Letters to the Editor: Capital punishment: A remorseless remnant of uncivilized society

The Supreme Court Bench may have asked the Centre a few days ago to suggest alternate means for a more dignified and less painful method to carry out death sentences, taking into consideration today’s medical science and technological advancements. But no optional state methods towards snuffing out a person’s life can be a moral justification against execution, as any form of execution is barbaric and inhumane. Viewed from a broader perspective, therefore, the only answer is to do away with capital punishment, which many countries follow. Also, laws in these countries allow life sentences for murder that severely limit or eliminate the possibility of parole. Execution of death convicts to deter a certain amount of murder has been thoroughly discredited by social science research. And such a thing falsely convinces the public that the government has taken effective measures to combat crime and homicide. Capital punishment is a remorseless remnant of an uncivilized society. It is immoral in principle and unfair and discriminatory in practice.

Ranganathan Sivakumar,

(siva19kumar@gmail.com)

Why 1971 and not 1951?

The Central Government has already decided to begin the NRC (National Register of Citizens) for the country in 1951. The Assam agitation movement leaders, after having discussed with the central government, unanimously agreed to start the NRC in Assam with the base year of 1971. The identification and deportation of the foreigners were to start with effect from 1971. The significance of this base year was that, in 1971, what was then called East Pakistan was attacked by the West Pakistani army, as a result of which there was a large-scale exodus of East Pakistani refugees into Assam after the government of Assam had agreed to give them shelter in Assam. But due to the negligence, indifference, and shortsightedness of the then Congress government, many of these refugees did not return to what is now Bangladesh. After the defeat of the Pakistani army, these refugees settled permanently, easily occupying the vacant government lands without any resistance from anyone and thus creating vote banks for the ruling party.

Therefore, it is not that there were not many illegal foreign Bangladeshi people during the period from 1951 to 1971. Despite the erection of a border fence between India and Bangladesh, infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals has not stopped. Before the fencing, there was large-scale infiltration of Bangladeshis into our country, especially in Assam. So, the numbers of foreign nationals are certainly not less. If detection and deportation are possible, it would certainly be good for Assam and the other states in our country. Assam has nothing to lose but will gain. If the sponsors of the Assam movement don’t agree with the government about the base year of the NRC and don’t accept starting the NRC accordingly, a difficult situation will arise for Assam. While Bangladeshi nationals in other parts of the country except Assam from 1951 to 1970 will be illegal foreign nationals, in Assam they are legal citizens. Naturally, there will be the possibility of a large-scale exodus of these illegal Bangladeshis from other states of the country during the period 1951–1970 for the sake of converting themselves from illegal immigrants into legal citizens.

Naturally, Assam will miss the bus. I request the sponsors of the Assam agitation to reconsider their earlier decision and agree with the central government. However, what was mentioned above will be true provided the government is sincere in starting NRC work without much delay and completing it in the right time, but we have great doubts about it. At the same time, NRC remarks in Assam must not be suspended from 1971 but must go forward and complete in time. All government employees engaged in NRC preparation must be strictly warned against gross mistakes, for which they will be personally responsible, and in any case of any gross wrong, they will be heavily punished, including affecting their service contracts. After its completion, the next phase of the NRC from 1951 in Assam shall be started and completed on time.

Paramananda Bora,

Jyoti Path, Bhetapara.

Chemicals are harmful to health

In general, some unscrupulous farmers apply chemical fertilizers to increase the yield and size of vegetables. Moreover, these farmers use large amounts of pesticides to prevent insects from damaging the vegetables. It is also a matter of consideration how experienced the farmers are in this regard or whether they have received any training from the department of agriculture on the application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Sometimes complaints are heard in this regard. The desired results will surely be achieved if the Department of Agriculture, Assam provides necessary training to the farmers in the application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. More recently, vegetables have become poisonous due to the lack of precautions and knowledge in the application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This is a serious threat to human health.

