Royal splendour
Sir — One million lamps, fireworks in the shape of elephants, turrets extending for half a mile, guests receiving sashes woven with gold, a spread of flowers, betel-leaf stimulants, perfumes and an array of appetisers and fruits. If you thought this is a description of the just-concluded — one hopes — Ambani wedding, you would be wrong. The elaborate preparation was for the nuptials of Dara Shikoh, Shah Jahan’s heir apparent. The royal ceremony would have cost $48 million today, whereas the Ambani wedding is reportedly priced at a whopping $156 million, putting the Mughal prince to shame.
Saranya Dasgupta, Calcutta
Land of violence
Sir — It is deeply condemnable that the former president of the United States of America was shot at in an election rally. At the same time, it is ironical that this happened to one of the foremost champions of the gun lobby. In the US, any person “who is a fugitive from justice” is prohibited from purchasing or possessing a gun under federal law. During his presidency, Trump narrowed the scope of this definition to allow more people to possess firearms. Additionally, he is accused of illegally purging 500,000 records of such fugitives from the federal background check system. Trump has thus become a victim of the broken system that he created.
Vijay K.C., Chennai
Sir — Is the assassination attempt on Donald Trump America’s Archduke Ferdinand moment? The former president’s political brand is carved from the knotty pine of victimhood. He will probably denounce those he deems responsible — no doubt his opponents — and define his wound as a red badge of courage. Already, an image of his balled fist raised in the air in defiance with the American flag flying in the background has gone viral on social media. This moment could be the final nail in the coffin of Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.
Sudhir G. Kangutkar, Thane
Sir — The attempted assassination of Donald Trump comes at a time when the US was already bruised — if not broken — politically. Over the last few years, the tenor of what passes for political debate and argument in the US has plumbed new depths of ugliness and violence. The threat level to members of Congress rose from 3,900 in 2017 to 9,625 in 2021. Moreover, a 2021 study by Johns Hopkins University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that 20% of Republicans and 13% of Democrats felt that violence was warranted in the current political climate. Although he was understandably angry and distressed, the sight of Trump shouting “fight, fight fight” as he was bundled off the stage after the shooting is not likely to reduce these tensions. America is clearly at a tipping point.
D.J. Azavedo, Bengaluru
Sir — Joe Biden has never been a great orator and the decline in his eloquence at
the age of 81 makes his presidential candidacy a scary prospect. Yet, when it came to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, he found the right words. “Look, there’s no place in America for this kind of violence,” Biden said in a nationally televised statement. “It’s sick. It’s sick. It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this.” Biden is absolutely right.
Haridasan Rajan, Kozhikode
Sir — This might not be an opportune moment to say it, but Donald Trump is partially responsible for the assassination attempt on him. He has, time and again, encouraged and rationalised violence. Sooner or later, he too was bound to become a victim of it because the fire of hatred spares no one.
The incident seems likely to escalate what is already an extremely tense election cycle. Trump is leading the polls with a campaign centred on retribution for his political adversaries; he has promised to be a dictator on his first day back in the Oval Office, though only the first day. Meanwhile, Biden’s status as the Democratic Party candidate is in question. The leader of the free world is facing an unprecedented crisis.
A.K. Sen, Calcutta
Shameful silence
Sir — Mukul Kesavan is spot on in his article, “Life and Fiction” (July 14), when he writes that it is impossible to divorce an author’s work from his or her life choices. Alice Munro’s stories now seem so blatantly hypocritical that one feels shame at ever having liked them. The complicity of those around her in keeping the abuse of her daughter at the hands of her second husband and her silence about it a secret from the world reveals why those in positions of power or influence get away with crimes.
Tirthankar Mukherjee, Calcutta
Sir — Graham Greene once said that every writer has a sliver of ice in his or her heart but in Alice Munro’s case it is not so much a sliver as an iceberg. It beggars belief that she used her daughter’s abuse as material for a short story.
Arka Goswami, West Burdwan
