh pilgrims test +ve on return from Pak’; some of them confronted the testing team and tore the test reports. Pilgrims were advised home quarantine, but if they do not adhere to it, they may spread the virus among others. Protesting farmers at the Delhi border have refused to get tested. They are seen without masks and flouting Covid protocols. They keep travelling to and fro Punjab (‘Virus ravaging Punjab’). Those affected among the farmers could spread the virus. They should cooperate and get tested. It will be better under the prevailing situation to call off the stir. It will create a congenial environment for a fruitful dialogue. The five-month stir has not succeeded, but its suspension may.

WG CDR CL SEHGAL (RETD), JALANDHAR

Selfish America

The US, as expected from a capitalist country, has again corroborated its selfish intent by stopping the supply of raw materials which go into the making of vaccines in India. The newly elected government in the US has repeatedly exhibited the inhuman approach by not sharing resources and hence proved that they are ‘friends of good times’ when the business is meaningful for them. Russia, on the other hand, has proposed to offer us whatever it could, and hence reinforced the ties of the socialist era.

Akshey Sharma, by mail

Politics and Bengal

Refer to ’Stooping to conquer’; a state where an innocuous football match between two nations evokes maudlin response has a gory political history as well. Bengal was the hotbed of ‘Lal Salaam’ in the 1970s, and quelling of the uprising by Siddhartha Shankar Ray, erstwhile CM, resulted in pushing the Congress to the margins for the next 20 years. Similarly, Didi’s supplantation of Jyoti Basu’s regime was not peaceful either. Ergo, grim news of violence emanating from the eastern state indicates political churning in the offing.

Abhinav Sharma, Ludhiana

Mamata no better

Julio Ribeiro’s age forbids him to be an active player in mass events, otherwise he would have been an expert campaigner in Bengal elections. But his pen, honed by his long experience as a cop-cum-bureaucrat, is remarkably incisive that defies his age. He has chosen to side with Mamata Banerjee (‘Stooping to conquer’). He alleges that the BJP was forced to open its ‘war chest’, but so did Mamata. Her rallies were equally lavish and pompous. Her profile is that of a rabble rouser. She had thrown a sheaf of papers at Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee in 2005, drawing flak from members. She ditched ex-PM Manmohan Singh over the Teesta-Feni water accord with Bangladesh, forcing him to abandon the accord. I do not approve of Modi’s ‘Didi-oh-Didi’ drawl, but Didi’s invectives against Modi crossed all limits of civility. Ribeiro’s radar does not catch the things that go against Didi.

LR Sharma, Sundernagar

Congress resurgence

Reference to ‘Signs of Congress regrouping amid Covid crisis’; when Indira Gandhi became PM for the first time, some said she was ‘gungi gudiya’, but she proved her mettle. Rahul’s February warning of Covid-19 impending wave was not taken seriously. Timely action could have saved thousands of lives. There are many like P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and Shashi Tharoor who can fit into the role of PM, but the problem is that at the grassroots, the masses do not even know their names.

BM SINGH, AMRITSAR

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