Hunger pangs

Sir — We often experience hunger pangs at the most inopportune moments. Our stomach might growl in the middle of an important meeting at work or it might cry out for sustenance while the whole room is silent at a memorial service. The stomach is mostly made up of involuntary muscles; we have no say over it. It is thus unfair to judge those whose stomachs refuse to be silenced. The Trinamul Congress leader, Anubrata Mondal, recently came under fire for demanding that the police convoy transporting him to Calcutta stop at Saktigarh for breakfast, where he heartily consumed kochuri torkari and lyangchas. Being a lover of sweets myself, I can sympathise with Mondal — the heart wants what it wants, rather the stomach does.

Bikram Kumar Adhikary, East Burdwan

Need for neutrality

Sir — The Supreme Court deserves praise for divesting the Centre of the absolute power that it enjoyed in appointing the Chief Election Commissioner and the election commissioners (“Fetters on EC ease”, Mar 3). In a democratic country, the ruling party at the Centre should not be allowed to have unilateral say in appointments to any key constitutional post. The apex court has rightly observed that the Election Commission should remain “aloof” from all forms of subjugation in order to maintain the integrity of the electoral process.

Arun Gupta, Calcutta

Sir — By prescribing a new process for appointing office-bearers of the Election Commission, the apex court has addressed concerns about the electoral body’s neutrality. A Constitution bench has ruled that appointments to the posts of the CEC and the election commissioners should be done by a committee comprising the prime minister, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India. This order should ensure the impartiality of the Election Commission until Parliament passes a law under the ambit of Article 324.

Shovanlal Chakraborty, Calcutta

Forked tongue

Sir — The Bharatiya Janata Party contested independently in all 59 seats in the recent Meghalaya assembly polls, but was able to win only two. Yet, it is the Congress, which won five seats, that is being dubbed a loser. During the campaign, numerous BJP leaders, including the Union home minister, Amit Shah, had criticised the Meghalaya government led by Conrad K. Sangma as one of the most corrupt administrations in the country. But that same party has now joined hands with Sangma’s National People’s Party to cling on to power. Such hypocrisy must be condemned.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee, Faridabad

Muzzled voices

Sir — One of the first things that a ruling regime does in order to establish a dictatorship is to silence all its critics. It is alarming that such events are now occurring in India (“Skin so thick for polls & so thin after letter”, Mar 7). Immediately after nine leaders from Opposition parties wrote a letter to the prime minister, Narendra Modi, expressing concern over the ‘misuse’ of Central investigative agencies for political vendettas, the Central Bureau of Investigation questioned the former chief minister of Bihar, Rabri Devi, for around six hours. If such crushing of dissent continues, India shall soon become an authoritarian State like Russia or China.

Jang Bahadur Singh, Jamshedpur

War of words

Sir — The brief encounter between the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, and his counterpart from the United States of America, Antony Blinken, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi did not yield any positive result vis-à-vis the Russian invasion of Ukraine (“Weak platform”, Mar 6). On the other hand, Lavrov’s noholds-barred diatribe against the West during a session at the Raisina Dialogue, about how nobody discussed American involvement in wars in Iraq and Syria, found considerable support among anti-West diplomats (“From New Delhi stage, Lavrov lectures West”, Mar 4). It is unclear what Russia hopes to gain by prolonging the war against Ukraine. There should be de-escalation in tensions before it reaches a point of no return.

Khokan Das, Calcutta

At risk

Sir — It is disheartening to read that the village of Sissu in Lahaul valley is at risk of being washed away by a glacial lake burst at Gepang Gath, triggered by an ice or rock avalanche (“Lahaul trekking site faces a risk”, Mar 7). Encouragingly, the risk can be significantly reduced by implementing geoengineering measures to reduce the lake’s depth and installing early-warning sensors. However, such advanced engineering methods should not be used without thorough research into their consequences.

Dyutiman Bhattacharya, Calcutta

Middle ground

Sir — Parents must seek a middle ground between over-parenting and neglecting their children (“Parents urged to strike a balance”, Mar 6). Overprotective parents often impact a child’s mental health and self-esteem. On the other hand, complete lack of parental control can lead to rude behaviour in a child and make him or her emotionally needy. It is imperative for parents to act as role models.

Kiran Agarwal, Calcutta

Glorious start

Sir — The Women’s Premier League got off to a scintillating start with Mumbai Indians scoring a mammoth total of 207 runs against their opponents, Gujarat Giants, and then dismissing them for 64 runs. It is hoped that the WPL will provide a platform for talents from rural India to shine.

Shruti Sharma, Ujjain