Why rename stadium?

The renaming of the Sardar Patel cricket stadium after Narendra Modi was totally unwarranted. The Prime Minister himself had criticised the Congress many times for naming many institutions and schemes after Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi and started naming every new scheme as the Pradhan Mantri Yojana. Everyone knows that Pradhan Mantri here means Modi and the poor class always says ‘Modi wala khata’ or ‘Modi wala cylinder’ and thus the political purpose is served. But now putting his own name in place of Sardar Patel shows how false his public show of reverence was for the great man.

Arun Bala, Bathinda

Hope in judiciary

Apropos of ‘Varavara Rao gets 6-month bail on medical grounds’, the order of granting interim bail to an old man who was ailing with multiple health issues on the basis of humanitarian grounds must be welcomed. Being booked under UAPA, it was not easy for Rao to get bail as multiple previous requests by his family had been denied. Better late than never, the Bombay High Court has set an example and has shown that our basic fundamental rights, including the right to life and health, are being protected by one of the pillars of our democracy — the judiciary.

Ishan Hastir, Gurdaspur

Scrap sedition law

‘Bail for Disha’ and ‘Acquittal of Priya Ramani’ have come as a relief for the ‘disquiet’ society these days. The magistrates in both cases have given a landmark ruling that the offences of ‘sedition’ and ‘criminal libel’ cannot be invoked to minister to the ‘wounded vanity’ of the government or the powerful in society. But the question is, will the police and young magistrates follow that ruling? The police will continue to arrest and the magistrates will continue to violate the SC ruling of ‘bail not jail’ at the behest of the government. Never mind the ‘scanty and sketchy’ evidence, because ‘the process is the punishment’. Disha has already suffered incarceration for 10 days. The government has probably taught her what it set out to teach. The long-term solution lies in scrapping these anachronistic laws. The government on its own will not do that. And the judiciary is demurring to do that. It is the media that will have to pick up the gauntlet and launch a vigorous campaign against these laws.

Lt Col GS Bedi (Retd), Mohali

Disha’s trauma ends

The Delhi court order granting bail to Disha Ravi ends her trauma of jail. The 10 days she endured in custody on the basis of “scanty and sketchy evidence” raise questions on the Delhi Police. With police and prosecution harbouring no compunction presenting dissent as crime, the safeguards against sedition are failing. The judge correctly noted that India’s 5,000-year civilisation was never averse to ideas from varied quarters and the freedom of speech and expression includes the right to seek a global audience. Cataclysmic climate change knows no national borders and will impact young people the most.

SANJAY CHOPRA, MOHALI

Govt business for pvt banks

Apropos of ‘Govt lifts ban on grant of government business to pvt banks’, the businesses that were being restricted for private sector banks are now being open for both private as well as government sector banks. The government has lifted the embargo on private sector banks for the lead of government-related transactions, such as taxes, and other related payment facilities. The main reason behind this is that the private sector banks are at the bleeding edge of soaking up and actualising the latest innovation in the financial sector. Now, the government wants to use their innovations to facilitate its social sector activities. It also wants to give a free hand to everyone because it’s not about public sector banks or private sector banks, it’s about the Indian economy.

Abhimanyu Sahoo, Odisha

Singer par excellence

It was very sad to know about the demise of Punjabi artiste and singer Sardool Sikander. His contribution to Punjabi culture and industry is immense. His sudden death has shocked his fans. He will be missed.

Ramanjot Kaur, Sultanpur Lodhi

Cyber security

Refer to ‘India needs a dedicated cyber security law’; during the lockdown, along with the working habits, the modus operandi of crimes has also changed. The lockdown has exposed our weak cyber laws. The government must come up with stronger laws and strategies to catch up with the hackers. There is a need to introduce some security application to prevent hacking.

Gaurav Badhwar, Rohtak

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