Little bites

Sir — The lines between fiction and reality are often blurred. In a scene from the comedy series, After Life, the protagonist, while dining with his nephew at a restaurant, is shown ordering off the kid’s menu for himself, much to the waitress’s chagrin. In real life, too, an American woman was recently shamed by the staff of a hotel in Japan after she ordered a children’s pizza, which costs less than a regular-sized pizza. Many adults tend to order from children-specific menus owing to the ubiquity of online ordering. But given that food inflation has been surging, can diners be blamed for looking for ways to save?

Binita Dey, Calcutta

Toxic words

Sir — At a recent election rally in Rajasthan, the prime minister, Narendra Modi, warned that the Congress would confiscate the properties owned by Hindu women if it is elected to power (“PM gear switch to divisive pitch”, April 22). Modi then went on to assert that the Grand Old Party would take away their mangalsutras and hand them over to Muslims. This is an attempt to polarise the electorate and is unbecoming of the leader of a country.

Concealing his divisive tone at another rally in Aligarh, Modi tried to put on a Muslim-friendly face by boasting about increasing India’s Haj quota (“Day after in Muslim belt, Haj on Modi lips”. April 23). This shows that Modi has no remorse for vilifying the members of the minority community and is unabashed about exploiting their marginalised status with appeasement politics. It also betrays his frustration at the perception of the INDIA bloc gaining ground after the first round of polling. That the Election Commission of India has done little about Modi’s comments is unfortunate.

Tharcius S. Fernando, Chennai

Sir — Narendra Modi’s assertion that the Congress would take away the wealth of Hindu “mothers and sisters” and give them to Muslims is overtly communal and divisive (“Chosen poison”, April 24). The EC should take action against such a remark since it violates the Model of Code of Conduct. Modi often makes claims about India being ‘the mother of democracy’ and the country’s global standing having improved after he came to power. But his latest remark portrays India in a poor light among democratic nations.

N. Sadhasiva Reddy, Bengaluru

Sir — The Congress’s election manifesto, which promises a nationwide caste census and equitable distribution of wealth, seems to have found resonance among the masses. This has caught the Bharatiya Janata Party on the back foot. The prime minister’s comments about the Congress thus betray a knee-jerk reaction to hoodwink the nation. It is astonishing that Modi does not feel an ounce of shame about creating enmity between communities.

The Modi government has skewed policies and resources in favour of corporate behemoths and facilitated the rise of crony capitalists. Economic inequality in our country is now worse than what it was under the British raj. The communal slurs are a bid to mask the government’s stark failures.

G. David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

Sir — That the prime minister would go so far as to claim that the Congress would snatch mangalsutras from Hindu women and distribute them among Muslims betrays his fear of losing the general elections (“Priyanka points to mangalsutra home truths”, April 24). On the other hand, several ill-thought-out policies of the ruling dispensation, including demonetisation, the announcement of the lockdown without prior notice, and the monumental mismanagement of the Covid-19 crisis, led to many Indians losing their jobs and being forced to sell off their assets to make ends meet.

Kajal Chatterjee, Calcutta

Needs help

Sir — The United States Senate overwhelmingly voted on a more than $95 billion foreign aid package, which includes $61 billion in military aid for Ukraine (“Senate approves aid for Ukraine”, April 25). This will provide fresh weapons to Kyiv to help it defend itself against Russian aggression. The foreign aid bill, signed by the president, Joe Biden, ends months of uncertainty about whether the US would continue to support the Ukrainian resistance. The financing of the war has become a political flashpoint ahead of a presidential election.

Khokan Das, Calcutta

Sir —The contradictions between the Republicans and the Democrats ensured that the foreign aid bill remained stuck in the House for months. If the aid reached Kyiv on time, Russia would not have been able to capture the amount of Ukrainian land that it has today.

Jang Bahadur Singh, Jamshedpur

Parting shot

Sir — It is heartening that the Calcutta Municipal Corporation has started excavating a pond in Jadavpur that had long ceased to be a water body and turned into a garbage dumping ground (“KMC starts restoration of Jadavpur pond”, April 25). The municipality should take steps to restore other water bodies as well.

Sourish Misra, Calcutta