Pot and kettle
Sir — While it is not exactly an original approach, comparing one’s rival to fictional villains is a humorous way of appealing to the masses. In a recent advertisement, the Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party called the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, ‘Hirak Rani’, comparing her to the cruel dictator from Hirak Rajar Deshe. This is deeply ironic given that the BJP itself has followed in the footsteps of Hirak Raja, be it by building tall statues or by altering the education system to impart its own mantra to students and tamping down dissent. This seems to be an instance of the pot calling the kettle black.
Rishi Das, Calcutta
Choose wisely
Sir — With the commencement of the ‘festival of democracy’, namely the general elections, we must remember our duties as Indian citizens (“Poll kick-off: On your marks, get set, VOTE”, April 19). Each eligible voter should exercise his/her franchise as every vote matters for the future of the country.
C.K. Subramaniam, Navi Mumbai
Sir — Elections have begun in the largest democracy in the world. They are a vote of confidence in the developmental work undertaken by the incumbent government. Voters must cast their votes accordingly after careful thought and choose an eligible party to represent them at the Centre.
Kirti Wadhawan, Kanpur
Mind minefield
Sir — Neurotechnology, an amalgamation of neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence, is being utilised worldwide to track focus and attention and assess work fatigue (“When the mind’s on a leash”, April 17). Employers must, however, remain ethical regarding privacy in the workspace and the usage and storage of data mined from the brain. The government, too, should frame laws to protect the rights of workers.
Arka Goswami, Durgapur
Take a break
Sir — The West Bengal government has preponed summer vacations in government and government-aided schools owing to the prevailing heatwave-like conditions (“Private schools switch to online classes”, April 19). Some private schools are also shifting to online classes. Lessons should be rescheduled to early mornings for children who do not have access to smartphones and cannot attend online classes. Moreover, students need to acclimatise themselves to global temperature hikes as these will only get worse in the future.
D.P. Bhattacharya, Calcutta
Shelter them
Sir — The initiative of the forest department to provide shelter to the birds wounded by kite strings or overhead cables is laudable (“Blight of birds: razor kite strings, overhead cables”, April 18). Recently, my daughter had contacted the rescue team of the forest department to help rehabilitate a bird which had been entangled in kite strings
in our locality. The department was prompt in its response. More such rescue efforts for animals are the need of the hour.
Hemanta Sasmal, Howrah
Beat the heat
Sir — It is heartening that timely steps have been taken by the Calcutta Police to safeguard its canine members during the scorching summer. An extra serving of lassi, showering them with cold water at least once a day, installing coolers in kennels, checking their body temperatures every few hours and using cooling jackets and wet
towels during their duty hours are beneficial for them (“Lassi, cold showers for canine squad”, April 20). One hopes that these steps provide the squad dogs with some respite.
Sourish Misra, Calcutta
