Triumph of good

Let us not make Diwali a carnage of lighting fireworks and crackers, wherein some celebrate it as a festival of noise and others suffer the consequences. We should celebrate it as the triumph of good over evil by decorating our places with eco-friendly earthen lamps rather than by noise, pollution and mishaps. We must exchange good moments on the occasion and refrain from making the festival a tool for hidden corruption.

Harpreet Sandhu, Ludhiana

Mischievous meal

The ticket I booked for Kolkata and back from Delhi mentioned ‘Meal request — Moslem meal’. I was shocked. This kind of entry was banned by the government decades ago as it is a British legacy. It was substituted by ‘ vegetarian’ and ‘non-vegetarian’ meals. Giving a communal tinge by calling a non-vegetarian meal as ‘Moslem meal’ is mischievous and unacceptable.

Rajindar Sachar, New Delhi

True love

We often read reports about the incidents following failure in love. The jilted lover — one who pretends to be the true lover — becomes a threat to his/her beloved’s life. Is this true love? True love is when you give everything without any desire.

Sanjeev Kumar (NSPS), via email

Ferozepur-UT train

Leaders of Ferozepur made loud claims by placing big hoardings in the city in July over their role in getting a new express train on the Ferozepur-Chandigarh route announced. But the issue has been hanging fire since then. The new train would be a big relief to the common man visiting Chandigarh from Ferozepur as its general fare would be lesser than of a bus.

The delay in starting this much-needed train is giving huge benefits to private transport companies owned by leaders of the ruling party in Punjab. The dream of the residents who had been hoping that the train would be on track soon has been shattered. Why was this train proposed by the Union Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda if he do not want to start it?

Amit Sachdeva, Ferozepur

Kashmiri Pandits

Prime Minister Modi's initiative regarding the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits is welcome. After their forcible exodus from the Valley in 1990, a majority of the Pandits opted to stay in the Jammu province, hoping to return to the Valley once normalcy returned. The rest moved to other states. During the intervening period, fundamentalist forces in connivance with leaders and administrators grabbed the occasion and forcibly occupied properties owned by KPs. The KPs wanted a roof over their heads. They were compelled to dispose of properties in distress sales at throwaway prices.

In the past more than two decades, KPs got split further into smaller families. Children preferred to settle down in their adopted states while their ailing and old parents were left alone to their fate. Under these circumstances, question arises, whether a KP should think of returning to the land of his forefathers, where a hostile environment, harsh winter conditions, solitary confinement, zero job opportunities and the nick name "Daali Batta", unheard after migration, awaits him.

If the government wishes to provide succour to the KPs, it should provide a financial package for each KP family that migrated wherever they are based. Only this can apply a healing touch to their wounds and enable them to make good their losses as a result of their forcible exodus from the Valley.

MK Koul, Ambala Cantt

Race walking champ

This is with reference to a photograph on front page with the caption “Khushbir Kaur, an Amritsar girl, became the first Indian woman to win a medal in race walking in the Asian Games” (September 29). Khushbir Kaur’s achievement at the international sporting event is magnificent. She has become the first Indian woman to win a medal in race walking in the Asian Games. The Punjab Chief Minister should encourage her by allotting her a plot free of cost, just as he did for Asian long distance king Hari Chand and cricketer Harbhajan Singh.

Narinder Singh, Chandigarh