Raising hope under Prez rule in Manipur
The imposition of President’s rule in Manipur after the resignation of Chief Minister Biren Singh has reignited fierce debates about the State’s future, exposing deep ethnic and political fault lines.
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While Kuki-Zo-Hmar tribes have welcomed the move as a long overdue step toward stability, the Meitei community feel it as an unjustified intervention that could further marginalise them.
Whatever be the circumstances that led to this imposition, the President’s rule must be taken as an opportunity to bring down the crisis and prepare the ground for a representative government.
The Governor, who must now play a crucial and bipartisan role in governance, must use this time to facilitate community engagement and encourage local leadership to participate in peace-building measures. The ultimate test, however, lies with the political masters in Delhi. If the BJP views Manipur through the narrow lens of political control, the region could soon witness the violence again.
But if the priority is stability over electoral considerations, President’s rule could be the turning point for reconciliation. Manipur has suffered enough. The decision now is whether to rebuild trust and peace or allow another cycle of violence.
Gregory Fernandes, Mumbai
Rape verdict should serve as deterrent
Justice has finally prevailed as the District and Sessions Court, Margao sentenced the 31-year-old accused to rigorous life imprisonment for the rape and murder of Irish-British national Danielle McLaughlin in 2017 bringing an eight-year-old legal battle for justice to an end.
The verdict will hopefully act as deterrence to such horrific acts in future. The verdict brings to mind the horrific gang-rape and murder of a student in Delhi in 2012. The victim died of internal injuries after being gang-raped in a moving bus. The four accused were convicted and hanged in the high-security Tihar Jail.
The Nirbhaya case caused outrage across India, brought thousands of protesters out on the streets made global headlines for weeks and led to new anti-rape laws in India. Recently a trainee doctor’s body was found with severe injury marks inside the seminar hall of the State-run hospital in Kolkata. The accused was sentenced to life imprisonment and was fined Rs 50,000 for the rape and murder of the young doctor.
According to data, thousands of rapes take place every year and the numbers have been consistently rising over the years. Anti-rape campaigners say thousands of rapes and cases of sexual assault are not even reported to the police.
These rapists are everywhere, lurking in homes, playgrounds, schools and the streets, waiting for an opportunity to strike. There are horrific reports of violations which raises a pertinent question as to whether women are really safe in the country.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Deportation of illegal immigrants
The US administration has been deporting illegal immigrants of Indian origin. The process started on February 5, and the deportees were sent onboard the US military transport aircrafts.
On the morning of February 16, the third batch of 112 immigrants landed at Amritsar, while the first and second batches had 104 and 116 immigrants (O Heraldo February 17 edition). So far, 332 people have been sent back, mostly young men followed by some women and children.
It was shocking to know that the men’s legs were shackled and hands were cuffed as if they are hard-core criminals. The fetters were removed when they had to use the only washroom present on the aircraft. As per the Minister of External Affairs, this is a standard operating procedure by the American authorities and nothing can be done about it.
As the Indian Prime Minister and the American President are considered to be good friends, the former could talk to the latter and seek permission to send our airplanes to bring back the immigrants. During the deportation procedure, the American authorities could monitor the process. This way more immigrants could be returned to India instead of in small batches and the cost would be borne by the Indian government.
Our government could ensure that the people are treated with dignity and not be chained and cuffed onboard the Indian aircraft.
Having lost their money, land and jobs and cheated by agents, the immigrants could land in India with some respect and not like convicts.
Sridhar D’Iyer, Caranzalem
Dominion via language
The Centre is leaving no stone unturned to impose Hindi on South Indian States though it has short-sighted the three-language formula in the New Education Policy 2020.
The Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has rightly argued that there is nothing wrong if a student in the State learns multiple languages , not necessarily Hindi.
English is a universal language and opens up opportunities for study and employment across the world, the same cannot be said of Hindi or Sanskrit, which the saffron dispensation is trying to force upon India. As part of this “nefarious” agenda, the government senior secondary schools in BJP-ruled Rajasthan have been ordered by the State Education Department to replace Urdu with Sanskrit as a third language from the next academic session.
To add fuel to the controversy, a minister alleged that many Urdu teachers secured jobs with fake degrees. This is a form of language jihad if one were to use the Sanghi term. What benefit in life will one derive from learning Sanskrit, how would it help a student secure a job or get ahead in life? It is very obvious that imposition/deletion of languages is just another step by the Modi government in pursuit of an illusory Ram rajya.
Anyone, who rightly opposes such regressive measures, is immediately branded as anti-national or is accused of playing politics. India should firmly oppose these despicable attempts by the Union government to establish dominion over India by using the tool of language.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Ban firearms at ceremonies
It is a shame that a two-and-a-half-year-old boy had to give his life as a result of a macho wedding celebration.
The toddler was killed when a man had allegedly opened fire to celebrate during a wedding procession. The bullet struck the child who was watching the procession from a balcony in Aghapur village near Noida on Monday.
Many gunfire accidents happened in the past during wedding celebrations. Stringent rules and punishments must be in place to ban the use of firearms in ceremonies. The use of firearms in a marriage ceremony originates from an ugly primitive practice of kidnapping a girl for marriage.
Such a practice is a sign of backwardness in a society which must be eradicated.
Sujit De, Kolkata
