Work for the safety of our children
Due to the Pandemic, everywhere classes are held online for school children and college students. Even Class X and XII important board exams were not taken but children were passed on basis of online assignment and exams. Our Goa government is showing off that they completed their full vaccination but what about our young children under 18 yrs? Aren’t they the future and entitled for a vaccination or a booster dose?
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Our young children have a long way to go. And as a mother of a young teenager girl it is a plea or a request on behalf of all the parents whose children are under 18 yrs that our health department and our government should do something for our children.
Children are the future. Let’s do something for them so that they may feel safe and strong.
Anita Fernandes, Verna
Nirbhaya-2, in Mumbai
A 34-year-old woman who had been raped and brutalised with a rod and also stabbed with a knife inside a stationary tempo in Mumbai reportedly died at a hospital during treatment as she had lost a lot of blood. The crime bore a chilling similarity to the 2012 ‘Nirbhaya’ gang-rape case of Delhi. It is learnt that the accused who worked as a driver lived on the pavement in the same area. This raises a serious question as to whether women are really safe in metropolitan cities like Mumbai.
The trial in the case needs to be fast tracked so that the victim who succumbed to the injuries gets justice. The opposition party in Maharashtra has demanded capital punishment for the accused. Molestation and rape of women has been occurring at an alarming frequency in the country. The State of Goa too witnessed the death of women under mysterious conditions including some foreign nationals. Women need to live in a safe environment. Men moving about in a suspicious manner during the night need to be questioned by the police on the beat. Quick trial in the rape cases leading to capital punishment will serve as a deterrent to such crimes against women.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Rape cases: This too needs attention!
The incidence of rape is always higher than the incidence and punishment of rape. This shows that the culprits have no fear. The convict has to go to jail for rape. There have been incidents of the same victim being raped by the same criminal again after he came out of jail. Strict punishment will prevent these incidents somewhere. News of rape comes in the reading. Reports of severe punishment are very rare. It is often read that a person is punished after a few years of committing a crime. Until then, there have been several incidents of rape.
Second, pornography abounds on the Internet. The recent OTT platform has added a lot to that. This place is full of pornographic bays. The annual subscription earns money from the audience. Society is obsessed with pornography. How can this truth be denied? What will those who are influenced by such thoughts do? Needless to say. Only those who have taken the wrong path are promoting pornography. This is as true as sunlight.
This has serious consequences for women who have nothing to do with it. For this, the women’s section of all political parties should unite to stop pornography on the Internet and see how the citizens of the society can participate in it.
Jayesh Rane, Mumbai
Charters should fly to save tourism
Tourists are giving India a wide berth over Covid fears and travel hassles as a result of which matters in Goa have come to head. With the Centre procrastinating on the appeal by the State’s tourism stakeholders for air bubble arrangements with select nations, many Russian and British charters which constitute @ 70% of the arrivals in Goa are taking their custom to Egypt, Morocco, Kenya and Dubai which are open for business. There is absolutely no indication as to when India shall lift the ban on regular international commercial flights.
Many inland aviation, restaurant and hotel businesses which purely relied on this cost conscious segment of tourists have taken a massive hit and continue to remain shuttered.
Other nations have employed innovative methods to dispel Covid fears among potential travellers and have met with some degree of success in attracting footfalls which has shored up their virus battered economies. The Centre should open up chartered flights for fully vaccinated tourists with all safety protocols in place, an over cautious approach or plain dilly dallying would further impact the livelihoods of many.
It is pertinent to note that tourism contributes @ 40% to Goa’s GDP and is an important engine of growth ,many would completely forget our state as a viable tourist destination if things continue to be in limbo this way ; as they say…’out of sight ( flight) is out of mind.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Gujarat surprise
Vijay Rupani’s resignation as Gujarat chief minister was quite surprising for the unversed. Gujarat goes to polls in little over a year, and it was believed Rupani would continue till then. The party high command ostensibly had different ideas. Rupani has stepped down graciously; his face bore no signs of agitation or confusion as he spoke to the press on Saturday. It is clear he knew what was coming and, like a loyal BJP worker, he quit.
It is said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not confident of the BJP doing well in the Gujarat assembly elections under Rupani’s leadership. Not having his own mass base meant Rupani was on the back foot with elections not very far away. Caste factor the former chief minister belonged to the Jain community that has a minuscule presence in Gujarat may have propelled the party top brass to think on the lines of replacing Rupani with a leader of a strong community in the State.
And it was Bhupendra Patel, belonging to the Patidar community, who got the high command’s nod. Perhaps a good performance to show as the chief minister could have saved the day for him. But his record as the State’s top executive, by all accounts, was less-than-satisfactory to say the least. It has widely been reported in sections of the press that the Covid-19 cases in Gujarat were under reported. Supreme Court guidelines on fire safety in Covid hospitals were set to be overturned through an ordinance, and the court did not hide its displeasure over the government’s move.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
Protecting environment through matolis
This has reference to the report ‘Stressing need to protect Environment via matolis’ (Herald, September 13). This is indeed a good concept in order to create awareness of the dire need for protecting the environment. Yes Goa among several other States, is witnessing widespread opposition to several projects which involve cutting down large areas of forest cover.
The general public needs to be aware of the consequences of destroying Nature. And what better way to create awareness than by setting up what they call, Matolis, using variety of fresh fruits and vegetables? And what better time than the ongoing Ganesh festival in which fruits and vegetables have a special significance?
Hats off to those artists who have taken this initiative. These and other related steps need to be replicated at other locations to stress the importance of nurturing and saving our planet Earth.
Melville X D’Souza, Mumbai
