Diplomatic fallout
One of the diplomatic successes of the Narendra Modi government over the past eight years has been the bonhomie it has cultivated with several countries in West Asia despite the Bharatiya Janata Party’s increasingly brazen anti-minority rhetoric and actions. There has now been a strong West Asian sea wave. The ruling party and the Government are mistaken if they think their belated responses to the raging issue will calm the waters that they and their allies have themselves poisoned with bigotry.
S.S. Paul,
Chakdaha, Nadia, West Bengal
The shock treatment inflicted by some West Asian countries to the juggernaut of Hindutva forces would hopefully apply the brakes. But if the existing grave scenario is not sincerely addressed, the prognosis would be a bleak future for all Indians, irrespective of whether it is majority or minority community.
Ayyasseri Raveendranath,
Aranmula, Kerala
The BJP leadership should clarify whether their senior party spokespersons who speak on behalf of the party and the Government come under the category ‘fringe element’ or otherwise. As for the present controversy, ‘action’ should have been taken before the ‘reaction’ from Arab nations and the OIC. The Election Commission of India should frame rules to rein in political parties that fail to take strict action against their leaders involved in hate speech or even enforce short-term curbs on their political activities.
N. Nagarajan,
Secunderabad
Protest by nurses
It is unfortunate that out of the 12,000 odd nurses in Tamil Nadu who were recruited through the Medical Services Recruitment Board from 2015, nearly 10,000 nurses are awaiting regularisation. That their pay is also far below the minimum wage prescribed for even an unskilled labourer is unfortunate. The nurses have been receiving a raw deal throughout.
One should not forget that medical staff risked their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, a former Chief Justice of the Madras High Court who opted to get treated at a government hospital when he tested positive for COVID-19, later acknowledged that the treatment was good. The State government must improve the service conditions of medical staff and codify the same as in the case of industrial workers.
N.G.R. Prasad,
Chennai
The gladiator of tennis
Rafael Nadal has proved that he is a tennis giant, revolutionising the game of tennis with his ferocious top-spin forehand, his freakish strength and his relentless drive.
The star also has a rare philosophical approach to tennis and life that one sportswriter described very aptly as being a “model of humility, empathy and perspective”.
Seetharam Basaani,
Waddepalli, Hanamkonda, Telangana
