Need to condemn bigamists

THIS refers to the article ‘The ugly face of bigamy’ written by Reeta Sharma (February 6).

Despite the fact that bigamy was banned by the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the law is being flouted with impunity. The number of defaulters is indeed increasing and it should be checked by enforcing the law stringently. No culprit should be allowed to get away scot-free. Bigamists are shameless creatures who have no fear of society and God. They stifle the voice of their conscience. They are morally dead. Such a depraved person who is not truthful and sincere to his legally wedded life, cannot be loyal to any one. Such persons die every moment of their lives. The hapless legal wife remains sad and helpless. She becomes a victim of dehumanised society. There is need to change the system altogether and persons indulging in bigamy should be exposed, condemned and ostracised. Social welfare organisations should come forward to help innocent victims. At the same time women should also be bold enough to step out and knock at the doors of justice. Another problem of gigantic nature is of illegitimate children. For no fault of theirs, these children are stigmatised. What social and moral values can their parents impart to them is another story altogether.

RISHAM
Rajpura

Never say die

Apropos of the article "Never Say Die" by Taru Bahl (January 23) and rejoinders in the Mail Box (February 6) indeed is a matter of grave concern for us all that suicide rate is on the increase in our society. It is quite easy for most people to sit in judgment of those who are bogged down by pressures of life, and then readily condemn them as weaklings. Their attempted suicide is taken as a sign of cowardice. Is it not enough that much ignominy and ridicule is strewn their way by an uncaring and insensitive society, that the state, too must add misery to the heap of their problems, by punishing them if they fortunately or unfortunately fail to achieve deliverance? What can one say of such a society that fails to provide its members enough care and sufficient buffer that they reach a point of no return?

During my student days at Cambridge University, England, my association with a German colleague, who was driven by work and peer pressure into attempting suicide, left me wondering about the apathy of our own society and system towards survivors of attempted suicides. This young man was fished out of the local frozen Cam river, just in time to save his life. En route to the university hospital, where my friend was recovering, I asked my tutor as to the position of the boy vis-a-vis the law in England. I wondered whether criminal proceedings would be initiated against him, as is the case in India. That my tutor was shocked to learn of this utterly irresponsible and insensitive attitude of the authorities, would be a gross understatement. He was astounded to know that instead of showing compassion and understanding to the unfortunate person, he is on the contrary, punished, especially tortured mentally, for accidentally failing in his attempt to die.

Isn’t it repugnant that any society can remain so insensitive and course that first it makes a person so miserable that he is driven against the wall, then it keeps hurling appalling atrocities upon him till his misery spills beyond the pail. From what I understand the law in our country reacts in a lop-sided manner if a person manages to survive the attempt at suicide. In fact, often our society, by its antiquated laws specialises at compounding people’s list of miseries. In general, it shows pity. Whereas what is required in such cases is compassion, sympathy, understanding and whole-hearted support. There can be much peace of mind in endeavouring to alleviate others’ miseries rather than compounding them.

Last, but certainly not the least, I strongly favour euthanasia. Debatable, as the subject may be, I feel that under certain special circumstances like terminal illness, the right and the freedom to let go of life, willingly and with dignity should be left to the judgement of the person concerned.

VIVEK KHANNA
Panchkula

Remembering Kairon

In the write-up "Remembering Partap Singh Kairon" (February 6), writer Joginder Singh Bedi has not mentioned the significant role of Kairon in the freedom struggle of the country.

Kairon remained in British jails for eight years for the cause of country’s Freedom Movement. Besides being a great freedom fighter, Kairon was an able ‘administrator’.

The government should release a postage stamp in honour of Kairon. The 100th birth anniversary of Kairon which will fall in the year 2001 should be celebrated in a befitting manner.

NARINDER SINGH
Chandigarh

Metro under siege

Apropos of Rashmi Chugh’s write-up "Metro under siege" (January 30), the rising crime graph is not confined to the Capital as highlighted by the author; crime in India is on the increase. Fear of crime and violence has affected the quality of life. Hardly a day pass without the print media giving gory details of crime stories. We have become insensitive to violence and crime against fellow citizens. An atmosphere of helplessness prevails.

We have not become a country of criminals overnight. This is the cumulative result of the politician-criminal nexus since Independence, erosion of authority and inability of the police to devote time to crime work and, lastly and most importantly, the apathy of the citizens to the crime situation and their failure to take the minimum safeguards to protect their own interests. Crime prevention is not a problem of the police alone but of the entire society.

For crime prevention and detection, there should be a well-organised criminal intelligence system. The judicial sit-up should be pro-people and must usher in a crime-free society.

Vigilance is the price of liberty. By the same token, only vigilant and pro-active citizens can save society from crime. Schemes like community policing and neighbourhood watch can be implemented successfully with the cooperation of enlightened citizens and supplemented by the benign police administration. When any criminal activity like drug-peddling eve-teasing and loitering is noted in the locality, the residents association should promptly bring them to the notice of senior police officers, and take collective action to drive out the evil from the locality.

Crime can be controlled, if not completely eradicated, if citizens give a helping hand to the police. Several precautionary measures can be taken with little effort and at a low cost. A crime-free environment enables society to blossom to its full capabilities. Let us all come together to combat the crime menace.

K.M. VASHISHT
Mansa

300 years of Khalsa

Apropos of Himmat Singh Gill’s write-up "300 years of the Khalsa: Let us journey within" (February 13), it is really unfortunate that the Khalsa Panth, founded on the basic virtues of discipline and self-sacrifice, should be dominated by rank opportunism and personal ambitions. The past glory of the Khalsa Panth stands fractured and forlorn in the face of an open conflict of supremacy between the SGPC and the Akali Dal.

The Akali Dal under the influence of the pseudo-intellectuals and greedy opportunists has devoted more attention to unprincipled self-aggrandisement of politicians than the burning problems of the state like river-waters issue and economic growth. Instead of ensuring a better social and economic growth to the people of the state, the political leaders have been working for their vested personal interests. On the otherside, the SGPC’s sole responsibility was to provide a spiritual guidance through socio-cultural awakening. But the SGPC, of late, has become more inclined towards politics and has tried to overshadow the political functioning of the state and the Akali Dal.

VED GULIANI
Hisar

Cultural invasion

This refers to the Chandigarh heartbeat feature "when she proposes and he accepts" by Kulminder Sandhu (January 30). The writer has stated as to how young girls in Chandigarh now chase the boys they want to be seen with. The writer has, however, not tried to trace the reasons behind this phenomenon.

In my view, the satellite TV is mainly responsible for bringing about such a revolutionary change in the Indian society. For the past few years, Indian drawingrooms are being bombarded with TV programmes depicting western culture. Young girls and boys have obviously been drawing inspiration from these programmes to break the barriers inherent in the age-old Indian civilisation. The celebration of Valentine’s Day in several Indian cities is yet another instance of the cultural invasion from the skies.

SURENDRA MIGLANI
Kaithal