Correct the mistake

Sir — The creators of the latest movie in the Scooby-Doo franchise, Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!, have confirmed that the bespectacled nerd of the gang, Velma Dinkley, will be portrayed as a lesbian. This finally puts to rest speculation about Velma’s sexuality. Velma’s queerness was never defined by the original showrunners who thought it would be inappropriate for the target audience. This is not the first time that a queer character has been misrepresented on screen. Children should not be robbed of the experience of watching wholesome characters of various genders and sexualities because of moral policing.

Tincy Varghese, Calcutta

Grave tragedy

Sir — In a shocking incident, at least 131 people died and more than 100 were injured in a stampede after a domestic football match in East Java, Indonesia. The incident occurred when the angry supporters of the losing team entered the pitch and started attacking the players. The riot police then fired tear gas to disperse the spectators (“Bloodied field”, Oct 6). It has come to light that the Kanjuruhan stadium was packed beyond its capacity. Police incompetence and crowd control failures are mainly responsible for stampedes. Moreover, Fifa forbids firearms or crowd-control gas inside stadiums. Security procedures and the role of the police should be reviewed to avoid the recurrence of such incidents. Football fans must also refrain from hooliganism.

S.S. Paul, Nadia

Sir — The violence at the Kanjuruhan stadium in Indonesia is among the worst crowd-related disasters. The police firing of tear gas at the angry supporters and at the stadium’s stands is in violation of Fifa’s guidelines. An independent investigation should be conducted to bring the violators to book.

C.K. Dorai Ramani, Ghaziabad

Up for grabs

Sir — Seldom has an internal election of a political party evoked public interest and media attention of this magnitude as the upcoming presidential poll of the Congress party. The veteran leaders, Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor, are the two contenders in the fray (“The sidekicks”, Oct 5). While Kharge is the frontrunner owing to the support of the Nehru-Gandhi family and the party’s rank and file, Tharoor’s political erudition and eloquence make him a strong contestant as well. Whoever becomes the president will be taking up the humongous challenge of reforming the party and regaining its lost vote bank. For that to happen, the Gandhis also have to ensure the independent functioning of the new president.

M. Jeyaram, Sholavandan, Tamil Nadu

Sir — The recent infighting between the supporters of the Rajasthan chief minister, Ashok Gehlot, and the state’s former deputy chief minister, Sachin Pilot, has further dented the Congress’s credibility. Nevertheless, the Congress is the oldest national party in India and played a significant role in the country’s freedom struggle. Congress leaders must, thus, make sincere efforts to revive the party. Inner feuds should be dealt with swiftly and deftly. Party leaders must now focus on the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra and ensure that its objectives resonate with people across the country.

R. Narayanan, Navi Mumbai

Sir — The result of the Congress presidential election seems to be a foregone conclusion: Mallikarjun Kharge clearly has an upper hand over his opponent, Shashi Tharoor. It seems that Tharoor has been placed as a dummy candidate to convince people that the election process is democratic. These gimmicks will not help the Grand Old Party strike a chord with the masses.

N. Mahadevan, Chennai

Competitive race

Sir — According to a poll survey, Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right incumbent president of Brazil, is engaged in a close contest against the leftist candidate and former president, Luiz Inàcio Lula da Silva, ahead of the runoff presidential elections on October 30. This is in contrast to several other opinion polls which predicted that Bolsonaro would lose the race. The former American president, Donald Trump, has endorsed Bolsonaro. Since coming to power in 2019, Bolsonaro’s reign has been marked by several instances of misgovernance, which include the mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic, deforestation of the Amazon as well as decimating the economy. Bolsonaro’s re-election will spell doom for Brazil.

Jang Bahadur Singh, Jamshedpur

True leader

Sir — It is unfortunate that the veteran leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the former home minister of Kerala, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, has passed away. He was one of the tallest and ablest political leaders in the state. In a career spanning five decades, Balakrishnan came to be known for his excellent crisis management and organisational skills. He was famous for his signature smile and was respected even by his rivals. Balakrishnan’s death has created a void in the political landscape of Kerala.

M. Pradyu, Kannur