Soulful goodbye

Sir — At a time when death rates are soaring across the country and there is significant focus on how people are being cremated, it is also important to consider the rituals that follow a person’s death. These rituals are not just expensive but they also often involve a significant amount of food being wasted. The pandemic has exacerbated hunger in the country. Perhaps it is time we reconsidered how we remember those who have died. Is not feeding the poor an initiative that would earn the most amount of goodwill for the departed soul? Surely every religion will support this.
S. Banerjee,
Calcutta

Identity politics

Sir — It is unfortunate that the idea of a section of the residents of West Bengal being “outsiders” is gaining ground. This idea was widely propagated during the Bengal assembly elections in order to prove that the Bharatiya Janata Party was an outsider in the state. This negative attitude towards those who are referred to as ‘non-Bengalis’ has always existed in Bengal. This is in spite of the fact that these so-called outsiders have greased the economic wheels of the state for a long time.

It is worth mentioning here that as a state that was once partitioned and has an international border, West Bengal is particularly susceptible to migration. These people who have settled here are now an integral part of Bengal, and calling them ‘outsiders’ will only tarnish the image of the Bengali bhadralok. It ruins the reputation of West Bengal and makes its residents seem racist and provincial.
Swapan Chattopadhyay,
Calcutta

Stark boundaries

Sir — Comparisons among states may be odious, but they are also necessary to better understand the factors responsible for the development of some states and the relative backwardness of others. The article, “Ahead of the curve” (June 19), was informative and an eye-opener. Ramachandra Guha has based his article mainly on facts and figures culled from two books — Nehru: A Contemporary’s Estimate by Walter Crocker and The Paradox of India’s North-South Divide by Samuel Paul and Kala Seetharam Sridhar. Although the South is by no means perfect, it emerges a clear winner. But in the article there is little mention of Kerala, which was adjudged the best-governed state in India by the Public Affairs Index, 2020. This is primarily because of the high literacy and low poverty rates in the southern state. A state can become a better place for its citizens to live in not on the strength of jingoism, but by silently paying attention to the basic developmental needs of its population. But we are alarmed at the news that a proposal is in the offing to re-allocate Lok Sabha seats afresh on the basis of population; this would be perilously close to gerrymandering on the part of the present dispensation. Chalk and cheese should not be clubbed together, otherwise it will lead to the weakening of Indian federalism.

Ashoke Basu,
Baruipur, South 24 Parganas

Parting shot

Sir — The arrest of Shiva Shankar Baba, who was accused of sexual harassment by some former students of the residential school he had founded on the outskirts of Chennai, is yet another case of the self-styled godmen of our country leading corrupt, immoral and lavish lifestyles. ‘Godmen’ in India are a different breed; they possess an uncanny ability to attract lakhs of followers, wielding tremendous power over them. This is what allows them to camouflage their nefarious activities. Naïve individuals throng to them and shower them with devotion and money.

Even though ‘gurus’ like Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and Asaram have been implicated for various crimes in the recent past, India’s unhealthy obsession with these babas continues. The undue political patronage that these godmen enjoy owing to vote-bank politics allows them to start seeing themselves as being above the law, operating with near impunity in their ashrams and institutions.

Ranganathan Sivakumar,
Chennai