Spirit lost

Sir — George Orwell had called international sporting competitions “war minus the shooting”. This was proved right recently when an Australian swimming coach was sacked after he showed public support for a South Korean swimmer during the Paris Olympics. Around the same time, the Italian boxer, Angela Carini, accused the Algerian boxer, Imane Khelif, of not being a ‘real’ woman when she lost to the latter. Instead of being reprimanded, Carini was even supported by the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. The rise of nationalistic politics, it seems, is taking the sporting spirit out of sports.

Dhritiman Sen, Calcutta

Great fall

Sir — The navy seems to have allowed itself to be pressurised by the powers that be to erect the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji as a grand gesture before the Lok Sabha polls (“Egg on uniform”, Sept 5). Now that the Maratha ruler has been dislodged unceremoniously from the pedestal, the Maharashtra government should refrain from wasting taxpayers’ money in erecting an even bigger statue.

Avinash Godboley, Dewas, Madhya Pradesh

Sir — The Maratha ruler who posed a great threat to the Mughals has been felled by Indian politicians and the navy. The statue should have been installed with proper caution and care. This is not an isolated incident — bridges, roads and airports regularly collapse or get damaged due to shoddy construction work. Our leaders must realise that structures need to be built not to win elections but to ensure their longevity.

S. Kamat, Mysuru

Sir — The collapse of the statue of Shivaji has begun another round of mud-slinging among political parties. The Congress leader, Jairam Ramesh, took the opportunity to share a clip of a similar statue that was inaugurated by the former prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1957 which is still intact. It is true that there was less corruption in the country back then. The Bharatiya Janata Party inaugurated the statue of the ruler to woo the voters; the money would have been better used on roads and public amenities.

A.P. Thiruvadi, Chennai

Regressive minds

Sir — Three incidents of violence within a week — a man in Maharashtra was assaulted on the Dhule-CSMT Express and, in Haryana, a migrant worker was lynched by a mob and a boy shot dead — indicate the rise of cow vigilantism in India (“Haryana lynching linked to cow vigilantism”, Aug 31). The boy, Aryan Mishra, was shot by a group of people who mistook him for a cattle smuggler. One of the accused, Anil Kaushik, is a member of the notorious Bajrang Dal. All these attacks will foment communal tensions in Maharashtra and Haryana ahead of the assembly polls. The country that has sent spacecraft to Mars and is at the forefront of digital innovation finds itself in an embarrassing paradox. Our leaders are to be blamed for fuelling regressive
sentiments by engaging in divisive rhetoric.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee, Faridabad

Sir — The toxic environment of New India is conducive to muscle-flexing and communal violence. A young worker, Sabir Malik, was lynched in Haryana, a state run by the double-engine sarkar of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Malik was killed on the suspicion of consuming beef. Consumption of beef is not illegal in India and it is deplorable that cases like this have continued to increase. Ironically, the saffron party demands justice in West Bengal but turns a blind eye towards violence in states where it is in power. Bengalis must protest against the murder of Malik.

Kajal Chatterjee, Calcutta