Chain that binds

Sir — An Indian luxury brand has achieved what none else in the country could — in a political win, it brought the left, right, and centre factions of the country together in common cause over an utter distaste for a new product, designer mangalsutras. The overtly sexual tenor of the advertisement for the product has not gone down well. Some say it is too much empowerment, others say nobody asked for this specific type of empowerment, while most are too tired of the hype over what is, in essence, a piece of jewellery. Whatever the opinion, it marks a moment of historic unity.

Shinjini Paul,

Calcutta

Dangerous lies

Sir — It is shocking that the National Tiger Conservation Authority has found violations in the name of setting up a tiger safari project in the Corbett Tiger Reserve. Forged documents to justify illegal constructions and unsanctioned construction activities are some of the findings of the NTCA report. The report further highlights the dark underbelly of the Corbett park’s administration and its collusion with Uttarakhand forest officials to clear forest land for construction activities. National parks and reserves should be inviolable. Allowing any kind of construction activity inside them — no matter the reason — opens doors to all kinds of malpractices and is inimical to the interests of wildlife.

M.L. Shah,

New Delhi

Too late

Sir — The editorial, “Armageddon” (Oct 30), is timely and serves as a stern warning to humans. The time to act on climate change is now — it is already too late and any further delay will spell doom for the planet. Every single day that is wasted, brings us closer to a global catastrophe.

Anwar Saeed,

Calcutta

Sir — The ‘armageddon’ is already here as the editorial of the same name underlines with hard, unpalatable facts. The Cop-26 is perhaps the last opportunity to take decisive action. India, the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after the United States of America and China, has already rejected calls to announce a net zero carbon emissions target and said it was more important for the world to lay out a pathway to reduce such emissions and avert a dangerous rise in global temperatures. The pathway has been laid out several times; it is now time to walk that path.

Shobhita Singh,

Raipur, Madhya Pradesh

Growing presence

Sir — It is good to see that the Olympic champion and sporting legend, Leander Paes, and the former swimmer and actress, Nafisa Ali, have extended their support to the Trinamul Congress in Goa (“Leander, Nafisa Ali join TMC in Goa”, Oct 30). This will no doubt help the TMC increase its footprint across india. The party’s landslide victory in the West Bengal assembly election caused much euphoria and attracted popular names to the party. It remains to be seen what role these inductees play in building a movement to stop the Bharatiya Janata Party juggernaut.

Jayanta Datta,

Hooghly

Futile rules

Sir — Pandemic-related restrictions have been extended till November 30 in Calcutta. Yet, it must be asked if these restrictions hold any real meaning. Both two and four wheelers ply on the streets even after the curfew. Many eateries, too, remain open after stipulated hours, while others down the shutters in name only while dishing out food to cars that line up outside them. Are these rules issued just to make the government look good on paper?

Murtaza Ahmad,

Calcutta

Parting shot

Sir — It is encouraging that steps are being taken to clean the Maidan of excrement from police horses (“Diapers for police horses”, Oct 30). But what about the stray animals that graze there?

T. Mazumder,

Calcutta