Violent lesson
Sir — Few amongst us can claim to have escaped the wrath of teachers in school. Even the most obedient students have fallen afoul of teachers at times. In those moments of childhood rage, it was common to plot revenge against the school in one’s mind. The Turkish actor, Caglar Ertugrul, clearly believes that revenge is a dish best served cold because he waited until he was an adult to buy his elementary school and demolish it to avenge his childhood humiliation at the hands of his teachers. This shows that if educators inflict violence on young students, they are teaching them a dangerous lesson for life.
Rukmini Begum, East Midnapore
Find the culprit
Sir — An allegation of molestation has been levelled against the governor of West Bengal, C.V. Ananda Bose, by an employee of the Raj Bhavan. This has caused more turbulence in the already-tumultuous political situation in the state, aggravating the conflict between the ruling Trinamool Congress government and the governor. Even if the accusation against the governor is true, the TMC should not use it as a ploy to distract people from the events at Sandeshkhali, the teachers’ recruitment scam and other such fiascos. However, Bose’s claims of being innocent cannot be accepted without proper investigation. He must be punished if found guilty.
Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee, Faridabad
Poor standards
Sir — The Supreme Court has rightly rebuked Patanjali Ayurved for non-compliance with its order of furnishing the apology ads in newspapers to the court as cutouts. The court also rapped the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority on the knuckles for failing to take action against Patanjali (“Wide vision”, May 1). In this context, it is also important to mention the recent complaints regarding some substandard Indian spices in foreign markets. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has now ordered a comprehensive testing of spices, condiments and so on to ensure their quality. One wonders if the FSSAI and other such institutions have the wherewithal to carry out quality checks or stop errant businesses like Patanjali from flouting laws.
S.S. Paul, Nadia
Sir — A Supreme Court bench has admonished Patanjali Ayurved for its continued dissemination of misleading advertisements. The bench has looked beyond the scope of a single company to hold ministries, drug controllers and licensing authorities responsible for poor quality fast-moving consumer goods. The unethical practices by doctors have also been referred to. In one swipe, the apex court has addressed a whole spectrum of malpractices.
Ardhendu Chakraborty, Calcutta
Sir — After sparking global outrage for failing to check the export of substandard drugs, Indian safety regulators are now being plagued by reports of toxic substances being found in several Indian spice mixes (“Toxin alert in spices”, May 3). These spices allegedly contain carcinogenic compounds. Despite the alarm at the falling quality of Indian spices, the FSSAI is yet to take adequate action against the manufacturers. The manufacturers and distributors should destroy the existing domestic stock.
Brij Bhushan Goyal, Ludhiana
Curious coincidence
Sir — The prime minister’s photograph has been removed from CoWIN vaccination certificates owing to the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct during the Lok Sabha elections. It could be a coincidence that this move has come at a time when AstraZeneca has admitted to the Covishield vaccine having some serious side effects. Politics is inseparable from publicity and, thus, the possibility of the photo being intentionally removed cannot be dismissed.
R. Narayanan, Navi Mumbai
