Sports and politics
At this moment, the whole sports fraternity is totally embroiled in the controversy involving Brij Bhusan Sharan Singh, president of the All India Wrestling Federation, for an allegation of sexual harassment against female wrestlers. The allegations are really very condemnable. The issue has very rightly gone to court, and the court is also taking cognizance of the issue very seriously. We are very proud of our wrestlers, who have shone internationally. But very sadly, our politicians, namely Priyanka Gandhi, Kejriwal, etc., having no iota of knowledge or contribution towards any sport, have started muddling, trying to mix sports with politics.
The latest addition to this list is Navjot Singh Sidhu, the destructor of Congress in Punjab and a hardened criminal jailed for murder charges who is out on bail. We strongly urge the protesting wrestlers to keep away from these opportunist politicians, as they are like vultures that swoop on carcasses.
Lanu Dutt Chowdhury,
Guwahati.
Habitual drinkers in police force
Through your esteemed daily, I would like to throw light on the announcement made by our Chief Minister regarding the voluntary retirement of 300 ‘habitual drinking’ police officers to revamp the force. The state government, led by Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is also responsible for the home portfolio, has taken a good initiative in order to restructure and create a more efficient and honest police force. He has taken on the task prior to the second anniversary of the second BJP-led government in Assam on May 10 and has emphasized that excessive alcohol consumption has caused physical damage to these officers. If this step works out successfully as planned, then it will be an eye-opener, and those on duty will become more aware of their actions and responsibilities towards their uniform. The proper conclusion of this initiative shall also provide the state with a new force of officers who possess perfect physical fitness.
Yubraj Mahanta,
Cotton University.
Wear seatbelts
Almost all modern cars come with in-built safety measures and special features that contribute to saving lives. One life-saving mechanism is the seatbelt device, through which secondary impact is minimized and passenger positioning is largely maintained. Passengers in a car are moving at the speed of the car as a single unit. When the car stops suddenly due to an external impact and suddenly loses momentum, the passengers still tend to move unless there is a system to prevent them from moving, and the seat belt comes in handy. What the seatbelt does is increase the time of the forward falling process of a passenger, thereby reducing the rate of momentum change, resulting in less stopping force acting on him and drastically lessening the possibilities of grievous injuries that may have occurred by collision of the body with the steering wheel and dashboard.
Generally, the shoulder, abdomen, and hip are protected due to this. Another important protective device is the airbag present in a few select cars, where immediately after a crash, when the car stops, the airbags are inflated as a result of seatbelt sensors, cushioning the body parts to a great extent. Rear seatbelts can minimize injury by about 75 per cent and death by approximately 25 percent. The problem lies in the blatant disregard of rules by passengers. Although drivers wearing seatbelts are quite common, the same cannot be said of other occupants of the vehicle. The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act provides for a fine of 1000 rupees for driving without a seatbelt. Unfortunately, this applies only to the driver and the other occupant of the front seat and not to the rear seats’ occupants, although a couple of states have made seatbelts mandatory for rear seat passengers.
Dr Ganapathi Bhat,
(Gbhat13@gmail.com.)