Unnecessary language row

Refer to ‘Slapping around in the name of Marathi’; Raj Thackeray’s men slapping those who do not speak Marathi is not a new thing. A few days ago, a person trying to find his way in the crowd said “excuse me”; he was thrashed by goons and told to speak in Marathi. Is this not an attempt to impose Marathi? Why then are they objecting to the imposition of Hindi? CM MK Stalin in Tamil Nadu and Thackeray in Maharashtra seem to be outdoing each other on the language issue. We need to have an Indian language in use, besides English. Apparently, it cannot be a regional language that is spoken only in a particular area. Hindi is the most widely spoken and understood language by most people in the country; that is why the learning of this language is being sought.

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Wg Cdr CL Sehgal (retd), Jalandhar

Citizenship issue main impediment

Refer to ‘Posers for poll panel’; while the Supreme Court has rightly sought clarity on the rationale behind this sudden exercise, the citizenship issue is one of the main impediments. It is the Central Government’s responsibility to first lay down a transparent and lawful citizenship authentication mechanism, and only then can electoral rolls be revised accordingly. Instead of shifting this burden onto voters and the ECI, the government must show the political will to resolve the citizenship debate upfront.

Naresh Kumar Nijhawan, Karnal

SC raises relevant questions

Apropos of ‘Posers for poll panel’; the Supreme Court says it cannot stop a constitutional body from doing its job, so the process of revision of Bihar electoral rolls will continue. But some of the other observations by the apex court have made the ECI answerable. For instance, the court raised the issue of exclusion of the Aadhaar card from the list of documents that would be deemed acceptable to ensure electoral enumeration. Most importantly, the court reminded the ECI that the matter of verifying citizenship did not fall under the purview of the poll body; it falls under the domain of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Yash Pal Ralhan, Jalandhar

Empathise with girls

Refer to ‘Stripped for bleeding’; we proudly quote from our religious texts “Yatra naryastu pujyante, ramante tatra devata” (where women are honoured, divinity blossoms there). But the ground reality is quite different. Menstruation is a normal biological process. By linking it with religion, we end up insulting women. The problem lies in our double standards. On the one hand, we consider women as embodiments of power (shakti), and on the other hand, we violate the dignity of girls. We need to be empathetic towards girls and develop a rational outlook so that we do not hurt their self-respect and remain in sync with modern times.

Jitesh Mori, Kutch (Gujarat)

Disgraceful act in school

Apropos of ‘Stripped for bleeding’; it was a shameful act of the school authorities in Thane to huddle girl students into an auditorium to ascertain whether they were menstruating. The act has sent shock waves across the country. What is appalling is that similar instances occurred in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad, where girls were asked to remove their shirts as part of a school inspection, followed by a similar incident at a college in Gujarat’s Bhuj. The legal and the administrative system must initiate stringent action, including jail term to the culprits, for crossing all limits of decency and propriety.

Ramesh K Dhiman, Chandigarh

Mental health important

There is a deep sense of shock and concern over two horrific incidents that occurred on the same day in Haryana — the brutal murder of a young woman by her father in Gurugram, and the stabbing of a school director by two students in Hisar. These tragedies reflect the growing intolerance, emotional disconnect within families, and lack of conflict resolution mechanisms at homes and in schools. There is an urgent need for mental health support, value-based education and stronger family communication. Let these tragedies serve as a wake-up call. We cannot afford to remain indifferent anymore.

Vandana, Chandigarh