II

The editorial, “Thank you, Mr Burney: Sailors’ rescue a PR coup by Pakistan” (June 27), was an appropriate one. It rightly says, “Pakistan has pulled off a public relations coup and upstaged the Indian Government at every step” in the operations of rescuing sailors held hostage for 10 months by Somali pirates. While Ansar Burney Welfare Trust raised a whopping Rs 11 crore for ransom to secure the release of hostages, including six Indians, no Indian billionaire paid a paisa, and our politicians and bureaucrats, NGOs, the Navy, and the states from which the sailors hailed, did nothing to say the least. As per reports, even the PM expressed helplessness when the family members and relatives of the captive sailors had called on him for help. I salute human rights activist Ansar Burney. People like him are God in flesh and blood. The milk of human kindness in them transcends boundaries, nationalities and religions. Mankind is their religion.

JASWANT SINGH GANDAM Phagwara

Indian women

This refers to the article, “Successful, yet scared” (June 27) by Rajshree Sarda. India is one of the few countries where women enjoy a comparatively better status than their counterparts in other parts of the world.

Even then Indian women have to face many problems and are subjected to the same social pressures which women experience in other parts of the world. But their situation is much better than what it used to be in the pre-independence era. While Indian women have progressed in every aspect of modern life, they are still a victim of social injustice.

But it is difficult to generalize about the situation of women in India due to the heterogeneous nature of Indian society. Indian women have overcome many obstacles to taste success. Now we have a lady as the President. Earlier, we had a lady as the country’s Prime Minister. However, it is a pity that the condition of women in general has not improved much. The situation is almost the same in both rural and urban areas. Pt Nehru once rightly said that by merely looking at the condition of women, one could figure out the growth of the nation.

It is a fact that most women end up in life as homemakers. But these days working women not only manage their own expenses but also look after the economic needs of the family.

Now they often participate in discussions at workplace, where their views are also given equal importance. In other words, Indian women are passing through a transitional phase.

HARISH K MONGA, Ferozepur

Save marriage

The article, “Divorce by mutual consent” (June 25) by Virendra Kumar, was timely. It is unfortunate that the divorce graph in India is going up day by day.

Though there are legal provisions to deal with matrimonial disputes, these are perhaps the toughest for the courts to deal with.

Marriage is a sacred relationship that survives on mutual trust and understanding, which are a rarity these days. There was a time when divorce was unthinkable in a Hindu family. But now it is permissible.

Law allows divorce by mutual consent, but it is meaningless unless the court is completely satisfied because its intent is not to facilitate the dissolution of marriage. The core concern of courts should be to save marriage and not to hasten its dissolution. 

ANJUDEEPAK ANAND, Solan