Letters to The EDITOR: Policy of appeasement

Policy of appeasement

India is a secular democracy where the elected government is empowered by the people to look after the nation for 5 years. The political parties try to woo the voters by their ideology and past achievements by publishing their election manifesto. Very sadly it is not so in India, as evidenced by a new policy to woo the voters, named ‘Appeasement’. The said policy is meant to woo the voters of a particular religious community, even at the cost of the nation’s security and integrity. A regional political party of Tamil Nadu even threatened and abused the Sanatanis openly, which their partners of the newly formed I.N.D.I.A refused to condemn. In yet another incident, Mamata Banerjee, the CM of West Bengal, openly sought the support of a religious community in a rally at Netaji Stadium to oust the ruling BJP. The so- called other secularists, namely Congress, SP, AAP, Leftists etc. are also not lagging behind in this regard with the same theory of APPEASEMENT.

They seem to conquer even by stooping low.

Joel Gayari,

Tangla.

Selection on the basis of ability

Last year, in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, players were selected 48 hours before the match against Afghanistan in Kolkata on the advice of an astrologer, and two key players were dropped at the last minute due to bad weather and not a good day. There has been a tradition of reaching at the truth through logic and debate for thousands of years in Indian society. In recent times, resorting to astrology to test a player’s ability has raised a question mark for civilized society. The purpose of a match is to compare and honour the physical abilities and skills of the competing teams. The Football Federation also paid Rs 10 to 12 lakh to this astrologer for two months. Officials said that if a professional astrologer is hired to improve the team, what is wrong with that? The question is whether or not belief in an astrologer, religion or God is a personal choice. But if players start being selected on the basis of planets and zodiac signs as an institution, and that too in the sports field, you will find the youth of the country engaged in correcting their planetary positions instead of sweating it out on the field in the evening. The sooner this frustrated thinking is ended, it will be better for the country.

Nawaz Ashraf,

Guwahati

Of patience

Time is saved, stress is lessened, and relationships are improved by patience. You can accomplish things with patience that are just not possible without it. Patience helps you comprehend and be understood more completely. By having a patient perspective on life, you can discover and enjoy rich gems that you otherwise would not have known about. By practising patience, you gain the perseverance necessary to produce amazing and priceless things. Focus on experiencing all that is already there. Spend some time letting go of your wants, needs, plans, and strategies in order to sink into the luxuriant, all-encompassing ecstasy of being. Reconnect with the part of yourself where everything is fine and always will be. Spend some time there as you renew and invigorate your spirit. Don’t limit your emotions to what you or anyone else wants you to feel. Feel what it’s like to be you right now, unadulterated and true to who you are. You can select the abilities you want to learn more about and develop from the numerous that are available. However, since you already possess the ability to live, all that is required is your permission. Being patient does not entail doing nothing. Contrarily, patience entails continually giving your absolute best while acknowledging that the outcomes you seek won’t manifest right away. Understanding that the quality of life is far more essential than the quantity of stuff you fill it with requires patience. Patience is the ability to accept things as they are for the time being while working tirelessly to make things better.

Chandan Kumar Nath

Tezpur University

Celebrating

literary festivals

It is a lot encouraging to see that literary festivals are increasingly being held elsewhere in the world, which helps build communities of readers. These festivals also provide a platform to new authors by drawing attention from readers and the media, besides enabling popular authors to market their titles. Turned into a major industry, these festivals create new readership, boost book sales, and upgrade publishers’ brands. Perhaps, another major attraction of literary festivals is that it mirrors the nation’s inherent culture and its mores.

As for India, the country celebrates book lovers, authors and writers every year through literary festivals organized across the country’s length and breadth. It is a matter of pride for Indians to attend and be a part of these lit-fests, which indicates the growing tribe of intellectuals in the country. The Jaipur Literary Festival, which is described as the ‘cultural catalyst’ and the ‘greatest literary show on earth’, draws people from around the globe, augmenting Rajasthan’s tourism economy. Literary festivals enable us to unite the past with our contemporary lives, the real with the imagined and the spoken with the written. These festivals have become a great centre for all literature aficionados and aspiring writers with a growing passion for books and expanding love of writing.

Ranganathan Sivakumar

Chennai – 600 091

Disadvantage Naidu

Striking at an opportune moment to humiliate a rival has almost become a norm in Indian politics. The latest example is the arrest of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu in the skill development scam case. Whether or not the former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister was complicit in the scam is for the courts to decide. However, the timing of the arrest has raised eyebrows because the state goes to polls in April, 2024. Naidu, a wily politician who knows how to roll the dice for positive gains, switched allegiance from the BJP in 2018 when he had nothing to lose. But, of late, the rumour mill has gone overboard about his joining hands with the BJP again.

This is what his bête noire Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is hell bent to prevent because a BJP—TDP alliance is a huge political disadvantage for Jagan. Projecting Naidu as a jailed politician is Jagan’s plan to settle scores with Naidu because he himself was described similarly by Naidu. An inert Naidu is another plus for Jagan. Moreover, Jagan is known to be on good terms with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Evidently, he desires to keep that relation to his advantage. It is also said that the arrest of Naidu had the blessings of the Centre. The only hope for Naidu now is to expect a groundswell of support that could turn the tide in his favour. But going by the prevailing public mood, that possibility, too, looks remote.

Dr Ganapathi Bhat

(gbhat13@gmail.com.)