Revel with care

Sir — The bhashan dance that many Bengalis perform while taking part in processions to immerse idols of the goddess, Durga, after the four-day festival is often derided as indecorous. But even such intoxicated revelry has never ended up damaging heritage structures, which is what happened recently when a drunken tourist in Brussels climbed up on a statue outside the stock exchange. A portion of the statue was broken off when the tourist attempted to clamber down. While the miscreant was later arrested, no amount of financial compensation can restore the statue to its former glory — it can, at best, be repaired. Let us hope that in the age of social media, where everyone is in the public eye, such drunken acts of vandalism become increasingly rare.

Surya Sekhar Mazumdar, Birbhum

Progressive step

Sir — Any affirmative action that increases women’s representation and participation in government is welcome (“Women’s quota without date commitment”, Sept 20). The proposed women’s reservation bill, which sets aside one-third of the seats in Parliament and in the state assemblies for women, will go a long way towards reducing gender inequality in India. While there is every possibility that the reserved seats will go to female relatives of prominent male politicians, the law will also allow at least some unknown female leaders working at the grassroots to stake a claim in
policymaking and to eradicate problems like illiteracy among India’s women. The bill is rightly being hailed as a triumph for gender justice. The government should also explore options to introduce sub-quotas for women from the deprived classes.

G. David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

Sir — It is heartening that the long overdue women’s reservation bill has finally been tabled in Parliament. It is symbolic that the bill was the first one to be introduced in the new Parliament building. Multiple governments have tried to pass the
proposal, but have failed to do so repeatedly. Now it is time for all political parties to walk the talk and ensure that the bill is passed without a hitch.

D.V.G. Sankararao, Vizianagaram

Sir — There is little chance that the INDIA bloc of parties will present fresh hurdles to the smooth passage of the women’s reservation bill. The measures advocated by the bill should thus be implemented without further delay. Political parties should adopt resolutions to only nominate female candidates to certain seats. The Election Commission of India should also formulate concrete guidelines to prevent family members of male politicians from contesting from the reserved seats.

Kavitha Srikanth, Chennai

Sir — The Centre deserves to be congratulated for putting in concerted effort to present the women’s reservation bill. However, celebrations should be postponed until the delimitation exercise is conducted and the suggestions outlined in the bill are actually implemented.

P.V. Rao Sreelekha, Secunderabad

Sir — If the government had already decided to introduce the long awaited women’s reservation bill setting aside one-third of the seats in the Central and state legislative bodies for women, what was the need for secrecy? Why did the Centre keep the Opposition in the dark regarding the business to be conducted in the urgently declared ‘special session’ of Parliament? Such a step betrays the usual lack of transparency that people have come to expect from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government. It is clear that the Centre has introduced the bill only to gain votes from women ahead of the Lok Sabha elections of 2024.

S.K. Choudhury, Bengaluru

Diplomatic debacle

Sir — The allegation levelled by the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, that the Indian government is involved in the killing of the Khalistani terrorist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, on Canadian soil is baseless and absurd (“Ties nosedive as Trudeau tries to link India to hit job”, Sept 20). Trudeau’s reticence amidst repeated anti-India acts carried out by pro-Khalistan elements in Canada is equally concerning. He seems to be looking for a scapegoat as Canada faces a law and order crisis.

Avinash Godboley, Dewas, Madhya Pradesh

Sir — Escalation in acts of violence against representations of India in Canada in recent months should be condemned. Canada’s claim that India was responsible for the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar has led to a diplomatic crisis and seen senior diplomats being expelled from both countries (“Calm down”, Sept 20). India should take immediate steps to cool tensions and ensure that Canada takes action against growing separatist and terrorist activity in its territory.

N.R. Ramachandran, Chennai

Sir — Amid deteriorating diplomatic relations between India and Canada, New Delhi has ordered a senior Canadian diplomat to leave the country within the next few days. The expulsion comes after a similar step in Canada and amidst explosive allegations from the Canadian prime minister stating that there were credible links between the Government of India and the gunning down of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. While the allegation has been dismissed as absurd by India, these developments will surely affect the lives of the thousands of Indian citizens who work in Canada, especially the
students who study in Canadian colleges. They might now find themselves the targets of racially motivated crimes.

Bhagwan Thadani, Mumbai

Uniform standards

Sir — The introduction of the USB-C connector in the iPhone 15 corrects a major failing in Apple’s technology. USB-C connectors offer faster data transfer and the charging efficiency is also considerably higher.

Amarjeet Kumar, Hazaribagh