Wrong timing

Sir — It seems that Richard Branson now has a leg-up in the race of billionaires trying to break into space tourism. He successfully flew to the edge of space and back in his Virgin Galactic passenger rocket plane, days ahead of a rival launch by Jeff Bezos. This could have been lauded as pathbreaking at some other time. But in the midst of a pandemic — each seat would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars — this is an abject waste of resources.

Pinaki Sengupta,
Calcutta

Shameful conduct

Sir — It was quite shocking to hear the advocate general of Uttarakhand arguing against live streaming rituals from the Char Dham by insisting that the act is prohibited in the shastras (“Worrying script”, July 12). Last month, the Uttarakhand High Court stayed the state cabinet’s decision to open the Char Dham shrines for a limited number of local people and ordered the live streaming of rituals. Earlier in May, when the second wave of the coronavirus swept through the country, the high court had rebuked the government for failing to ensure Covid-19 protocols during the Kumbh Mela and, once again, at the beginning of the Char Dham yatras this year.

The high court has rightly observed that it is more important to save everyone from the Delta variant of the coronavirus rather than being considerate towards the feelings of a few. The shrines were closed last summer as well, owing to the national lockdown.

It is shameful that certain sections of the population continue to disregard public health and well-being. The government has moved the Supreme Court challenging the high court order staying the Char Dham yatras. Hopefully, the apex court will not entertain the whims of the government and uphold the ruling in view of the third wave of Covid-19 and will also ask the government to gear up for the future.

S.S. Paul,
Nadia

Sir — It is astounding how the Uttarakhand government continues to insist on holding religious gatherings in spite of its massive blunder with the Kumbh Mela earlier this year. The Kumbh Mela was one of the primary reasons behind the spread of the coronavirus to the remote villages of India. The insistence of the advocate general of Uttarakhand that live streaming is forbidden in the shastras is not only illogical but also shows how little the government cares about the well-being of the people.

Janaki Patil,
Mumbai