M A I L B A G

Towards an egalitarian society

Apropos of Mr Santosh Kumar Singh’s article 
“Rape: time to treat the disease rather than its symptom” (Perspective, Nov 9), we will have to build an egalitarian society in order to end the menace of rape and sexual abuse. In order to give women their due, social system will have to be changed and we will have to socialise the coming generation in such a way that staying with daughters in old age may no more be treated as stigma. We should also enhance our old age security and protection system. It is only then that a female child will be welcomed in a family and our forced values will turn into real values.

The menace of eve teasing, rape and sexual abuse will not stop till we have a male dominated patriarchical society where male (in spite of being a stronger sex) has always been preferred and protected by the family. In order to establish an egalitarian society, men will have to be brought down from the high pedestal.

Meenu, Political Science Dept, R.R. Bawa DAV College, Batala 

Pampering police

Mrs Reeta Sharma’s article “Being unfair to the police” (Windows, Oct 25) has some substance in it. Taking refuge in actress Nandita Das’ argument that “the police could not be behind every woman so as to prevent crime against them”, she has built a strong case in defence of the men in uniform. There are in fact many factors responsible for the high incidence of crime against women.

Rape, the most brutal aggression against women, throws a can of shame on men’s face. According to a 1999 study, 15,468 women were raped. The number rose to 16,494 in 2000 — a jump of 6.6 per cent. Incidentally, 90 per cent rape cases go unreported, given the fear and social astracism attached with them. And of the reported cases, only 4 per cent get punishment.

Rape isn’t the only sexual crime against women. Outrage of modesty has become a serious crime that women face. Advertisements use women’s body to sell everything — from cars to soaps. TV shows women naked from head to foot. This nuisance must stop as this has an impact on social behaviour. Women’s organisations have to educate women. Delhi Police Commissioner R.S. Gupta is perhaps not wrong in saying that “crimes against women will halve if they are careful about what they wear and know their limits.” Herein lies the rub.

S. S. JAIN, Chandigarh

Worthy parents

The article “Behind every successful man, there is always a woman” by Vasantha Arora (Oct 28) testifies the power of woman as the best half of man. It has gone a long way to the credit of Supriya Jolly Jindal by virtue of whose support and encouragement Piyush Bobby Jindal has made a meteoric marvel towards succeeding to be the Governor of Lousiana. Alongside attending to her working duties as Chemical Engineer and remaining equally concerned to her daughter and further in a state of expectancy, she has been a truly devoted and tireless promoter towards the success of her husband.

What Nepolean said “You give me great mothers, I’ll give you a great nation” has really been proved true.

DR S. K. Aggarwal, Amritsar

Whiff of fresh air

Mrs Chetna Keer Banerjee’s article “Telly needed Jassi Jaisi Koi” (Spectrum, Nov 9) was like a whiff of fresh air. It was well written, conceptually and stylistically. It was particularly pleasing to me because it vents my thinking on the subject.

I. M. SONI, Chandigarh

Using Sita’s name

Apropos of Nidhi Dawesar’s “Reinterpreting the myth”, the writer does not recognise the great sacrifices made by women in there lives. Along with Sita, she should have acknowledged the role played by other women in Ramayana as also those men who fought and died to secure the life of Sita. Only then, we would be able to say how many men sacrificed their lives for one woman. What Ram and Sita did was their personal choice and nobody can follow them in their own lives today.

We know that Sita is not looked upon as a role model by today’s women and the same is true about men also whose ideal is not Ram. Only time will tell whether this trend will make or break societies. Ram and Sita belong to a period when people did not hesitate to sacrifice their lives for the promises made. So we cannot measure them by today’s standards where everyone wants his pound of flesh — man or woman — and, for them, promises are made to be broken.

Rajeev Sharma Sankhyaan, SAS Nagar

Poor cable services

Apropos of Ms Amita Malik’s “Sight and Sound” column (Windows, Oct 18), she rightly laments over the arbitrary behaviour of cable operators. Cable services in Punjab are equally bad. SITI Cable Network enjoys near monopoly in the region. Viewers pay exorbitant monthly charges in return for erratic and unreliable service. Some time back, certain important channels like Sony, NDTV, Discovery etc remained off the air in our town for nearly a month.

Small-time operators hired by the network to extend its service to different localities do not have adequate infrastructure to handle the job. Breakdowns are too often and last too long apparently because of inadequate standby power back-up. Those who complain of poor services get veiled threats of disconnection, as no option is available.

The authorities concerned should intervene to prevent fleecing of the viewers by fixing reasonable monthly charges and also ensure provision of good service by the cable operators.

WG- CDR C. L. Sehgal (retd), Jalandhar

Ups and downs

Mr Khushwant Singh, in his column “This above all” (Windows, Nov 1) says that he does not regard suicide as a crime. I agree with him, but I do not like to preach it as a sermon. Life has its ups and downs. Mr Singh takes the case of Matilda who slaps a girl who had an affair with her husband so hard that she fell on the frozen lake and was drowned. She herself did not commit suicide. She did not do so even when she discovered that her husband had an incestuous relationship with their daughter.

But a friend of mine, who was implicated in a false case and was facing a departmental inquiry, committed suicide when his beloved-turned-wife started practicing adultery with a married colleague of her after more than two decades of married life in the same house which the couple has built. But when Matilda decides to commit suicide, then there is no crisis. She does so simply because she wants to put an end to her life. But what can we learn from her example? Death is everywhere and can be easily attained. But once that has been attained, we cannot get rid of it.

DR Surendra Ajnat, Banga

Colonial hangover

Reference “On a dusty track with a man extraordinary” by Himmat Singh Gill (Books, Spectrum, Oct 19), it is intriguing that the reviewer is going ga ga over a pot-boiler whose author is so starkly ignorant about Indian histroy as to assert that the Mahabharata was written circa 1157 A.D. The book is marked by utter perversity but the ex-Army officer feels that it “should be an eye-opener for our bureaucracy today”. For the reasons he has to assiduously kept to himself. One feels that the encomium that has been showered upon the book is typical of a Brown Sahib’s revenge for his White predecessors. One rues the fact that many of us, especially the servants of the Raj, are still suffering from the nostalgia of the colonial days.

Hhaman Lal Korpal, Amritsar