Taste the waste
Sir — Bengalis everywhere swear by one or the other posto dish. But posto is mired in an exploitative colonial history. It is the byproduct of the poppy plant. Once opium is extracted from the poppy pods, tiny poppy seeds are left behind. The British opened two opium factories on the banks of the Ganges to feed the Opium Wars being waged in China. Bengali women then experimented with the waste product that the British threw out till they turned it into an ingredient that costs close to Rs 250 for just 100 gms today. Consider that the next time while biting into a postor bora.
Swati Majumdar, Calcutta
Burning silence
Sir — In the 102nd episode of the radio show, Mann Ki Baat, the prime minister took a dig at the Congress for the Emergency imposed in 1975, but remained silent about the turmoil in Manipur that has claimed more than 130 lives (“Maunpur asana”, June 17). The situation in the state is so alarming that a retired lieutenant-general from the state called it “stateless” and compared the scale of anarchy in Manipur to that in Syria, Libya and Nigeria.
But the Modi government remains unmoved by the state of affairs. The state government, too, has failed in its constitutional obligation of maintaining law and order. It must be dismissed forthwith and president’s rule imposed in the state. The onus to act swiftly and firmly is on the prime minister.
S.K. Choudhury, Bengaluru
Sir — The ongoing violence in Manipur is heartbreaking. It exposes the shortcomings of the state government. It is also shocking to see that the Central government and its ministers are choosing to stay silent on Manipur. The Centre must resolve the situation before it goes completely out of control.
Hassan Khan, Mumbai
Sir — The headline, “Maunpur asana”, was apt. It is strange that the prime minister has not taken any steps to calm the tension in the state. The situation is worsening by the day and this will have a long-term impact on the social fabric of Manipur.
Tanuj Pramanick, Howrah
Sir — Manipur is suffering the same disregard that is shown to all the states in the Northeast. The distance between the Northeast and New Delhi is not so much physical as it is psychological. But even local leaders have failed to gauge the seriousness of the conflict in Manipur and take ameliorative steps. If the situation is not brought under control immediately, the discontent will spread to other communities and states.
Arup Sengupta, Siliguri
Muffled speech
Sir — Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, has stoked fresh controversy with his revelations about the Indian government allegedly pressurising the micro-blogging site to censor content and users (“Equally guilty”, June 15). There is no reason to mistrust Dorsey, who is no longer at the helm of Twitter and, thus, has no need to cook up such stories.
The current dispensation at the Centre has used social media to great advantage. But it has also had a fraught relationship with platforms like Twitter. It has tried to regulate social media intermediaries in many ways. While it is true that social media platforms should abide by the law of the land, the government cannot act in self-interest.
Shovanlal Chakraborty, Calcutta
Sir — Jack Dorsey’s revelations do not come as a surprise. While the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government wasted no time in dismissing them, its intolerance of dissent and censorship of free speech are no secret. Twitter, too, has been accused of bias and opacity in its functioning, but the BJP’s track record of defending the right to freedom of speech and expression of its citizens leaves a lot to be desired. A democratically-elected government cannot shirk its constitutional responsibility to protect the fundamental rights of its citizens.
M. Jeyaram, Sholavandan, Tamil Nadu
Disaster report
Sir — It is heartening that India has averted a major tragedy in Gujarat after disaster management personnel evacuated over one lakh people ahead of Cyclone Biparjoy making landfall (“Heavy rain after cyclone”, June 18). With the Arabian Sea warming by over 1.2° Celsius, the occurrence of cyclones has become more frequent. The role of the National Disaster Response Force is thus crucial. The NDRF was helped by several agencies to minimise the loss of human lives. Compared to the 4,000 fatalities in 1998, Gujarat lost some 150 lives when it was hit by Cyclone Tauktae in 2021. This time, only five deaths have been reported. Authorities should focus on restoring normalcy in the state.
Khokan Das, Calcutta
Sir — The havoc wreaked by Cyclone Biparjoy in the Saurashtra-Kutch region has brought regular life to a standstill. This is the second time in two years that the region has been battered by a cyclone. People there need immediate help.
C.K. Ramaniam,Tiruchirappalli
