Editor,
Information technology (IT) has played a huge part in our lives over the past 30 years and it’s role rising exponentially every year to the level we are at today. This is especially true today as we live through a global pandemic that is ravishing our country with the second wave. It can be easily argued that IT is one of the major tools we have in our fight against Covid19, having shown to effectively help in breaking the chain of virus transmission by letting us work remotely.
Yes, today from schools to colleges to offices, IT is indispensable, especially in our current situation, which is why it was a surprise to see the Government listing computer and repair services at the very top of it’s list of non-essential services that would be closed from April 26 to 2 May, 2021.
Where are people to go if their devices have to be replaced or repaired? Are their children to miss online classes in that case? How will businesses function or submit taxes in case of a failure? Even government offices need technical support in that sense. What if one has to attend a meeting, and their camera konks off? We need our devices working more than ever today, and it makes no sense to mark IT services as a non essential commodity. Instead, I request the Government to reconsider its decision and instead ensure that SOPs are adhered to strictly and diligently, and allow these services to function.
Yours etc.,
V Khongwir,
Via email
Tackling the Pandemic.
Editor,
The war to fight the second wave of COVID-19 has just begun and we as responsible citizens must create our protective shield against the virus by wearing masks, using hand sanitizers and maintaining social distancing. Creating awareness among the masses about the adverse effects of the virus and how to combat it is the need of the hour. Apart from the COVID vaccine, we can self administer the vaccination of “immunity” by eating healthy and hygienic food and doing regular exercise. Though tourism and public transportation faces a tough challenge at present, it is expected that tourists and the commuters follow the guidelines necessary to combat the deadly virus. Moreover, artists can enact plays to show the adverse effects of the viral strain and the emotional pain it causes our near and dear ones. UNITED WE STAND, so in these tough times we must support, care and cooperate with each other for a better world in the future. Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I request the citizens to follow COVID appropriate behaviour.
Yours etc.,
Partha Pratim Duarah
Nazira (Assam)
TMC has delivered good governance
Editor,
No praise is enough for Nobel Laureate, Amartya Sen for boldly affirming the quality of governance under Mamata Banerjee, especially in an environment where belittling her has turned into a nationaĺ “obsession. Indeed, on the welfare front, with special emphasis on rural infrastructure, food security, health of children and girls, the TMC government has worked wonders despite financial constraints. Looking after the basic interests of the common people especially the weaker section is the first duty of a welfare state and on this yardstick the TMC government deserves highest marks. No wonder why despite zealous projection of “Gujarat model of development”, the much-maligned Bengal fares much better in social index of development, children’s health being just an example, than that much-hyped Western state where “Vikas” needs to be hidden behind the “Trump Wall”!
It is also a feather on the cap of Banerjee whose great humanity-driven governance has been appreciated by humanitarian economists like Amartya Sen! No wonder the United Nations honoured Banerjee for highest public service while the US and Netherlands saluted her for initiating various social schemes beneficial to the common people! Surely those international organisations and Western countries are controlled neither by Banerjee nor TMC!
How can the merchants of hatred, who no nothing better than mosque-breaking or communal slogan-chanting, even think of appreciating people who are sane, good and the epitome of humanity! So both Sen and Banerjee are equal “enemies” in their poisonous eyes and mind which can’t see anything beyond temples, statues, luxury trains and the “Holy Cow.” And they can’t think of a better label than anti-national for anyone who differs with them.
Sen has accurately portrayed that since 1946, Bengal has not seen such a strong fanning of the dangerous flames of communal divisions as is being witnessed today. Could it be envisaged even a few months ago also that the sons of the soil Bengalis would be “demonised” as “Pakistanis” just because of their Islamic credentials with none other than the Chief Minister of the state being addressed as “Begum” for her “sin” of treating all communities on an equal footing? It seems Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh have been implanted in Bengal ! So a Muslim muezzin to a Hindu boy can now be beaten up in Bengal for not chanting “Jai Shri Ram”! If this is the picture even before their assumption of power in the state, then what horror would be inflicted upon Bengal if they gain power can well be imagined.
Bengal is today at a very crucial crossroad of history and if the Bengalis adhere to the noble words of Sen then Bengal should never be a party to such a degeneration where human beings are being judged by their religion, caste or nationality only!
Yours etc.,
Kajal Chatterjee,
Kolkata -114
Of insidious ideologies
Editor
I am writing to express my deep appreciation and gratitude to Kajal Chatterjee for the spirited letter (ST, Apr 14, 2021), critiquing BJP and its hypocritical pseudo-feminism, especially on the question of an abomination like the practice of Sati. I am grateful too for the defense of Raja Ram Mohon Roy. Morally questionable forms of anti-colonialism have led to an equally dubious search for authenticity. In response to westernization, morally repugnant desires to return to roots are plaguing India in the form of insidious ideologies. That people succumb to these ideologies, regardless of the putrid quality of the roots sought, is deeply troubling.
Yours, etc.,
Deepa Majumdar,
Via email
Justice served for Floyd
Editor,
Justice is served for George Floyd . The jury’s decision to unanimously convict Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd who pressed his knee into the neck of George Floyd , an unarmed black man for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. This deadly use of force has reinvigorated a huge public debate about police brutality and racism. When it comes to policing in the United States it is far from living in a just society that is free from systemic and structural racism. US police reforms are urgently needed.
The conviction is a monumental victory in the fight for racial justice and human rights in the United States.
Yours etc.,
M Haque (Advocate)
Shillong -6