Readers’ Forum : Educating Children

It has been rightly said in the interview of Kailash Satyarthi by Pramod Kumar, appeared in Organiser dated September 24 that ‘Bond of trust between parents and schools is breaking down’. It is not only about the nature of the crime but also about the frequency which should force our administration and the Government to act fast. In crimes like the Ryan International School incident, the condition of both the parents and the school administration become very critical. As a parent we need to teach our child the difference between ‘Good Touch’ and ‘Bad Touch’ and regularly interact with them to understand what is going on in their lives by trying to develop a close bond with them. Schools need to teach self-defence as a compulsory measure to their students. Reforming Police and having a well-meaning Police-Public engagement can go a long way in reducing crime rates. We as responsible citizens of the society need to change our thought process.
BAL GOVIND, Noida                                               
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Wise step
In 1985, Shah Bano won her case in the court of law but it was the then Congress Government which abused its law making powers to annul the apex court’s verdict under the
pressure of the mullahs and snatched from her hand what the apex court had given to her in a landmark verdict. After 21 years, in another land mark verdict, which pertains to Shayara Bano’s case, the Supreme Court removed the Sword of Damocles which had been hanging over the head of married Muslim women, and disallowed the practice of triple talaq. This time, there is a Government at the helm which would not buckle under pressure and women of the Muslim community are much advanced and they never shy of fighting for justice.
M C JOSHI, Lucknow

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Deepening Bond
This refers to the article titled ‘Asia’s Assuring Alliance’ by Kanwal Sibal in Organiser dated October 1. It has been rightly written in the article that Shri Sinzo Abe wants not only to revive Japan’s economic profile in Asia but also assume more defence responsibilities and play a more active role in shaping new Asian security architecture. The excellent personal rapport enjoyed by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and  Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe would ensure that both the countries further deepen their already firm partnership and pave the way for stronger diplomatic, military and strategic relationships. One also hopes that the Japanese and Indian cultures, which are different entities, continue to enrich each other. The legacy of the Indo-Japan relationship is ennobling, encouraging and inspiring. As one of the oldest friend of India, Japan has come a long way from sharing knowledge and expertise in automobile industry to running the Delhi Metro and now the first-ever bullet train in India. With Suzuki and Honda Motor Company becoming household names and greater cultural and people-to-people exchanges, the India-Japanese friendship is on a strong footing with roots going back to the pre-Independence era.
ISHA SHAH, Via Email      
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Blot on Consciousness
Apropos the article titled ‘Collapse of Law & Order’ by R Guruprasad in Organiser dated September 17. There is no doubt that the cold-blooded killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh is a blot on our collective consciousness beyond the ideology she professed or nurtured, the rivalry she may have had or people she had ruffled feathers of. But what the cacophony of political blame-game hides is the need for a swift and through investigation and speedy disposal of justice. This murder is not about political dispensation or gender justice for Gauri Lankesh but about the right of a free-thinking individual to exist in a democratic society and feel free and safe in doing so. Justifiably, civil society needs to be angry. It is not about a journalist’s death becoming another statistic but about bringing the killers to book in current memory rather than with retrospective or diluted effect, many years down the line. The Congress Siddaramaiah Government in Karnataka hasn’t been able to override even usual systemic delays, leave aside making major breakthrough. This despite the fact that the Chief Minister expressed his intent of taking on “organised crime”, which, he believes, led to Lankesh’s killing. We are nowhere near to zeroing in on the culprits, except grainy CCTV footage showing the silhouette of a medium-built, helmet-clad assailant pumping bullets and speeding away.
M C SHARMA, Panki, Kanpur  
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Wrong Comparison
A very good account of our President Shri Ram Nath Kovind has been given in the article titled ‘A Modest Gandhian’ by Prof. Ramesh C Bhardwaj in Organiser dated August 6. A brief description of his association with gaushalas and Devnagari script is indeed impressive. But it is strange, that such a good man should be insulted by calling him a Gandhian. It would be worth mentioning here that soon after Independence Gandhi received lakhs of letters and telegrams requesting him to ban cow slaughter. Gandhi castigated the Hindus and said that ban would mean injustice to the Muslims. In his prayer speech on November 4, 1947 he again said, that “Was India to be a theocratic state and were tenets of Hindus to be imposed on non-Hindus?” He yielded to none in his devoted worship of cow, but that devotion could not be imposed by law. It is worth noting, that nobody had asked, that the Muslims should worship cow, but Gandhi twisted the facts and spoke lie. Similarly Gandhi was very angry when UP Government announced Hindi as the official language of the State. In his prayer speech on October 15th, 1947 he said that, “The right thing would be to keep both scripts i.e. Devnagari and Persian and use of either acceptable in all official dealings. They should treat Muslims as equal citizens.” One can easily say, that calling anybody as Gandhian is degrading and insulting.
ANAND PRAKASH, Panchkula, Haryana