The Hindu : New Delhi News : Reader's Mail

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 03, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Reader's Mail

A mockery

The "fatwas" issued recently by various Muslim intellectuals against terrorists and perpetrators of blasts in Varanasi carry no strength of conviction. Fatwas these days have become a mockery. A fatwa, in fact, is issued in certain conditions to resolve religious issues under Islamic Shariah (Islamic law). As for the attack on the Sankat Mochan temple or other holy places, there is no need to issue any fatwa because the Holy Quran says: "If anyone slew a person unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land it would be as if he slew the whole people. And if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the whole people." (S. 5-A32)

In view of this clear edict of the Holy Book, personal opinions are irrelevant. The offer of the Uttar Pradesh Minister for Haj and Minorities, Haji Yaqoob Quereshi, to pay Rs. 51 crores for the Danish cartoonist's head is his own view and cannot be termed a fatwa as described in both print and electronic media. Similar confusion arose about tennis sensation Sania Mirza's dress too. The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board contradicted all statements and fatwas issued against Sania's dress stating that the dress code prescribed for different professions should not become a subject of controversy.

As far as the recent onslaught on the Varanasi temple is concerned, it is a national shame. We must raise our collective voice against it regardless of our caste, creed and religion. And we must put in a concerted effort to eliminate from society all those elements who are acting against the law.

Obaidur Rahman Nadwi,

Lecturer, Nadwa College,

Post Box No. 93, Tagore Marg,

Lucknow-7.

"Hello, hello...."

These days one comes across advertisements for a mind-boggling variety of tariff plans for GSM and WLL telephone systems, the latest being the "One India" plan by BSNL and MTNL. Prior to this, Reliance had announced a similar plan. On the other hand, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TARI) has announced a reduction/rationalisation of access deficit charge (ADC) which means that STD and overseas calls will be cheaper. All the newspapers have welcomed the One India plan and the reduction in ADC. BSNL has announced a free trial for two months and MTNL may follow suit soon while other operators too will not be far behind. The reduction/rationalisation of ADC by TRAI, according to BSNL, will result in losses and deprive it of money for fulfilling the social obligation of providing telephones in rural and inaccessible areas. TRAI, though, has hailed it as a historic decision which will benefit the customer. But the ground reality is that the customer does not have a comparative statement of different tariff plans offered by the service providers and the advertisements by every provider carry a line, "Other tariff plans are also available". The result is that the customer cannot make the correct choice.

As for the provision of service to the customer, it is far from satisfactory. I can say from my own experience the following:

(a) I have a Dolphin connection (No. 9868501 301). Whenever I make a call -- whether local or STD -- on a mobile or fixed phone of MTNL or any other private operator, the screen flashes a message, "Network busy", and this message sometimes continues for even ten minutes. If a call is made on the fixed line, then the message is, "All lines on this route are busy." Now whose lines or whose network is busy? The caller's or the receiver's? The customer can never know.

(b) The STD/ILD text messages are delivered after one hour/two hours, sometimes even after three hours.

(c) The text messages are not delivered in full. Sometimes the message on the screen says, "The message cannot be displayed."

(d) Very often whenever I make calls to other service providers, they get disconnected in between. So I have to call again. And when I do so, the screen shows, "Network busy".

All this is very frustrating. Whenever I complain about these services, I am given stock replies: "Please get your handset checked by the service centre"; "please re-feed the message centre number"; "these days some repairs are going on, things will be all right in a few days", etc, etc.

The calls getting disconnected in between, the message saying "network busy", and delayed SMS delivery point to one thing: MTNL and all others apparently have been overloading the system. The investment in infrastructure is minimal, profit-making is maximum, while the customer's suffering is endless.

TRAI might claim that it is working in the interest of the customer, but the fact is that the service provided by MTNL-Dolphin is bad. The irony is that the other service providers -- Idea, Hutch, Airtel or Reliance -- are no better. Can TRAI protect the interests of the customer? My experience of TRAI's working so far proves that it protects and promotes only the interests of the service providers and is more inclined in favour of private operators.

Y.C. Bhatnagar,

E-6, Pusa Appartments,

Sector 15, Rohini,

Delhi - 110 085.

Ladies, please

The Delhi Metro railway is a blessing for the Capital's citizens. It is aesthetically pleasing and extremely comfortable. The trains are safe and user-friendly. To provide foolproof security on the Metro, the system has its own specially trained Metro Police. But one thing is missing: female constables for inspecting women passengers' accessories.

A male constable inspecting a female passenger's bag is no good thing. As a student I have faced this problem twice -- once at Vidhan Sabaha (Delhi Assembly) station and the second time at Karol Bagh station. The male constable on duty argued that security regulations have to be followed and gave the lame excuse that the female constable was absent. Aren't the Delhi Metro Police authorities aware of the fact that a male constable is not supposed to inspect any female's belongings?

The Metro authorities must do something about this urgently.

Hina Khan,

Delhi University

Delhi - 110 007.

Teaching shops?

Bindu Shajan Perapaddan in "Vocational colleges seek exemption from MCD" ("Campus Jottings", March 23) reports on a press conference organised by the United Students Group advocating exclusion of vocational colleges -- which, according to them, are educational institutions with 500,000 students across Delhi -- from the purview of the Supreme Court order directing closure of commercial establishments in residential areas of the Capital.

text ignoredOne can certainly sympathise with the plea to ensure that all these students' education is not interrupted and they are allowed to finish their courses or alternative arrangements are made for their education. The flip side of the coin, however, is that most of these teaching shops are not regulated properly, follow their own norms, fleece the students who are enrolled with them, and provide sub-standard coaching. They are commercial establishments rather than educational institutions really.

text ignoredBy all means let the affected students approach the Supreme Court directly to seek relief. It is certain that the Supreme Court will take a considered view of the matter before pronouncing a nuanced judgment.

Vinod Chowdhury,

Senior Reader in Economics,

St. Stephen's College,

Delhi University,

Delhi - 110 007.

Age no bar

The Punjab and Haryana Bar Council's decision not to give licences as practising lawyers to those who have crossed the age of 45 years is ultra vires Section 49 (1) (ah) of the Advocates Act because it is discriminatory, arbitrary and unreasonable. Such a rule is not in the interest of the public. It should be struck down also for the reason that it is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.

Besides, the use of words such as "parking lot of retirees" in this context is unparliamentary and against all canons of the legal profession.

Legal practice is a profession and anybody with the requisite qualifications is entitled to it. The members of the legal profession have certain social obligations to render service to the poor and the underprivileged. The decision of the Bar Council must be struck down immediately so that all those students and practitioners of law who are above 45 years are not handicapped by this arbitrary age bar. Quality of education is the basis of law, not the age factor.

J. P. S. Dhillon,

341, Dr. Sham Singh Road,

Civil Lines,

Ludhiana - 141 001.

(Letters for this column may be sent by e-mail to wsins@thehindu.co.in. They must carry the full postal address of the writer and should be marked "Reader's Mail".)

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