Editor,
I am writing in response to Dr Omarlin Kyndiah’s letter, “Women are human beings too! (ST, Jan 9, 2023) In my opinion, I feel society is largely numb to crimes against women. I am in strong agreement with Dr Kyndiah’s views. Patriarchy is one big reason and since this is steeped in religion and culture, it has become the inbred mindset of the people. I am sure there are unreported cases of rape, molestation and domestic violence because women are afraid to come forward to report such cases. They are discouraged from doing so. Some are fearful of social stigma and what awaits other family members in case of a crime reported, resulting in silence from reporting. According to report by Livemint, about 99 percent of cases of sexual violence go unreported. This suggest that the absence of a strong law against rape and assaults is the only factor behind the low reporting. There are other factors at play, including trust deficit in the law enforcing agencies and low conviction rates in such crimes that prevent women from reporting sexual assaults. Change should start from home and at the level of the clan, then the locality, village, state and the country.
Yours etc.,
F E J Syngai,
Via email
BJP a confused party
Editor,
BJP had launched a new program which indicates that the Party is in a confused stage and does not know how to tackle the goodwill being created among the common masses on account of the Bharat Jodo Yatra being carried on by Rahul Gandhi. The Party’s state of confusion can be judged from the name of the program ‘Bind India’ which is the English version of Bharat Jodo Yatra. The Party is unaware of the impact of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and census on caste basis. The BJP had lost the Himachal Pradesh assembly election on the issue of OPS. In the present program there are three points one is to celebrate the State Day and second is to celebrate various days such as Doctors’ day and third is to learn one more language in addition to Hindi, English and the mother language. And all the three steps will not fetch additional votes for the party The assembly election in Karnataka will be held in May this year and from the reports pouring in through the media the Congress has a strong possibility of winning the elections. If that happens it will be a huge setback for the BJP. The main problem with the BJP Government is that no government department takes interest in solving the grievances of the common man.
I am an icon for People With Disabilities (PwD) and had the bitter experience of government indifference. The disabled are a harried lot and have to face various hardships in the government departments. Even the Disability Act had not been properly implemented since 1996 and they are not getting the full pension as well as family pension. In this regard I had sent representations to various dignitaries in the PMO, FMO, CJI, Disability department, MSJE and even the President of India but no one bothered to pay attention to the problems of the disabled. If such is the situation then how can the image of the Government improve? Unnecessary conflicts are being created with the Judiciary, and there is pandemonium in parliament for the last three parliament sessions. The Modi Government will be completing its fourth year of its second term in office but till date the deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha has not been appointed. The BJP had spoken so much against freebies that its own schemes would not garner additional votes for the party for the various social schemes already going on.
This will be the last budget of the Modi Government and it will be an election-oriented budget. Various incentives will be declared but it will have not much effect in garnering votes. The position of this Government on the employment creation front is not good at all. Every way we look at the NDA Government today it seems to be in a confused stage.
Yours etc.,
Yash Pal Ralhan,
Via email
UDP’s duplicity exposed
Editor,
The United Democratic Party (UDP) a regional based party which often boasts and calls itself as the so-called kingmaker in any government should at least have some shame left of having high hopes. It is horrendous for any reader on Facebook to find the UDP as the most ridiculed party for all the ills committed by the present government which UDP is part of. In Pynursla constituency for example when Mr. Nehru Suting stood and fought from the UDP ticket against the sitting MLA Deputy CM Prestone Tynsong of the NPP, there were elements like Banalari Lyngdoh, Alantry Dkhar and some more within the inner circle who allowed his defeat and were in close coordination with the NPP to make the NPP candidate win by a margin of 2000 plus votes. The treachery by the members of the UDP has gradually increased in this coming election. The loss of the enquiry report on the rice scam is one clear indicator that this party has no soul left when it even smuggles food meant for the poor. Hence like the NPP the UDP too should be shown the door in the forthcoming assembly polls
Yours etc.,
Donbok Syngkrem,
Former UDP Organizing Secretary Pynursla
Constituency