Passive euthanasia

The editorial “A landmark verdict: SC allows passive euthanasia” (Mar 8) raised a matter of grave concern. The letter (Mar 17) too made one ponder over the issue. There have been people like Mother Teresa who saw the suffering, and helped them. They didn’t shoot a person to bring him or her out of misery.

Pope John Paul II once said “Euthanasia is a grave violation of the law of God, since it is the deliberate and morally unacceptable killing of a human person”. It can be dubbed as “a crime that no human law can claim to legitimise”. Human life has dignity at every age; the taking of human life is always wrong.

I believe our nation must reject euthanasia. We must encourage new efforts to assist patients approaching the end of life to cope with their pain through medical, psychological, and social means. I have deep sympathy for those who are suffering but I am committed to the fundamental belief that the killing of another person  is wrong.

MANINDER SINGH BADRAIN, Chandigarh

II

There has been a debate in all the democratic countries on whether to allow euthanasia or not. The common people are against allowing euthanasia even in the cases of terminal illness. God creates life and no human being is allowed to terminate it, is the general feeling.  This controversy is also going on in Australia.

Dr AMAR JIT SINGH GORAYA,   Griffith, NSW Australia

Indian wedding

The middle, “Our wedding present”(Mar 17) by Trilochan Singh Trewn, reminded me of the dilemma of attending marriage parties. One never feels comfortable at marriage ceremonies, where every female is out to showcase the best jewellery in her possession and every male is out to flaunt his newly acquired trendy suit. Rather than concentrating on the “saat pheras” the rounds that the bride and groom take around sacred fire, people gorge on the delicacies on offer. After hip hopping on the dance floor till late night to the tunes of latest film hits, everybody is in a hurry to leave the venue to rest for the night.

The actual marriage ceremony which takes place in the wee hours of the morning is attended by only a handful of otherwise dozing relatives. I think the grand Indian marriages are nothing more than a crass show of wealth and wastage of resources.

Marriage is a sacred bond between two human beings and should be solemnised in an appropriate fashion rather than going berserk in spending money.

BHUSHAN CHANDER JINDAL, Jalandhar

Mysterious deaths

The sudden death of Sadhick Batcha, who was a close confidant of former  Union Telecom Minister A. Raja who is facing a CBI probe in the infamous 2G spectrum scam, is certainly baffling (editorial, “Unravel the mystery: Batcha’s death a blow to 2G probe”, Mar 18). It has been alleged that Batcha committed suicide. The medical report says that he died due to asphyxia, which raises doubts about the suicide theory.

Surely, there seems to be something wrong, here. I agree with the editorial’s observation: “Of late, mysterious deaths of key witnesses and suspects have become a major problem in the country.”

Surely, due to the absence of any law to protect witnesses/suspects/whistleblowers of scams, the criminal justice system has failed to solve this problem. The editorial has rightly observed that many innocent persons have been done to death to conceal the ugly truths of the scamsters. There should be some way to nab such culprits. Where the written laws fail to deliver the goods, conventional laws must be applied to unmask the culprits. That’s the best way to solve such “mysteries”.

R K KAPOOR, Chandigarh

Monitor TV

To the editorial “Checks and balances: Independent TV regulator needed” (Mar 17), I would say that our modern society is a paradox. Everybody blames television for violence and sex. The present trend of TV serials in India, that depicts anything but reality is uncalled for. The need of the hour is non-fiction scripts. 

The question is not whether television is good or bad, but which programme is good or bad. We have to learn how to choose them as television plays a significant role in one’s life. Television itself is not a bad thing. The way we use it, however, can be damaging. We do need to be careful about the place we give television in our daily life. 

The National News Broadcasters Association (NBA) needs to be strengthened. News channels and the TV entertainment industry has to be regulated. They must produce programmes which can be viewed by all the family members.