The Hindu : New Delhi News : Time to wake up

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Monday, Aug 04, 2008
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Time to wake up - Reader's Mail

I think India has stopped shivering at all the reports of deadly bomb blasts and the chilling sight of the dead. Innocent people lying dead on the roads – doesn’t that anger you one bit any more? Or do you accept it thinking “ek na ek din to marna hi hai….” (death is inevitable after all)?

A lot of official explanations for the recent blasts have been delivered and digested: “foreign hand”, “opposition trap”, “communal designs”.... Who really will explain the reasons behind the blasts to those who died or lost their near ones in one of those blasts?

Why can’t the Government get preventive rather than curative? According to recent reports, the bombs were put in position hours before they exploded. Isn’t it ridiculous: bomb disposal squads running through the city after the explosions when the culprits must be planting another bomb in another city? Why can’t we put bomb disposal squads on duty at all hours? The Government must act in all earnestness here and now to put an end to the serial blasts.

Neha Jha,

Eco (Hons) III Year, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University, Delhi – 110 007.

Railways’ ways

I travelled in the sleeper class of Grand Trunk Express from Vijayawada to New Delhi recently on the newly introduced side middle berth. This was the first time I was using these new berths and experiencing the discomfort caused by them. With the addition of one more side berth, the existing little space has become more cramped and all three passengers on these side berths are compelled to lie down on their back all the time during the journey as they cannot sit straight even to drink water or take meals. For doing that, they have to get down and borrow the space of berths on the opposite side. Unless the passenger in the middle berth lifts his/her berth, none of the three on the side berths can sit comfortably!

Moreover, the addition of a third berth on the sides is not appropriate from the view-point of passenger safety. In case of an accident it is highly probable that the passengers will be crushed under one another and there will be no free space for them to escape.

I think this is another of the methods adopted by Indian Railways to increase their revenue without raising the fares. It has been done without taking passengers’ comfort and safety into consideration. The Railways have neither made a proper study nor taken the advice of safety experts. They have not even bothered to notify this change in the newspapers but imposed it unilaterally.

It’s not wrong on the Railways’ part to avoid hiking passenger fares and rely on alternative methods to increase revenue, but these methods should not be adopted at the expense of passengers’ comfort. In all fairness now the Railways should reverse the new system to the earlier system.

Medepalli Seshu,

Quarter No.X-240, Sarojini Nagar, New Delhi – 110 023.

Waste not

According to a recent report, the civic agencies in Delhi have been advised to avoid spillage while segregating plastic waste from the general waste, as that leads to pollution. In a densely populated city like Delhi that is bursting at the seams, it is hazardous to allow plastic waste strewn on the road to pollute the surroundings as it increases exposure to a host of diseases, especially during the monsoon. This is true of all the metros and large cities like Visakhapatnam, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kochi where garbage can be found in public places like railway platforms.

One is aghast to learn that the Delhi Administration trained 4,500 rag pickers last year and is planning to train another 5,000 this year. When the rest of the world is racing ahead with innovative technologies in waste collection and disposal, such action is a sad commentary on the Delhi Administration and the Centre. We can at least emulate the garbage collection methods adopted in China and Western countries. Alternatively, the civic authorities should direct the public to segregate the waste as “non-degradable”, “organic” and “recyclable” in separate containers. The civic staff should clear one kind of waste each day so that disposal is easy and prevents pollution.

G. M. Rama Rao,

Camp: C-1199 , IFFCO Colony, Sector 17 B, Gurgaon - 122 001.

Haryana calling

I request the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Haryana to immediately take effective steps to prevent any further shameful instances of police atrocities on innocent citizens, especially hapless women. The recent Nissing and Rohtak rape cases, both by police personnel while on duty, are most unfortunate.

Is mere dismissal of errant policemen involved in the case and transfer of the top brass enough? Or is the recent State Government order to post SHOs of police stations only after a scrutiny of their prior service records going to stem the rot? What is needed is a complete revamp of the working methodology of the police force, right from registration of cases to their investigation and putting them up for trial in a court of law.

The Haryana Police legislation which was enacted last year in line with Supreme Court directives on police reforms is yet to be implemented. The State’s adamant stand not to constitute a Human Rights Commission for dealing with cases of violation of human rights needs reconsideration.

It is noteworthy to mention here that the report of the Inquiry Commission appointed by the State Government to probe the Gurgaon violence wherein the police brutally lathi-charged agitating Honda company employees in full media view is still awaited. Also, in February 2006, the Hon’ble Supreme Court had directed the Haryana Government to entrust the investigation of cases of police and custodial atrocities to an independent agency like the CBI or the Human Rights Commission for a free and fair probe. The Chief Minister must do something about such happenings lest the situation get out of control.

Hemant Kumar,

(Advocate, Punjab and Haryana High Court), 414, Sector 7, Urban Estate, Ambala City, Haryana.

Manipur today

Hailing as I do from Manipur, I am pained to write about the several ills afflicting the people of the State today.

To begin with, democracy in Manipur is still plagued by several flaws. The system is riddled with lack of accountability, dirty politics, dominant influence of money power, increasing corruption, pervasive influence of religion, communal bias and gross violation of human rights. Compared to the other States of the country, Manipur lags far behind in terms of democratic rights.

The law and order situation is going from bad to worse. Not a week passes without some strike or bandh. One can barely reckon the frequency of innocent civilians being tortured, raped and killed by the so-called “friends of the North-East Hills” (Assam Rifles) and other security forces — thanks to the imposition of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958. It is dreadful to recall gruesome incidents like the Malom massacre, Saitu-Gamphajol killing spree, murder of three innocent Kuki youth, the brutal killing of Pastor Jamkholet Khongsai and the June 18 Uprising. The latest is the cold-blooded murder of Thangtinsei Kipgen, a young law student, and Limlenbert Hangshing, a 22-year-old sportsperson, on July 11. It is time the Centre intervened to set matters right.

Thangkhochon Haokip,

78-B, Sarai Jullena, New Delhi – 110 025.

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