Sir — Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has accused the Narendra Modi-led government of scaling up oxygen exports in the midst of the pandemic, without bolstering India’s capacity to meet its own oxygen requirements first (“Priyanka spotlights oxygen export jump”, May 30). If this accusation is true, it is a grave error on the part of the government. Its vaccine diplomacy has already left India in serious trouble with a majority of the population not getting access to vaccines. While it is always important to help those in need, this should not happen at the cost of the lives of Indian citizens. The government must come up with an answer.

Abhirup Bhattacharjee,
Calcutta

Match winner

Sir — People feel that the Bengal elections signify the victory of Mamata Banerjee over Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and indeed the entire sangh parivar. But it is much more than that. It is a victory of knowledge over ignorance, of truth over lies, of history over myth and of the principle of unity in diversity over polarization. In this context, it must be asked what do politicians like Asaduddin Owaisi hope to achieve by contesting from places like Bengal, Bihar and Maharashtra where they have no chances of winning? People of Bihar who fell for his rhetoric lost out on the promise of jobs made by the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader, Tejashwi Yadav; people in Uttar Pradesh made a similar mistake. Independent candidates — be they from any religion or caste — should not seek to divide the electorate.

I served this country not just as an air force officer but also as a sportsperson. What Modi and company forgot, in essence, was that ‘khela’ in Bengal is associated primarily with football and we footballers are great fighters, not sycophants. Banerjee’s battle was copybook football, that too played with one leg. I challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party to succeed on its own in any state without the help of the ‘godi’ media and the ego of Opposition parties who contest elections where they have no hopes of winning.

I am also surprised at the sycophancy of administrative and police officers, who obey the orders of their political masters even though they know these to be unconstitutional. I once refused to carry out an unlawful order by a sports minister as the regional director of the Sports Authority of India. I paid a price for this, but I did not bow down to the minister. If I were a serving officer today, I would have resigned, and I salute the brave administrative service officers who have done so.

S.S. Hakim,
Gulbarga, Karnataka

Let it rain

Sir — In a glimmer of hope for farmers reeling from cyclones along both coastlines, the southwest monsoon has made a timely entrance for the second consecutive year. An evenly distributed monsoon can ensure that farmers sow long-term crops like paddy, sugar cane, red gram and other pulses to increase their income. However, efforts must also be made to harvest India’s abundant monsoons so that farmers have access to irrigation all year round.

B.D. Gupta,
Calcutta