Of politicians and places of worship
There will be students who would be carefree till Jan-Feb and once the final exams are announced and syllabi are nearly over only then they would start preparing in earnest. There would be ardent prayers and visit to places of worship and promises to the Almighty either by them and/or their parents.
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A similar phenomenon can be noticed when State elections are declared. The politicians would go on a foundation stone laying spree for infrastructural projects (without knowing if they will be elected or if the next government would have the money to implement the same), announce various schemes (feasible, non-feasible, fool-hardy, forgotten, not done in the last 5 years, etc), hold public and corner meetings and so forth. But one issue these incumbents and new entrants would do without fail (and cutting across party lines) is to visit as many religious places as possible to pray for success. They seek divine intervention with much fervour and ask God to at least help save their deposit money! Incidentally, do these people contribute in the donation boxes when they visit the places of worship?
Ironically, a majority of these politicians are the ones who create ill-feelings, mistrust and fights between people of different religious community! History is witness to the fact that whichever country had/has mixed politics and religion created a heady brew. This resulted in various forms of misery and destruction in the nation. God save us from such double-faced and forked-tongue people who are apparently God-fearing but have no remorse in fashioning rifts between the citizens.
Sridhar D’Iyer, Caranzalem
Goa welcomes tourists or the next wave?
The surging positivity rate, fear and anxiety in the minds of people, Government’s lacklustre approach in handling the pandemic is déjà vu all over again. The Government seems to have forgotten the dangerous effects of the second wave. The pretentious attitude that Goa is a safe destination and nothing can possibly go wrong by inviting hordes of tourists, organising political rallies, no restrictions on large gatherings is devoid of any logic.
It is a humble request to the Government to intervene immediately before we stare at a tsunami of COVID cases and enforce curbs and restrictions that are not a mere eyewash but measures that will be effective to control the upstick of cases.
Sheldon Rodrigues, Navelim
Conserve Chicalim Bay Heritage
Several villagers from Dabolim and Chicalim depend on selling the clams (tisreos) collected from the Vareg island at Chicalim for their livelihood. The area happens to be a rich breeding ground for clams, windowpane oysters and other species of marine life. However, it is learnt that this year the clams have not returned to their most resourceful area leaving the locals who depend on this natural resource for their livelihood in despair. It is understood that various factors and water pollution have destroyed the natural habitat of the now extinct scheduled species called windowpane oysters which is also known as the ‘mother of pearl oysters’.
The locals also need to show refrain while removing these clams and they should not remove the stones which are the natural habitat of this marine life which is unique to the Chicalim Bay.
The Chicalim Bay needs to be protected from all man-made calamities at old cost so that future generations get to know and enjoy the clams and oysters from this place which is rich with marine life. The local authorities and the village panchayat need to take necessary steps in order to conserve this rich biodiversity.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Horrendous vaccine inequity
A question to be asked is why should the world suffer the ravages of a pandemic when we now have vaccines that can act as bulwarks against the virus. We may argue that they are not 100% perfect but they do reduce the risk of severe disease and hospitalisation considerably. But the disparity in vaccine distribution globally is eye popping, on the one hand Israel is administering a second booster shot (dose number 4) to its citizens while on the other hand vast swathes of Africa go unvaxxed and fatality figures are way off the charts.
The situation becomes more lopsided when it comes to antiviral pills, there is very less chance of them finding their way to poor nations in the near future. The prevailing approach of the developed world has been an insular, non inclusive one focused on protecting only itself to the detriment of the less privileged nations. New strains of the immune dodging Omicron sweeping across the globe lends credence to the fact that no matter how rich or multiple vaxxed you are, the virus will snare you eventually; infection and mortality figures in the US and Russia bear witness to this.
It is important to axe the circulation of the virus so it gets lesser opportunity to mutate into more lethal strains. This is where vaccine equity comes in both as a humanitarian gesture and a way to gain meaningful protection for an interconnected world. All stakeholders should understand that no one is safe till everyone is safe.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Politicians switching parties before polls
Political leaders switch parties before the upcoming general elections, mostly over skirmishes concerning a party ticket. Every leader wants to get high position, not bothered which party gives them position. They just think about their welfare not country’s welfare.
A political party will not survive if it doesn’t have any policies and values. It can take birth but will not be able to sustain. That one should stick to an ideology and avoid party-switching. Politicians jump like squirrels from one tree branch to another when ship starts sinking. The Congress has lost highest number of its electoral candidates for past seven years with the BJP emerging the biggest gainer. The “most plausible” reasons behind such defections and switching of parties include absence of value-based politics, lust for money and power, strong nexus between money and muscle, reward for office, and dearth of efficient, honest and credible leaders.
Until and unless these trends are not reined in, our current electoral and political situation is bound to deteriorate further. People should be cautious while electing the politicians who are undeserved candidates and not based on party brand, the elections will be held once in five years.
KG Vilop, Chorao
Cattle on the roads
Whilst agreeing with Mathew J D’Costa’s desire for cattle to be removed from Highways I should point out that the majority of European tourists come not only to see the well publicised sights and buildings of India but also to experience the ‘real’ India – cows wandering about roads and sidestepping their trade marks. Keep cattle away from major highways yes, but in the back streets it has to be no.
Dranreb Aclos (UK)
‘Bulli Bai’ app, shameful
The uploading of photos with lewd comments of 100 influential Muslim women on the ‘Bulli Bai’ app hosted on GitHub is a shameful act. The Centre and the Delhi Police cyber cell got moving after a journalist alleged doctored pictures of her and others were being shared on the app. This comes six months after the Delhi and Noida police registered cases over uploading women photos to a similar GitHub app called ‘Sulli Deals’. The incident sparked outrage, forcing the blocking of the app.
N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru
