Best Letter Award
The winner for the week November 12 to 18 is Sahil Manchanda, Chandigarh, for the letter ‘Fine not fine’, published on November 17. Can’t ignore him Cartoonist-turned-politician Bal Thackeray, who ruled Hindu hearts, is no more. The founder and chief of Shiv Sena changed the status of Maharashtra. He worked to help the common man and made a major contribution to the media. You may love him or hate him, but you can’t ignore him. Lokesh Nagpal, Ludhiana
II Thackeray was a strong leader, who could also be reasonable and courteous. May his soul rest in peace.
Rajendra K Aneja, Mumbai Media needs to introspect Newspapers are full of glowing tributes to a person (Bal Thackeray) who was the embodiment of chauvinism, regionalism and communalism, but not a line is there as homage to a man who 84 years back fell to an attack by the British force and whom Bhagat Singh considered as his inspiration and later went to gallows to avenge his death — Lala Lajpat Rai. There are full-page supplements in the papers on the birth anniversaries of small-time leaders related to current politicians, but not even a small one on the birthdays of leaders like Patel and Rai. It shows our character. Bhartendu Sood, Chandigarh Shameful act I was ashamed to read the news ‘Dutch woman robbed, pushed out of train’. Is this how we treat our guests? What memory will they take back of their visit? Thank god, she is not seriously injured. Is the railway protection force sleeping? We must compensate her and apologise. We must ensure the safety of tourists. Only a few months back, a French tourist lost his life in Haryana and part of his luggage was found with a railway employee.
GS Bhasin, via email
Good step The news-item, ‘IITs to pick girls over boys’ (Nov 16) highlights an excellent proposition to correct the severe gender imbalance at premier engineering institutes. It would be better if it became a reality and more and more faculties adopted the trend to boost the morale of the fair sex. The criticism of this move, if any, is unfounded, as the selection would be based on competition. MPS Chadha, Mohali Exposing corruption Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu is right in exposing the real face of the black sheep who are bringing bad name to the noble profession. Government doctors posted in rural dispensaries are in the habit of coming late or remaining absent from duty. Poor people in rural areas suffer due to casual approach of the doctors. Any step for the betterment of the common man should be
appreciated. Sukhdev Singh Minhas, Mohali
Sad demise It is ironic that the process of saving the 17-week-old foetus of Indian dentist Savita in Ireland led to her death. Her life could have been saved, but as her foetus had a heartbeat, owing to antiabortion laws in Ireland the doctor could not abort her pregnancy. New laws should be put in place so that such instances are not repeated.
Devendra Khurana, via email