letters to editor

A SALUTE TO PRANAB

A country of 130 crore has bid adieu to its 13th President Pranab Mukherjee. A testimonial to his maturity, patience and tact was that he maintained normal relations, for three years, with a ‘strong’ PM, whose agenda might not have strictly coincided with the spirit of the Constitution. “There is room for argumentative Indian, but no room for intolerant Indian,” his oft-quoted advise will always ring true.

Mohali

Beant Singh Bedi, NIFTY ABOVE 10,000: MORE WINGS TO IT

The Nifty, the benchmark stock market index, breached the psychological five figure mark of 10,000, in closing, on Wednesday. The rapid growth is the index is a testament to investors’ confidence in the Indian economy. The capital markets have also shaken off their dependence on the fleeting foreign investment as there is strong inflow into domestic assets (mutual funds and insurance). The Indian investor has matured and is aware of the growth potential of the Indian equities in the long haul. Amit Modgil, Ludhiana

INDIAN SPACE NO MORE THE SAME

Udupi Ramachandra Rao, the grand old man of Indian space programme is no more. He is responsible for giving a thrust to the Aryabhata satellite project in 1975 and to taking our country to the top three in the world in space research. The country can never forget his mentorship. The ‘space’ he left cannot be fulfilled. Dikshant Chadha, Jalandhar

SEEKING GST EXEMPTION ON LANGAR DEMEANS DEVOTEES

The langar and the kar sewa is an integral part of Sikh faith. It is the voluntary donations from devotees that make this possible. So, why does the SGPC seek tax exemption on purchases to organise the free meals from this money? The contribution, come to think of it, is voluntary and there seems no logic to the demand. In Bombay of the yore, even in times of shortage of essential commodities for the public, the langar halls overflowed. In fact, devotion can work to help the government as well. Devotees will donate generously, GST or no GST. Such demands demean devotees.

LJ Singh, Amritsar

PAY WOMEN CRICKETERS ON A PAR WITH MEN

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the richest cricket board in the world. Yet, there is huge pay disparity between the yearly contract of men and women cricketers. By all accounts, the difference is of the order of ₹2 crore for A-grade contract for a male player against ₹15 lakh for a woman. After their stupendous performance at the World Cup, it is time to recognise and pay these lovely cricketers on a par with men. Aakash Arora

II

The Indian women cricket team deserves all the praise in the world for putting up a splendid show in the World Cup. Reaching the finals and putting up a fight against England shows that they have finally arrived. The team also became the first in the world to defeat the top three teams in rankings at the same single tournament. The captain Mitali Raj is right in suggesting that now is the time to organise an IPL for the women as well. The matches at the World Cup have been on par with men on the entertainment quotient. Naresh Malhotra, Anandpur Sahib

DECOMMISSIONED TANK AT JNU: NOTHING BAD

Jawahar Lal Nehru University vice-chancellor has done nothing wrong in deciding to install a decommissioned tank on campus. These will help students think about our great soldiers who defend our country with the help of tanks. Perhaps, this will also help create a spirit of nationhood among students. RL Bansal, Kurukshetra

POLICE, ARMY CLASH: NEED CALM HEADS

Report of army personnel beating up policemen is an act of indiscipline and not expected from members of a highly professional organisation. The police was only doing its duty and the matter needed to be sorted out with a calm mind. Such incidents may affect relations between army and police and must be avoided. Violence is no solution to anything. Subhash Vaid

CHINA’S CLAIMS DO NOT WASH

Of late, China has been making accusations and territorial claims that are patently false. Its accusation that Modi has a hidden agenda of bringing Hindu nationalism to the fore through the border dispute is one such crass statement. China will do well not to mix border disputes with religion and cultural sentiments of the people in pursuing their expansionist designs in the region and elsewhere in world. This will only create further suspicion in the common man against China. BN Anand, Mohali

FLIPSIDE TO MIGRATION CRAZE

The UN migration agency says in a report that India has the second largest number of youth planning to migrate to other countries. It is good the countrymen to study abroad and get more knowledge about world’s different cultures and languages. But, on the flip side, the morals of the East and West do not match. Brain drain has been an old problem associated with the phenomenon. Simran Hans, Jalandhar

YECHURY MUST BE GIVEN 3RD RS TERM

If the CPI (M) decides against a third RS term for Sita Ram Yechury, it will be committing yet another Himalayan blunder after the past ones of deciding against Som Nath Chatterjee becoming the President and not allowing Jyoti Basu to be the PM. Admired as a well-informed and well-behaved parliamentarian, Yechury’s is a strong voice that Parliament needs like never before. Hira Sharma, Amritsar