Sir — Illness in different forms seems to be taking over the world. The United Kingdom government has said that around 25,000 turkeys will be culled after the ninth outbreak of bird flu among captive birds in England this year. Bird keepers will also have to keep all captive birds indoors and follow other biosecurity measures. While there are assurances that the turkeys will be humanely culled, it is a shame that so many will lose their lives. The source of the infection must be investigated; at a time like this every effort must be made to avoid other large-scale disease spreads.
Rania Alam,Mumbai
FIRST BUNCH: Kind gesture
Sir — It was deeply heartening to read about the Indian army’s gesture in repatriating two girls from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir who had inadvertently crossed the Line of Control in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. Given that armed forces are generally associated with notions of aggression, the army’s actions in this case were truly honourable and exemplary. The young girls are sisters and were identified as Laiba Zabair and Sana Zabair. Before returning home, Laiba is reported to have said that they were treated very well by the Indian troops, who provided them with food and shelter and made efforts to ensure their speedy return to their own home. We must doff our hats to our jawans and their admirable actions for keeping the girls safe. This is why our soldiers are the pride of the country.
Mohd. Noor, Calcutta
Sir — It is a matter of great pride for us that the Indian army displayed its humanity by ensuring the safe return of two young girls who had strayed into the Indian side of the LoC. Given the history of hostility in the region between the troops of the two neighbouring countries, the two girls must have been terrified upon being detained by Indian troops. Women all over south Asia feel unsafe all the time on account of the actions of men; moreover, in conflict regions, women are the worst sufferers of the fallout of border hostility.
The Indian army, however, took every measure to make the girls feel safe and to return them to their side of the border. The troops even gave the minor girls sweets and gifts, and repatriated them from the Chakan Da Bagh crossing point. Will this gesture of goodwill go some way in thawing relations between India and Pakistan?
Asifa Iqbal,Calcutta
SECOND BUNCH: Heroic feat
Sir — It is fitting that essential workers — the nurses, doctors, delivery personnel, grocery-store employees and many others who have consistently risked their lives on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic — have won Time magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ reader poll. These nameless heroes won after garnering 6.5 per cent of the more than eight million votes cast in this year’s poll, which asked readers to select the person or group of people who had the greatest influence on the year 2020. Essential workers as a group beat famed candidates such as the outgoing president of the United States of America, Donald Trump, the chief executive officer of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, and Pope Francis.
It is a heartening sign that essential workers, who have actually done a world of good, were deemed more worthy of such recognition than the likes of Trump and Zuckerberg, whose records on violation with regard to human rights and privacy are less than ideal. The kind of ‘influence’ wielded by big corporates and certain global leaders might be immense, but it is not necessarily a good influence. Corporations, especially, work mainly for profit, often to the detriment of employees and the world at large, be it politically or environmentally. Essential workers, on the other hand, have put their own lives on the line — some of them have even lived away from their families and loved ones for months on end — in order to help their fellow human beings, be it by arresting the spread of the disease or by helping people lead a semblance of a normal life.
Ratri Bose,Calcutta