It is worth mentioning that agricultural scientists advise caution in the application of any of these chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In this context, I would like to mention that fruits and vegetables have become poisonous and unfit for consumption. This is because seasonal fruits like mangoes, oranges, pineapples, watermelons, tomatoes etc., are ripened with calcium carbide. It is not only farmers who do such things. Some traders also do these harmful things for more profit. This is a complaint the people of Assam have heard about for many years. After bringing bananas, mangoes, apples, oranges etc., to Guwahati, some traders in the city try to ripen them in a short period of time by applying calcium carbide. But people buy and eat them without any knowledge of such things. As a result, people are getting sicker and dying at an early age.

It is very unfortunate that cancer, diabetes, kidney and heart diseases are already becoming widespread in Assam. Up to 45,000 cancer patients are diagnosed in Assam every year. In addition, Kamrup (Metropolitan) district has become the epicenter of the disease. The number of patients suffering from other non-communicable diseases is also increasing at an unprecedented rate. People are suffering from cancer, diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease etc., mainly because of eating food that has toxic chemicals. The State Health Department has already learned about that. In particular, Darrang district has the highest number of people suffering from these diseases. This is because Kharupetia in Darrang district produces most vegetables, which often uses the most chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It is noteworthy that most of the people of this district buy vegetables produced in the area from the local markets. However, the government should take proper measures to ensure that no vegetables and fruits containing toxic chemicals are sold in the market.

However, the Guwahati High Court recently ordered the inspection and identification of agricultural food items such as vegetables at the entrance to Guwahati to ban the production and sale of poisonous food items. As a citizen of the state, I humbly request the officers of the concerned departments to comply with the orders of the High Court.

Heramba Nath,

(herambanath2222@gmail.com)

Kudos to Australia

Kudos to Australia, which defeated India by 21 runs in the third and final One-Day International (ODI) to clinch the series 2-1 in Chennai. This is now the second time in a row that India has lost a bilateral ODI series against Australia in a World Cup year. And what’s common between their 3-2 loss in 2019 and the 2-1 defeat in this series is the fact that Team India was ahead on both occasions — leading the 2019 series 2-0 before losing three in a row. With their 1-2 ODI defeat to Australia, India has ended a sequence of 26 unbeaten home series across formats. For now, the Aussies will relish regaining the top spot in the ODI rankings and flying back home with the ODI series trophy as a consolation after losing out on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier in the trip. If Mitchell Marsh is the Player of the Series for collecting 194 runs at an average of 97 and a strike rate of 131.08, then in the third ODI, Adam Zampa is the Player of the Match for his haul of 4/45. Interestingly, Team Blue captain Rohit Sharma has come to support the star India middle-order batter Surya Kumar Yadav (SKY) after he became the first player in the history of ODIs to register three golden ducks in a three-match series when he said “He (SKY) plays spin so well, which is why we wanted to hold him back and give him that role of last 15 to 20 overs”. But why only blame SKY when the Indian top four has so far struggled against some sensational swing bowling from Mitchell Starc, who has collected nine wickets in his first two games, including a five-for in Vizag? Or was it not in the first ODI at Mumbai that, after the collapse of the top order, Team Blue was rescued by the likes of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja? Actually, before the coming World Cup ODIs, Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid have a lot of work to do on this team as they aim to regain the coveted trophy on home soil later this year.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,

Faridabad.

Ways to tackle fake news

In democratic systems, fake news and sophisticated campaigns to spread false information are especially troublesome, and there is a growing debate about how to deal with these problems without taking away from the good things that digital media can do. In order to maintain an open, democratic system, it is important that government, business, and consumers work together to solve these problems. Governments should promote news literacy and strong professional journalism in their societies. The news industry must provide high-quality journalism in order to build public trust and correct fake news and disinformation without legitimizing them. Technology companies should invest in tools that identify fake news, reduce financial incentives for those who profit from disinformation, and improve online accountability. Educational institutions should make informing people about news literacy a high priority. Finally, individuals should follow a diversity of news sources and be skeptical of what they read and watch.

Jubel D’Cruz,

Mumbai.