Female foeticide is just a symptom, the actual malaise is more deep-rooted (Death Becomes Her, Feb 27). The Indian society is so biased towards the girl child that—outrageous as it may sound—one sometimes feels it’s better the female foetus is snuffed out. Life is harsher. Dowry is a truth beyond negation, its lingering tragedy is the only thing the girl inherits from her parents. Most daughters are deprived of family property, worse, even barred from carrying the name of their parents through to the next generation. In short, they exist as ones who need protection throughout life. This medieval mindset should change.
Gautam Goswami, Bangalore
I feel enforcing the one-child norm can curb foeticide to a large extent. Selective abortions may come down once parents are given the option of a single child. Secondly, I have a piece of advice to the younger generation. Living in increasingly cosmopolitan conditions, they should marry out of love and not of parents’ choice. It would drain away the prominence of dowry.
Shiv Kumar, Bombay
The agony of Punjab doesn’t seem to end with a long spell of terrorism. It warrants a collective effort from religious demigods, politicians, bureaucrats and the educated class. Only such a campaign can root out the menace of female foeticide and rescue a highly prosperous state from such self-inflicted barbarism.
Mahesh Inder Sharma, on e-mail
That a son alone can light the pyre of one’s parents itself speaks of the degree of male chauvinism in society. Gender discrimination in religious rituals should stop as a bold step towards fighting anti-female bias.
Navdeep Hans, New Delhi
It’s appalling that state governments aren’t keen on dealing with such a heinous crime. No claim on female emancipation can be made so long as society isn’t cured of this malady.
K. Chidanand Kumar, Bangalore
You have rightly shown Punjab as the state with the worst sex ratio. But the percentage of reduction in sex ratio during 2001-03 is the highest in the case of Himachal Pradesh (10.48), followed by Bihar (8.21), Uttar Pradesh (6.88) and Rajasthan (5.94). Punjab shows a reduction rate of 1.89. There are many bad news stories brewing out there.
Dr Wishvas Rane, Pune
While the Nawanshahr deputy commissioner’s intent is laudable, the idea of "registering" all pregnancies is awkward. There is some scope for privacy here.
Akshay, Hyderabad
Khushwant Singh has let his embarrassment get the better of him. His careless reference to Muslim armies only exposes the gravity of his crime—he knows no religion. Is he sure femicide in India started only with the invasion of Muslim armies?
Azar Zaidi, New Delhi
So Islam’s male dominance brought this problem to Indian culture, eh? Sat Sri Akal, Sardarji.
Sabena Dhingra, Princeton, US
The photo caption on page 76 gives the impression that it was not Manjit Kaur, but her mother-in-law who had the abortion!
Prasad R., on e-mail
Just punishing people without nipping the reasons for female foeticide is like applying balm for brain tumour.
Babu Rajendran, Canberra
A.N. Prasad’s column Down to the Last Atom (Feb 27) is a wake-up call for the political and bureaucratic establishment in New Delhi. No country in the world is interested in seeing the rise of another. The western nations very clearly want to maintain their hegemony and will try their best to prevent the transfer of latest technology to nations they perceive as unworthy. India needs to realise that in the eyes of the West, it belongs to the club of the "unworthy". Laxmi Mittal’s bid for Arcelor or denial of visas to leading Indian scientists clearly point to this. The game being played against Iran too is very obvious. India’s future lies not in toeing the line of the West but in harnessing the human resource talent available in the country and building itself indigenously as a strong nation.
Joel Fernandes, New York
A.N. Prasad has done us great service by letting people know what they are in for on the Indo-US nuclear deal. The US clearly wants to put a brake on our nuclear achievements and roll back everything. Nothing is more important than our freedom and our means to defend it. It’s foolhardy to put your head in a lion’s mouth and expect not to be eaten.
Raghunath Nair, Mumbai
Pratap Bhanu Mehta gives himself away splendidly in his column Illusions More Sacred (Feb 27). He condemns the Danish cartoons of the Prophet for not being about free speech but about giving offence and precipitating conflict. In the same breath, he forgives M.F. Husain for the same.
Govind Nishar, New York
Pratap Bhanu Mehta betrays a jaundiced eye when he compares the cartoon protests with the Hindu anger expressed against Husain’s paintings. mfh has been doing this with impunity for a few decades without any danger to his personal self. It’s nothing like what Salman Rushdie has been through. The protest against Husain has been about his painting, not the man.
Vidyadhar Madhusudan, Bangalore
Your article on the Indian post vs the couriers (Dash the Dart, Feb 20) was informative. It’s sad that the government continues to protect and extend the monopoly of our p&t department without trying to reform it and bring it on par with latter-day requirements and work ethic. In a world where borders have shrunk and businesses thrive only on timely delivery of goods and services, the Indian post is no match for the couriers who have managed to carve a niche for themselves, thanks to cost-cutting, improved methods of delivery and efficiencies of scale.
Rosen John, on e-mail
As a businessman, I rely a lot on courier services. And I am perfectly happy with their existence and performance. Why should the government create unnecessary problems for them? And they even pay their service tax! It is sheer harassment and the business community will surely support them should they go on strike.
Rupesh J. Bhandari, Hubli, Karnataka
Apropos The Larger Issue of "getting into bed with the US" that Vinod Mehta wrote of in his Delhi Diary (Feb 20), surely, India has the muscle to stand by the principle that a sovereign state is empowered to pursue independent foreign and economic policies in its own interests. Since it was India that reversed the tide of colonialism, taking the initiative to follow up on globalisation should fall on India as well. The process of renegotiating standards for what the Bush administration or its successors may demand will require fortitude and high standards of practice, which desis have in abundance, but also a deep sense of loyalty and unity of purpose, which is sometimes lacking, viz, it doesn’t help for prominent Indians to diss nris and the money they make, or to work against their political interests in America. The million or more desis in America will obviously exert some influence in shaping the relationship between the two countries but the primary drive for change can only be sustained from inside India.
Amrita Douglas, New York
On Mr Mehta’s reference to "obscenely wealthy" nris, most Indians in the US are actually middle class and not especially more privileged than the denizens of South Delhi colonies. And for every Indian software millionaire, there are many desi waiters and cab drivers who live very modestly indeed. The real obscenity of nri culture is not the money that some of us have made, but our proclivity to spew the most shamelessly hateful anti-Muslim bilge whenever we get on the net.
Satadru Sen, St Louis, US
For once, I agree with Prem Shankar Jha (Mittal’s Merry Piper, Feb 27). What business does GoI have supporting a private mnc? Kamal Nath better heed farmers’ problems.
M.S. Hemanth, Bangalore
The Indian intervention for Mittal was primarily in response to borderline racist comments coming from people in responsible positions in governments and corporations of stakeholders. Nobody minds a reaction, positive or negative, based on genuine business concerns but to question Mittal’s origins is underhanded. If the government of India doesn’t take note of it, tell me, who would?
P.K. Raju, Woodbridge, US
With the pronouncement of the judgement in the Jessica Lall case, the last nail’s been driven into the coffin of truth. As a matter of fact, truth had remained nailed to the cross from the moment we adopted a new constitution on January 26, 1950. Since then we have only continued to drive more and more nails all over the body of truth, which can now be given a ceremonial burial perhaps fittingly next to the samadhi of the Father of the Nation. Barring a few honourable exceptions, every politician and bureaucrat seems bent on proving that in India untruth alone triumphs. While we are at it, we can change our motto from Satyamev Jayate to Unsatyamev Jayate.
N.K. Ramachandran, on e-mail
