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Speaker at ruling party’s beck & call

This is with reference to the news in your newspaper of January 15 that the Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha will fix the responsibility for screening of the Majithia clip at Maghi Mela.

This is strange on the part of Speaker S Charanjit Singh Atwal. According to him he had not heard neither Rana Gurjit Singh nor Bikram Majithia hurling expletives at each other. Then how is he correct in saying that he, being a Speaker, has to present the resolution before the House for the suspension of Rana Gurjit Singh on the advice of treasury benches. This means he will do whatever the ruling party will demand without taking his own morality and responsibility into account. He should have taken suo motu action against both members.

It seems that all Speakers in the country of respective Assemblies and Parishads decide on the advice of ruling parties. I have not seen a single case where the Speaker has gone with the opposition. This means that all elected representatives sitting in the opposition adopt a nonfunctional attitude. Actually the Speaker should not be an elected member of the House but should be appointed by the Chief Justice of the high courts in the case of Assemblies and of the Supreme Court in the case of Lok Sabha, having a full knowledge of Indian laws.

Arun Kumar Gupta, Amritsar

Birth of terrorism

People of India had been fighting for freedom and when in 1947 Independence was attained, the people who were in the forefront had divided the country into two parts. During the Partition, lakhs of people were killed and crores were forced to flee from their homes. They migrated to other places where they were total strangers. The killings continued even after 1947 and the aftereffects of Partition continued to be felt. The Kashmir problem still haunts us and because of Partition, we saw the birth of terrorism and riots and if we count killings after 1947, at least five lakh people may have been killed. But since politicians were in the wrong, they fudged these figures and even historians have been asked not to record all these killings.

The people, who were responsible for all these killings, say India got freedom peacefully without any bloodshed.

We must accept that the governments could not give the people what was their right. The people are still illiterate, untrained, unemployed, are working on low wages and, therefore, they are poor despite all promises made to them.

Dalip Singh Wasan, Patiala

II

The beheading of an Indian soldier and killing of another was a barbaric act, an act which can never be pardoned. This was a cowardly action perpetrated by someone living in a medieval age. We must condemn it strongly and see to it that the perpetrators are given exemplary punishment. We salute our soldiers who are guarding our borders under harsh and inhospitable conditions, facing such inhumane enemies.

Dr Gaurav Sharma, Palampur

III

At last Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has warned Pakistan on the issue related to the barbaric act by Pakistan. Such a reaction from the government, we presume, has come after much discontent and uproar in the country. Retaliation is imperative at this juncture; otherwise it will tell heavily upon the morale of our Army that is out to dedicate itself to ensure our security and because of whom we can enjoy a peaceful sleep at night. The Prime minister is right in saying that it will not be business as usual with Pakistan. Rather ties with the neighbouring country should be totally cut off.

Ishmit Oberoi, Ludhiana

Ground water crisis

Apropos the editorial in the Tribune, ‘Deepening water crises’ (January 14), it is indeed in the interest of every Punjabi that Punjab be saved from turning into barren land. The ground water in Punjab has been receding fast. Its unscientific use has resulted from adoption of wrong crop patterns.

You have rightly remarked that vote-bank politics has harmed the long- term interests of Punjab. No political party wants to annoy the strong farming community of Punjab. They don’t even gather the courage to persuade the farmers to shift to those crops, which consume less water. Paddy consumes lots of water. Farmers should be educated that this region is not fit for paddy.

Industry should also be educated to install adequate water-treatment plants, so that waste water could be properly treated before putting it into sewerage etc. It is not only power, nothing should be given free of cost to any section of society. Everyone should pay for what he/she avails. Power is generated at the cost of immense loss of money, time and sometimes lives.

Arvind Dhumal, Jalandhar