M A I L B A G

Punjab Dalits’ conversions

According to press reports, Punjab Dalits are converting to Christianity. These reports have Akali leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa so worried that he has demanded that the Punjab Assembly pass a Bill to prevent conversions.

During the days of the British Raj, missionaries could hope for official sympathy if not outright encouragement, but even then they were never very effective and today Punjab Christians number less than 2 per cent. It would take a wave of conversions numbering in lakhs to bring the Christian share of Punjab’s population to even 3 per cent. Border districts or not, the conversion wave looks very much like a tempest in a teacup. Christianity is of course something of a new “devil” when it comes to Punjab; traditionally, politico-religious rabble-rousers have always ranted over the specter of Islam. This “hauwa” has been a long-time favourite of Hindu fundamentalists and Delhi. The real specter for this combine of interests is unity of all religious persuasions in Punjab, which would put paid to the politics of divide and rule.

When it comes to the percentage of the Dalit population in Punjab, the figure is a very healthy 28 per cent and growing. Clearly, they are a group any political party would want to woo and win. Up to now, more than half of the Dalit vote has been going to the Congress, somewhat less going to the Akalis and a smaller fraction going to the Bahujan Samaj Party. The BJP would certainly like to attract these voters, but it has been strongly identified with the upper castes. This applies even more strongly to the BJP’s allied organisations, the VHP and the RSS. Is there any way the BJP could make a credible appeal to Dalits?

And what about Mr Dhindsa’s hand-wringing over conversions? Could there be a more low-cost expression of care for the Dalits than the loud distress over their religious preferences? It’s so much cheaper than actively working to raise standards of health, literacy, empowerment and political participation.

— INDERJIT SINGH JAIJEE, CHANDIGARH

Air pollution

Air pollution should be a cause of great concern to all residents of Punjab whether living in cities, towns or villages. Industrial smoke, unchecked felling of trees and burning of residual straw of crops like wheat and paddy strike a severe blow to the already fragile environment.

To add to the existing level of pollutants in the air, roads are denuded of a tree cover due to a state-wide widening exercise. Government agencies are doing pretty little to salvage the damage.

Hence there is a need to involve panchayats to resurrect the age old tradition of having ‘birs” (jungle) on existing panchayat lands and shamlats (common land). NGOs must come forward to undertake plantation of trees on a war-footing in cities and along the water channels. You can take a cue from the Army as to how they have made the cantonments green and clean.

— COL KULDIP SINGH GREWAL (RETD), PATIALA

Private PF trusts

Provident fund is a very hard saving of an employee’s whole life and only source of his income in old age which keeps his prestige and self-respect intact. Hence he wishes to keep this amount in the safest hands so he may withdraw this amount well in time without facing any obstacle and delay. So from this angle, retention of this amount with the government’s Provident Fund Department is deemed safest because, first, this is backed by the government’s guarantee and second, this amount is used for the balanced development of a country.

But a large number of industrial and educational bodies have formed their own P.F. Trusts by procuring exemption from the government on the pretext of providing expeditious and efficient services to its employees. But in fact these bodies are causing an enormous loss to the nation as well to employees. These trusts utilise the accumulations for their selfish motives. Sometime they grab the employees’ as well as their own share. Second, these bodies compel their employees to have endless rounds of their offices to get the refund and even sometimes this amount is paid in instalments or totally denied. Will someone please solve this serious problem?

— SUBHASH SHARMA, CHHEHRTTA

DA payment awaited

The poll personnel from Punjab sent for the conduct of assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir have received payment in two instalments but the D.A. amount has not been disbursed.

— RAKESH KISHAN, NAKODAR

Where is my country?

Apropos Mrs Kiran Bedi’s write-up “where is my country?”, many of us are routinely confronted with this question. Mrs Bedi’s contention that “I neither hear my country nor see it projected in any complimentary way that makes me feel comfortable or proud of” aptly describes the general sentiment of any proud Indian in a foreign and.

Not to talk of the USA, shabby treatment that is routinely meted out to fellow Indian expatriate even in small under-developed countries is a matter of shame. Highly paid embassy officials are hard to come by to help the desperate Indians stuck in unfamiliar situations in a foreign land. When we do not have respect and compassion for our own kind, how and why should we expect the same from others?

The foreign Press may gleefully project only our failings in a big way, but what prevents our print media, radio and TV channels to highlight our remarkable achievements as a body in various fields, within the country and outside as well?

— DINESH SAPRU, SOLAN

NCERT books

Through the columns of your esteemed newspaper, I want to draw the attention of the authorities regarding the unavailability of NCERT books. The NCERT revised the syllabi of most of the subjects pertaining to the middle, secondary and senior secondary classes in Jan, 2002. But the new editions of these books are still not available in the market even after one year of the revision.

— VIPIN SEHGAL, LADWA

Too many ministers

It is pleasing that M.K. Bhargava from Panchkula has taken up this sensitive issue which involves just a few lakhs of rupees on advertisements. If we go a little ahead and see how the Chief Minister of a state, while framing his ministry, includes dozens of ministers with facilities like free bungalow, conveyance, telephones, free water, electricity, personal staff, bodyguards, to each minister and what not! There is no end to this. After a few months, more ministers are included in the ministry.

Where does this money come from? Has any intellectual from the state ever taken up this issue in the print media? If we compare the whole episode with the ministry of Punjab before partition of the country when the Unionist government of Punjab under the Chief Ministership of Sir Sikander Hayat Khan had only six ministers and his administration was run by them very efficiently.

Now the same area has been divided into four states (Pakistani Punjab, Indian Punjab, Haryana and Himachal). Every state has a Chief Minister with dozens of ministers. Have we become so inefficient that we can’t run a state with five or six ministers and save public money.

— M.L. BAJAJ, KURUKSHETRA

Time for action

India is facing a naked aggression on two fronts. In the west, we face an open aggression in Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistani-sponsored militants having links with Islamic terrorist-organisations. There is a grave threat and a clear danger to this nation. It would be wrong to say that we are facing a proxy war. This is the real war. Unless we arise and awake from our slumber the day is not far off when this nation will be torn apart by the invading forces. Why can’t India take proactive action against crossborder terrorism which we have been facing from Pakistan for decades? We expect from our leaders concrete and result-oriented action and not rhetoric.

— VIKRAM RAJKHOWA, NEW DELHI