Recently, a 10-year-old rape survivor was detained at an all-women police station in Bulandshahr in UP. The girl had gone to the police station to register her complaint against her tormenters, all upper-caste men. The Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognizance of the incident and issued a notice to the state government.

Instead of treating the Dalits as mere vote banks or playing to the gallery by deploying women personnel at police stations to stop gender crimes, the authorities concerned should try to inculcate traits of neutrality, accountability, responsibility and humanity in its personnel. Also, the Dalits should be merged with the mainstream. If no immediate preventive steps are taken, the downtrodden section of society would continue to suffer.

KAJAL CHATTERJEE, Kolkata

JD (U) stand

This refers to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's veiled attack on Gujarat CM Narendra Modi during his speech at the National Executive meeting of the Janata Dal (United) in New Delhi. Kumar, in his 40-minute speech, attacked Modi for “showing neglect and biased approach towards minorities.” Though Nitish spoke with logical facts and showed his concern towards development, his words lose credibility as he is running government in Bihar with support of the BJP. Kumar-led NDA government in Bihar has been criticised for many wrongdoings. No one can forget the “terrorising act” of BJP legislator Ashok Agarwal and his henchmen at Bhajanpura in Araria district where four villagers were killed and nine injured. The victims are still awaiting justice.

The local police recently isssued arrest warrants against 50 villagers. Kumar was criticised by the Opposition and human right groups for his alleged biased approach towards the BJP legislator who was having close links with Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi. If Kumar and his party is really concerned about minorities, he must part way from the BJP in Bihar. Till then, indirect attacks on Modi seem nothing but a farce.

MOHD MUDASSIR ALAM, Bihar

Exam dates clash

The sudden adjournment of the date of Combine Graduate Level Examination for 2013 to be organised by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) for recruiting employees in different government departments has left the candidates a harried lot. Originally, the examination was scheduled to be held on April 14 and April 21. But due to holiday on April 14 (birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar), the SSC has postponed the April 14 examination to April 28. However, the date clashes with the examination for the recruitment of Probationary Officers in the State Bank of India. The candidates, who wanted to appear in both examinations, are now in a fix. The authorities should have taken into account the holiday factor while finalising the examination schedule.

PRABHJOT KAUR HERAN, Jagraon

Bengal on the boil

The editorial ‘Vendetta politics: Spare universities, at least’ (April 13) depicts the criminalisation of educational institutions in the country. The reason for this ugly trend is politics. The recent attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Finance Minister by CPM activists in Delhi was a shameful act. However, Mamata invited trouble for herself by not condemning the death of SFI student leader Sudipto Guha. Later, she desisted from taking any action against guilty Trinamool Congress workers who were responsible for violence at Presidency College. Mamata Banerjee, who was elected by the people of the state as their ‘Poribortan Didi’, has only disappointed them. Ever since she took over as the Chief Minister of West Bengal, she has been using force to crush the aspirations of the common man. Goons belonging to her party are ruling the roost. No action is being taken against them. The poor, however, are being targeted. If Mamata really wants to rule the state for a longer period, she should act in a responsible manner. Otherwise, her days in politics are numbered. 

RK KAPOOR, Chandigarh