Mulch to mulch
Sir —The desire never to part from loved ones is perhaps universal. One way of going about this is composting the remains of the dearly departed to make nutrient-rich soil. This might sound bizarre at first. After all, who thinks that one day their parents will be a bag of mulch in the backyard? But such compost can be used in a garden, which will remain with us till we become mulch ourselves, at which point, we can be reunited with those we lost — dust to dust, mulch to mulch. What is more, this method is also environmentally friendlier and less polluting than cremation or burial.
Shreya Chatterjee, Calcutta
Politics of religion
Sir — The Congress has done the right thing by turning down the invitation to the inauguration of the Ram temple (“On principle”, Jan 12). As for the accusations of being ‘anti-Hindu’, the fact that even the four shankaracharyas have refused to attend the ceremony helps the Congress’s cause. Ironically, before independence, attempts were made to brand the Congress a Hindu party by the Muslim League with the tacit support of the British government. Now, thanks to the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress is indeed trying to flaunt Hindu credentials. Politics must be governed by progressive ideals and not religion. But the BJP has transformed Hinduism into an organised public affair, forcing other political parties to follow in these footsteps. As the single-largest national party other than the BJP, it is important for the Congress to take an independent stand.
Bhaskar Sanyal, Hooghly
Sir — The Congress and other Opposition parties should ignore the accusations of being anti-Hindu being levelled by the BJP. This is especially so as the four shankaracharyas, too, have rejected the invitation to the inauguration of the Ram temple.
Asim Boral, Calcutta
Sir — The inauguration of the Ram temple by the most important elected representatives in the country is a grave problem. It will finally bury the secular Nehruvian State. In the prevailing atmosphere of religio-politics, we need to remind ourselves of Mahatma Gandhi. The Mahatma’s Ram rajya was a quest for truth and social justice; the Modi-led BJP’s Ram rajya is an assertion of political supremacy.
Shovanlal Chakraborty, Calcutta
Wasteful idea
Sir — The chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, has rightly expressed her reservations about the ‘one nation, one election’ idea (“One Nation, One Election rubbish: Mamata”, Jan 12). The committee headed by the former president, Ram Nath Kovind, had earlier written to political parties seeking their opinion on the matter. In response, she referred to a practical problem with the proposal. If the government at the Centre collapses, what will happen to the state governments? The Lok Sabha has witnessed several premature dissolutions. In such a situation, fresh elections are the only option and either the cycle of simultaneous elections would be snapped or else all the states would have to go for premature elections despite enjoying the support of the people. This is a waste of public funds.
Khokan Das, Calcutta
Stubborn malaise
Sir — Shockingly, one out of five girls in India and one of nearly six boys are married off below the legal age in India (“Layered spectre”, Jan 11). No matter how many laws are passed against child marriage, unless society can accept that it is detrimental to the physiological, psychological and economic health of children and families this phenomenon will be hard to control. Religious leaders can play a big role in addressing the issue and must be coopted by governments in the drive against child marriage.
Anthony Henriques, Mumbai
