L E T T E R S    T O    T H E    E D I T O R

Kashmiri girl’s saga exposes police brutality

The editorial “Kashmir girl’s sad saga” (June 1) exposes the progressively growing police brutalities across India, especially against women. This incident where ‘Brutes in Khaki’ in a bid to extract some money acted abominably even after the girl made them talk to her father, has shocked the nation and raised an important question. What does one call a state where children are treated like criminals by their own police? Are we citizens or subjects?

Recent incidents only show the extent to which the police force has been brutalised, putting a question mark on the hollow claims of the government to provide people-friendly governance, build police public relationship and confidence. The question is who will police the police? Is there a political will to improve things? I think the police should be more accountable. Mere suspension of the policemen involved in the incident or registration of the case against them is just an eyewash.

Dr VITULL K GUPTA, Bathinda

II

It’s so sad that life of a young promising woman was wasted because of the foolishness of our corrupt cops. They have ruined a young life and should be terminated from their jobs and arrested for abetting suicide.

The question that arises is why they were forcing the girl to come to the police station although there is no mention of any police reports. It’s the duty of their supervisors to make sure these culprits do not get away with this.

VINOD NARANG, Fairfax, USA

Police uniform

The news report “Sikh high priests want traditional turban for cops” (May 31) by Perneet Singh may start a discussion about the secular credentials of the police and security forces. The uniform for ceremonial occasions and normal working time has been prescribed. A person in uniform should look smart and simultaneously be agile.

If any changes are required, these should be decided by the officials concerned. Otherwise uniforms may have to be changed with the change of regime. Uniforms and weapons should be synchronised with the call of duty.

SHARDA BHARGAV, Jalandhar

Fine middles

The middle “Ride to eternity” (May 21) by Ashok Kumar Yadav was interesting. It underlined how women empowerment is taking place in rural Haryana and elsewhere. The use of metaphors and similes and its juxtaposition with the famous poet Robert Browning was superb. I hope The Tribune would continue such uncanny selection of middles to make the newspaper the very best.

BHARAT HITESHI, Panchkula 

Lokpal Bill

The editorial “Back to the streets” (June1) lays bare the true state of peoples’ mind. Why are politicians getting squeamish about the draft proposals of the Lokpal Bill as given by the civil society representatives? The proposal of ministers to consult states and political parties and advising people for patience at this stage is nothing but a ham-handed attempt to pull the wool over peoples’ eyes. For over 60 years people have tolerated politicians looting public money, being allowed to contest elections despite facing criminal charges and in some cases defying Supreme Court directions for fair investigation. Aam admi has manifestly tolerated a system that lacks transparency, accountability and responsibility.

Pranab Mukherjee and his colleagues in the drafting committee should take a lesson from the fate of the Left parties in Bengal and DMK in Tamil Nadu. Irrespective of political allegiance if politicians continue to create hurdles in drafting of a strong Lokpal Bill, peoples’ angst will turn against them. The civil society members should not buckle under the machinations of politicians in the drafting committee.

K B RALHAN, Palampur

Grant clemency

Once again the issue of clemency of Devender Pal Singh Bhullar has attracted divergent political views. Major focus of political leaders is on fattening the vote banks in coming elections in Punjab. Undoubtedly the death sentence will not serve the purpose as it would be violation of human rights.

Many may argue that what about the human rights of those who died in attacks? But an educated youth who has gone astray during militancy should be granted mercy, especially when he has been languishing in jail since 2001 waiting for the decision on his petition. Bhullar’s death sentence should be commuted to life imprisonment.

AMRATPAL KAUR, via email

Food wastage To the editorial “Tackling food wastage” (May 28) I would like to add that there are two major crops, paddy and wheat, in India. While the paddy crop is taken care of by private shellers, the wheat crop is left at the mercy of government agencies to be stored in open warehouses. The best way to save grains is to store the products by encouraging the farmers to store the farm produce with them, and bring it in the market throughout the year. The government should enhance the procurement period from 1-2 months to 6-8 months. The purchase price should be enhanced every month so that farmers are tempted to hold and sell their products at higher price at later stage instead of rushing to sell soon after the harvest of crop. The farmers should be given subsidies to build silos for storage of their crop like in the US. By taking these steps, grains can be stored and saved for the whole year. The much-needed funds for procurement, trucks for transportation, labour, storage, etc can be distributed evenly throughout the year. JASSI RANDHAWA, Bethlehem PA, USA