No longer fringe

The fringe has now become the mainstream and a part of the government too, therefore it is hard to think that the advice of the writer to ‘Stop the bulldozers’ is going to be heeded, much less accepted. The frenzy surrounding the razing of many structures in a predominantly Muslim area is unwarranted and raises serious questions over the actions of the civic body. It is not only the lunatic fringe, but others too are happy at the turn of events, as they see it as some kind of retribution for past injustices. There are many Hindutva warriors and influencers going around preaching that this is the way ahead for all ‘right-thinking’ Hindus.

ANTHONY HENRIQUES, MUMBAI

Hasty govt action

Apropos of ‘Stop the bulldozers’, bulldozing houses of those who were allegedly involved in the riots amounts to settling scores for reasons purely extraneous and are no way related to those of illegal structures. The due course of law must be followed. It is cruel, revengeful and most unbecoming of an elected government. Such thoughtless and hasty deeds lead to chaos in society. A civilised democratic society can ill afford such ugly incidents. 

RAMESH GUPTA, NARWANA

Stink of injustice 

The article ‘Stop the bulldozers’ is a sad commentary on the administrative heft at display in Jahangirpuri. There may be encroachers in the area, but there exists a system to deal with such encroachments. Brazen action, that too on sensitive religious occasions, invites communal conflagration. It is correct that such religious celebrations, not heard or seen in the past, have suddenly emerged to assert majoritarianism. All law-abiding Muslims are our brothers and they have the right to live in this country as citizens.

LR Sharma, Sundernagar 

Encroachments must go

Reference to ‘SC halts Jahangirpuri demolition drive’; Jamiat has no locus standi to file the plea. Why no affected individual has come forward? Shouldn’t the Supreme Court have refused to entertain it and asked it to approach the HC? The matter gives rise to many questions that need to be answered. Removal of encroachments are long overdue. That it happened after the communal riots is a coincidence. Also, both Hindus and Muslims were victims of demolitions. 

WG CDR CL SEHGAL (RETD), JALANDHAR

Back to SYL 

An AAP Rajya Sabha MP has announced that if his party comes to power in Haryana, water from SYL canal will be available to Haryana’s farmers. The Punjab Finance Minister has stated that not a single drop of water from Punjab will be given to other states. Such utterances create confusion. The AAP high command should immediately clarify the party’s stand. National assets should be shared by all people. If the AAP fails to resolve the issue, the Centre may take over the decades-old SYL project and finalise it with mutually agreeable consent of all concerned. 

SUBHASH VAID, by mail

IMF warning 

The IMF warning to India on its high domestic debt ratio is a matter of concern amid the worldwide debt crisis plaguing nations like Sri Lanka, Zambia and Nepal, resulting in food and fuel scarcity leading to civil unrest. The economic upheaval caused by the pandemic has slowed down production, which, coupled with high costs, has adversely affected the economies of developing countries, and India is no exception. The government must take cognisance of the looming crisis and mull ways to ward it off, especially in view of the Russia-Ukraine military conflict and its global economic fallout. 

Anil vinayak, Amritsar

Misuse of UGC fund 

The laxity of the government has led to the misuse of UGC fund (‘Pbi varsity UGC fund scam mounts to Rs 11 cr’). The university was earlier facing a financial crunch, and now a scam has been revealed. Who is responsible for the fiscal crunch? The government has failed to bring about transparency in the functioning of government departments and curb the menace of cheating. It is due to government negligence that Rs 11 crore were transferred into accounts of different employees. Such a huge scam raises a question mark on the functioning of the government and its employees.

Abhilasha Gupta, Mohali

Farmers’ loans 

Leaders of the kisan union should be aware that banks offer loans out of money deposited by the public and pay interest on deposits (‘Union threatens agitation against debt recovery’). If a borrower is unable to repay any loan instalment, he may approach the bank to reschedule the repayment. A union has no right to bar the bank from recovering the amount. Launching an agitation is tantamount to waging a war against the State. 

Vijaya Sharma, by mail

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