Editor,
Hats off to Gautam Gambhir MP for making efforts to get visa clearance and for clearing other official formalities for a Pakistani family to enter India to undergo an emergency medical treatment for their child, a seven year old girl suffering from heart disorder. The MP after coming to know about this through one of his cricketer friends in Pakistan took all possible measures to help the child .Our External Affairs Ministry also needs a big applause for their immediate response to help an ailing child.
This humane gesture only goes to show that India and Indians are ever ready to help, support and mitigate the sufferings of others. Our help to heal an ailing heart obviously reveal our great Indian philosophy – vasudhaiva kutumbakam- that the whole of humanity is one family. And as the MP said we do have issues with Pakistan, it’s army, it’s ISI and it’s agents of terrorism but we are ready to help it’s people who are in need of medical help and support. Such humanitarian moves and friendly gestures especially coming from law makers and leaders hopefully will help enhance understanding between the people of both nations. Willingness to support and help one another will really pave way for peace, stability and progress in the region. Let us hope for that.
Yours etc.,
M Pradyu
Kannur
Of small minds
Editor
While most Indians have rejoiced in the fact that Dr Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee and his team for being awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics 2019, there are a handful of Indians who think like dwarves and who have tried to belittle the Nobel laureate’s contribution to the field of Economics. While most of us and the world are elated at the success of Dr Banerjee , the mental dwarves are terribly upset on his achievement. But then what can we expect from a mind of a pithecanthropus who operate from a closed and biased mindset and are unable to appreciate anything else except the colour saffron
Yous etc,.,
Tyrone D’Brass
Tura
Fomenting communalism
Editor
A little known organisation based in Maharashtra and calling itself the Legal Rights Observatory headed by one Mr.Joshi as it’s Secretary seems to be interested in fomenting trouble and creating communalism here in Meghalaya by perpetrating a right-wing mentality based on religion. Their agenda is to divide, break and create animosity between tribal communities and even between tribal and non-tribals which is a dangerous trend. It started first with taking its fight against a certain Christian denomination under its so-called secularist ideals and instigating non-Christians. The Organisation’s agenda is linked to the RSS and which in turn is using the indigenous faith of the Seng Khasi and Niamtre to create a social divide within the Khasi society. It is therefore important that the media need not give importance to such whimsical and twisted ideology of LRO and all its arguments should be best discarded.
Yours etc..
Dominic S. Wankhar
Shillong:3
Prostitution on the rise in Kerala
Editor
It seems as though the world’s oldest profession has more takers in the tiny state of Kerala going by the fresh data released by the Kerala State Aids Control Society (KSACS). Its survey has sent shockwaves through this once conservative state after the release of the data on the number of male and female sex workers.
According to the survey, there are 17,000 female and 13,331 male sex workers and the number of migrant sex workers is also increasing. Kerala is a heaven for migrant workers as the daily wage for a coolie hovers around Rs 1, 000. For a skilled coolie the wage even goes over Rs.1, 000 and the working time would be 8 hours to 10 hours only. With two times ‘tea’ and midday meals with ample rest of one hour. Elsewhere in the country, working conditions and wages given to a coolie are totally different and this makes migrant workers from other states come and settle in Kerala.
Most of the sex workers are those who migrate from the village to cities. The average age group of these sex workers is 36-46 years. They carry out their trade in hotels and flats in cities. Those who leave the job on getting old become agents.
The survey has also found that more women are coming to the state from Bengal, Bihar and Odisha mostly claiming to be relatives of migrant labourers. Perumbavoor has the highest percentage of these migrant sex workers.
Another shocking fact is that over 10,000 sex workers are drug addicts. It may be noted that where flesh trade flourishes, there is drug trade also. Moreover, there are chances of an outbreak of sexually transmitted diseases. Another curious fact being found by the survey is that Kozhikode district has the most numbers of male sex workers.
It has often been observed that whenever the standard of living goes higher (a condition in which poverty and oppressing factors are absent), there is a tendency for people to seek more pleasure, which is quite natural. But when the effort of pleasure–seeking crosses the border there also come a host of other social problems. Gay sex, lesbianism and other kinds of perverted sex have come to rule the society creating many social problems. So, people engaging in such activities must know that they are given freedom to enjoy their life as per their hearts’’ desires but they are always bound by scruples functioning as deterrents. Flouting or ignoring them brings untold social problems for which we have to pay dearly later.
Yours etc.,
TK Nandanan,
Via email