Editor,
After the report of SEBI that wrong-doings related to Adani Group require more time and the Supreme Court has allowed six months extension to submit the report, now the question that arises is what is in store for the Opposition for the coming Lok Sabha elections scheduled for April 2024. Here it is worth noting that two major parties – the NCP and TMC are already against the JPC. It is agreed that state elections are fought on local issues. For example the Congress won the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections on the issue of implementation of the Old Pension scheme. The same may happen now in Karnataka assembly elections as reports are pouring in. But in the parliamentary elections voters give preference to national issues as we had seen in the last assembly elections of Rajasthan MP and Chattisgarh where Congress won the assembly elections but in the parliamentary elections held just after a few months BJP won almost all the seats
This time neighbouring country Pakistan is speaking very highly of the Modi Government on issues of foreign policy as well as inflation and distribution of freebies which are meant for uplift of needy persons and moreover the Indian currency is very strong as compared to Pakistan’s.
The G20 conference is being held in India and 59 programmes of various nature will be held in India and almost all states and Union territories will be involved in such programmes. In the third week programmes will be held in Kashmir to show the outer world the reality of Kashmir
Opposition parties have dearth of leaders that can pull a crowd whereas in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party there are several such leaders It is a chronic habit of the Congress to make serious mistakes during electioneering. For example Congress President Mallikarjun Khadge unnecessarily used the word ‘poisonous snake’ for Modi and it appears that this can prove fatal for Congress just as the word Maut ka Saudagar uttered by Sonia Gandhi in Gujarat elections hurt the Party. In the recently held Gujarat elections Mallikarjun Khadge had used the undesirable word Ravan for Modi and Congress had to suffer for the same
The Congress should learn from the BJP how to change the election scenario in its favour and the present example is of misappropriation of fund by Adani whereas Congress miserably failed to raise the pitch here. The first instance is of bribe made in Bofors case whereas till date it had not been proved that any kickback was paid in the Bofors deal but the Congress party lost the parliament elections. On this issue we can say that the Congress party could not defend its case before the common man of the country. The second case is of huge loss to the country in allotment of 2G spectrum whereas there was no loss of any kind. And for that the Congress party had to blame themselves that they could not defend their case before the public.
In the present political scenario of the country there is no political unity among the different parties. Yet it is expected from these parties that in the national interest they should prepare a common minimum programme. Only a few. months are left before the parliamentary elections and strong programmes should be put up before the public otherwise this may be the third consecutive terms when there will be no Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
Yours etc.,
Yash Pal Ralhan,
Via email
Culture and children
Editor,
I was aghast to see the letter entitled “Protect the Children” that appeared in the Shillong Times on Apr 29, 2023. The hasty judgement passed on the Dalai Lama by the writer, John Saitkhuid, is more befitting of a kangaroo court or a patriarchal khap panchayat. He condemns a friendly interaction between the Dalai Lama and a young boy as akin to a criminal act of pedophilia, even though the informed world has moved on from the incident.
In response to the controversy, Tibetans have explained the phrase “che le sa”, eat my tongue. It pertains to a common display of affection between Tibetan elderly and children. A child may go up to a grandfather, and will kiss his forehead, touch noses and kiss. Then the grandfather says, “I’ve given you everything so the only thing left is for you to eat my tongue”. Tsering Kyi, a Tibetan journalist, has explained that the tongue has several cultural connotations: sticking out the tongue is a sign of respect or agreement, and these practices go back to their folklore.
The act of the Dalai Lama was done in plain view of the public. Tibetans who were standing around were smiling since they understood this gesture of affection. The Dalai Lama’s office apologized mainly because the Western press played up this innocent gesture. Many of us who have become Christian and Westernized have lost our own cultural lens and tend to see the world through Western mindsets.
Child rearing is heavily intertwined with culture. Eastern and tribal cultures are collectivist and children are brought up with the worldview that the family and community are more important than the individual. Western culture is more individualistic. A Western notion of child development is that children and even babies, are made to sleep by themselves, usually in another room. In Eastern cultures, children sleeping with parents and siblings is natural, and serves the purpose of closer bonding with the family members.
The author has quoted from the Bible. The Bible also says “spare the rod and spoil the child’. This is an injunction that reflects the social norms of that era. But now many Western so-called Christian countries have laws prohibiting parents from beating children, and they can face imprisonment for child abuse. How do we reconcile these seeming contradictions and challenges to our long-held convictions?
As a retired professor of pediatrics and a keen student of child psychology and development, we know that child-beating by parents or teachers causes psychological trauma. The Trobrianders, a tribe in the South Pacific do not believe in beating or scolding children, explaining that children are innocent. I hope that in this day and age, no one believes that slapping and spanking children actually helps their development. Such thoughts belong in the Dark Ages.
Yours etc.,
Glenn C. Kharkongor,
Via email