Sir — The decision to scrap the winter session of Parliament citing the Covid-19 pandemic as the reason, without building a consensus among party leaders, bears testimony to the utter contempt of the Narendra Modi-led government for the norms of Parliament — the highest democratic forum to deliberate on burning national issues and seek answers from the government (“Govt scraps winter session”, Dec 16). It also reinforces the strongly held belief that this government is becoming more authoritarian by the day.

The move poses a threat to the democratic process. At a time when farmers have launched a peaceful and well-coordinated agitation, sitting in thousands in Delhi against the newly enacted, contentious farm bills, one would have expected a democratically elected government to carry out the session for a full-fledged debate on these laws. When all social and political activities have nearly returned to normalcy — this includes holding political rallies with even the prime minister himself addressing big gatherings for the recently held elections in Bihar — the ground for not holding the winter session of Parliament is unconvincing. The truth is that the government is afraid of facing Parliament.

S.K. Choudhury,
Bangalore

Sir — Yet another autocratic move — the cancellation of the winter session of Parliament — in what the prime minister hails as the ‘mother of democracy’ on the pretext of contagion lays bare the real intention of the government, which is hell-bent on passing decisions through brute majority. The government’s firm stand in the face of the steep agitation of farmers is contradictory to the principles of deliberative democracy. The Central Vista project, which would cost the exchequer a huge amount of money at the time of a raging pandemic and looming economic recession, might cost us even more dearly in the future. The fragmented and self-centred Opposition, too, cannot gain any serious traction either inside or outside the House.

When the cry for help of the masses is left unheard, it heralds the death of democracy and the emergence of neo-fascism. We, the people, must act sooner rather than later in order to shore up the old house of democracy built on the cornerstone of free-spirited debate instead of celebrating the foundation-laying ceremony for either a new House or a temple.

Satabdi Dutta,
Burdwan

Sir — The scrapping of the winter session of Parliament is not a good idea. It might not have been too difficult to conduct the session for a few hundred members with appropriate safety measures. Just as the government is allowing social life to function almost normally, the government would also be expected to run business as usual. Many important issues of national importance are waiting for in-depth deliberation at the highest forum of democracy — the dwindling economy, the loss of jobs and farmers’ protests, to mention a few.

While performing the ground-breaking ceremony for the new Parliament building, the prime minister recalled how he had bowed to the House in reverence on his first entry and how all the aspirations and successes of the people are encapsulated in the Parliament building. Only the proper functioning of the House would attribute sense to his words.

D.V.G. Sankararao,
Nellimarla, Andhra Pradesh

Sir — It is astonishing that while the rest of India is functioning digitally — let alone adults working from home, even children are studying online — the top servicemen of the country could simply excuse themselves from convening the most decisive meetings of the nation on the pretext of the threat of contagion from assembly. Do parliamentarians not have internet connection that would allow them to hold a video conference? That would be unfortunate given that the prime minister keenly endorses the digital services.

Meher Sharma,
Delhi

Treat better

Sir — The Supreme Court’s ruling that homoeopathic medicine cannot be sold as cure for Covid-19 is welcome. During these distressing times, many untested cures are being promoted. ‘Ayush’ practitioners often claim to treat a range of medical conditions and insist that their patients discontinue allopathic medicine. The ayurveda philosophy attracts many people because of its links to Hindu traditions. Homoeopathy, which is popular in India, is under critical evaluation in many countries because its effects are questionable. All such dubious claims should be disallowed.

H.N. Ramakrishna,
Bangalore

Giant leap

Sir — China has recently been stepping up its space programme. This week, a Chinese lunar capsule returned to earth with fresh samples of rock and debris from the moon for the first time in 44 years — the Soviet Union was the last to have undertaken this mission in 1976. The study of this material could reveal hitherto unknown facets about the history of the moon. This is indeed a giant step forward in the domain of astronomy. In the midst of the pandemic — the coronavirus originated in China — this is quite a feat. If one nation can make such progress while battling a new disease, there is hope for other countries too.

Shailaja Gupta,
Calcutta