Aping in the apiary

Sir — It is well-known that human beings have a proclivity to imitate. Online challenges — like the ‘ice bucket challenge’ — feature thousands of people blindly repeating the actions performed by celebrities. But such mimetic acts are not unique to humans apparently. A recent study has revealed that bumblebees pick up new trends while foraging for food by observing fellow bees, even to the detriment of their own health. Social learning is thus the driving force behind bumblebee behaviour. Yet, humans insist on investing cats with mimetic abilities by using the term, ‘copycat’. There is little evidence to show that cats mimic the behaviour of other felines. Perhaps the word, copycat, should now be replaced with one that represents bumblebees.

Binoy Choudhury, South 24 Parganas

Equal status

Sir — The Centre has reiterated its opposition to recognising same-sex marriages before the Supreme Court (“Govt against same-sex marriages”, Mar 13). Its objection is misplaced. The traditional concept of the “Indian family unit” should not be used to disallow same-sex marriages. Such a definition of family is narrow and goes against the individual freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. Change is inevitable and the law should not discriminate against homosexual couples.

G. David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

Sir — In a landmark ruling in September 2018, a fivejudge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court had decriminalised homosexuality in India by striking down the draconian Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. However, little progress seems to have been made since. The push for accordance of legal status to same-sex marriages has faced strong opposition from the Narendra Modi government. All hope now rests with the judiciary, which had, in 2022, declared that “atypical” family units were as deserving of protection and benefits under the law as traditional families.

S.S. Paul, Nadia

Double standards

Sir — Several Union ministers and the prime minister, Narendra Modi, have taken potshots at the Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, for the remarks he made about the Indian government in the United Kingdom (“Shrill voice”, Mar 14). Rahul Gandhi’s assertions that democracy is under attack in India and that the Opposition’s voice is being muzzled are undeniable. Modi has conveniently forgotten how he would hurl insults against previous governments — for example, during a trip to Seoul, he had claimed that Indians were ashamed to be born in India due to the actions of past regimes. Were those statements not denigrating the nation’s image?

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee, Faridabad

Clean switch

Sir — The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government is harassing leaders from the Opposition parties using Central investigative agencies. While it cannot be denied that corruption must be rooted out, one pertinent question arises here: is no leader in the BJP corrupt (“Loud on UK, mum on Adani”, Mar 14)? When politicians switch over to the BJP, why are all criminal charges against them withdrawn?

Sudhir Kangatkar, Vangani, Maharashtra

Cloaked in shadows

Sir — The editorial, “In the dark” (Mar 11), rightly probes the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Unless we have a detailed account of the early days of the spread of the virus, the world will remain ill-prepared for the next pandemic, whenever it comes. This is worrying because China has made it difficult to probe the origins of Covid-19 by obfuscating data about its laboratories. However, it has been encouraging to see the manner in which different nations have come together to combat the disease.

Sukhendu Bhattacharjee, Hooghly

Limited use

Sir — A. Raghuramaraju has rightly highlighted the adverse effects of modern technology by discussing how, despite making everyday tasks easier and providing benefits to humans, it undermines our power of imagination and harms our cognitive functions considerably (“Profound potential”, Mar 13). Although modern technology cannot be done away with, there should be limits on its usage.

Yousuf Iqbal, Calcutta

Risky deal

Sir — It is saddening that politicians all over the world are united in making false promises to their constituencies. Like many powerful nations, the United States of America had also pledged to slowly phase out fossil fuels. Its target is to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The approval granted to the controversial Willow Oil Project in Alaska by the US president, Joe Biden, flies in the face of that promise. It will upset the delicate balance of the Alaskan ecosystem.

Jang Bahadur Singh, Jamshedpur

Weighty issue

Sir — Childhood obesity is increasingly becoming a concern across the world (“Dangers of childhood obesity”, Mar 13). It is unfortunate that children have minimal physical activity these days. What is worse, parents allow frequent consumption of unhealthy fast food. Such lifestyles must be rectified at the earliest to avoid longterm adverse impacts.

Kiran Agarwal, Calcutta

Iconic author

Sir — It was unfortunate to read about the death of the Japanese Nobel laureate, Kenzaburo Oe. He was an outspoken activist for peace. In 1994, he was cited as a writer who “with poetic force creates an imagined world” when he became the second Japanese author to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Raju Sharma, Calcutta