A man’s world

Sir — One would think that the scourge of sexism affects just the world of humans. But the contagion has spread into the plant kingdom and the carriers are none other than humans. Male trees are disproportionately favoured by urban landscape planners as female trees shed fruits as well as seeds and pods, making it difficult to keep the streets clean. The overpopulation of male trees has, in turn, led to an exponential increase in pollen in the air, causing a spike in hay fever and allergies globally. Next time you are sneezing while walking along the streets, remember that it is sexism that you are allergic to.

Yashodhara Sen, Calcutta

Petty politics

Sir — The arrest of the two accused in the Bengaluru cafe blast case from West Bengal has kept the state’s political pot boiling ahead of the Lok Sabha polls (“Cafe blast duo held in Digha”, April 13). The Bharatiya Janata Party in the state has claimed that the Trinamul Congress regime has turned the state into a safe haven for terrorists. The TMC’s denial of accusations levelled against it and its unsubstantiated charges against Central agencies may have encouraged culprits to take shelter in the state.

S.S. Paul, Nadia

Sir — It is unfortunate that political mudslinging has ensued the arrest of the accused in the Bengaluru cafe blast case from West Bengal. I wonder what the reaction of the BJP would have been had the duo been nabbed in Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh. Such blame games show how low the political discourse has sunk. Healthy debates over issues like employment, price rise, communal harmony, water scarcity and so on have become things of the past. Politics in India has never been murkier.

Amit Brahmo, Calcutta

Sir — The fact that the duo accused of orchestrating the cafe blast in Bengaluru was only arrested this month, just before the Lok Sabha elections, is both shameful and suspicious. The timing of the arrest could be politically motivated. They crossed multiple states to reach West Bengal. It reflects poorly on the investigative agencies that they were not nabbed earlier.

Jayanta Datta, Hooghly

Wrong focus

Sir — The prime minister, Narendra Modi, is playing the religion card to the hilt at his election rallies, violating an advisory by the Election Commission of India. Modi has made the Ram temple the focal point of his speeches since he cannot address issues like unemployment and inflation. He also violates the Model Code of Conduct repeatedly by labelling Opposition leaders as anti-Hindu. These are nothing but attempts to incite religious hatred and consign bread and butter issues to the back burner. The ECI must take suo moto cognisance of such violations.

Kamal Laddha, Bengaluru

Sir — The ongoing general elections in India will be remembered for a gross mismatch between the agendas of people and political parties. The real issues plaguing people have been overshadowed by the narrow interests of political parties. Unemployment and inflation are the predominant concerns affecting citizens. But these issues do not seem to be the focus of political campaigns.

The ruling Bharatiya Janaya Party, especially, is interested only about the consecration of the Ram temple, the scrapping of Article 370, the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act and so on. It speaks of its plans for the next 20 years as if winning is a foregone conclusion. The Opposition camp is also living in a utopian world. Civil society thus has a major role to play in bringing real issues back to the centre stage. The voice of the people should not be lost in the din of poll campaigns.

D.V.G. Sankara Rao, Andhra Pradesh

Unmet aspirations

Sir — The number of students aspiring to pursue medicine has been increasing in India. But the ratio of medical college seats to aspirants is still abysmal at about 20:1. Many aspirants are thus forced to pursue medical courses in colleges located in countries like Serbia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and so on. Moreover, while MBBS graduates from foreign institutes have to undergo rigorous tests to practice in India, the transfer of credits ensures a relatively easier transition to hospital internships for migrants in several European nations. It is time the government took concerted steps to address the ills plaguing medical education.

M. Jeyaram, Sholavandan, Tamil Nadu

Poor showing

Sir — The consistently poor performance of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the ongoing Indian Premier League is disappointing. Despite having one of the greatest batsmen of all time, Virat Kohli, the team has failed to clinch a single trophy in the past 16 editions of the IPL. RCB, led by Faf du Plessis, is clearly not up to the mark, especially in terms of bowling. This has resulted in four consecutive losses in the six games they have played so far. The management’s failures also raise serious concerns for the entire unit.

Mahajan Rohan, Jammu