Letters to the Editor — December 18, 2021

Time to step down

It is a fair demand that the Union Minister of State for Home, Ajay Kumar Mishra, resign given the seriousness of charges against his son for the Lakhimpur Kheri tragedy (“In the name of the father”, Dec. 17). We can expect an impartial investigation into the tragedy only if Mr. Mishra steps down. No democracy can afford to ignore the aphorism, ‘Justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done’. The Minister is stubbornly holding onto his chair and the BJP seems in no mood to show him the exit door. But it has become clear now that the Minister must resign. One is reminded of how former Railway Ministers Lal Bahadur Shastri and later Nitish Kumar resigned as they felt moral responsibility for the major railway accidents that took place during their time. Gone are the days when we had leaders who were driven by integrity and righteousness.

P.R.V. Raja,

Pandalam

Revisit AFSPA

No law is sacrosanct (“Is the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act past its expiry date?”, Dec. 17). Laws are subject to review and revision with the passing of time. There is no denying that the armed forces need legal sanction to deal with critical security situations. However, Standard Operating Procedures must be designed and revised from time to time so that the forces are held fully accountable for their acts of omission and commission. This is a matter of both internal and external security. The concerned State police needs to be trained adequately and taken into confidence. It is wrong for our forces to kill our own citizens. It is time to revisit and revise the AFSPA to make it more humane.

Ravi Bhushan,

Kurukshetra

Anti-conversion bill

There are thousands of Christian schools, colleges, institutes, hospitals, and care centres in India and none of them have coerced anyone to change their religion (“Final touches being given to anti-conversion Bill,” Dec. 17). In fact, there would have been riots if that had happened. Hindus make up nearly 80% of India’s population, Muslims account for 14%, and Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains account for most of the remaining 6%. What is the fear here? That the demography will change drastically and endanger the country? Why do some of the 80% fear a much smaller share of the population? Also, how does the Karnataka government propose to identify converts? Ministers say that the benefits of caste/ religion will be taken away if a person converts to another religion; that only Hindus can avail of these benefits. But there are recognised Scheduled Castes in the Sikh community, for instance — the Mazhabi and Ramdasia castes. There are many disadvantaged groups across religious communities. Thus it’s clear that the main aim of the anti-conversion bill seems to be to get votes. Nothing seems to unite like hatred these days.

R. Thomas Paul,

Bengaluru