Readers’ Forum : Misinterpretation

This refers to story ‘Pathos of a Migrant Boy’ by Dalip Singh Wasan in Organiser issue dated Oct 22 mentioning pitiable conditions of the writer,  when he came to truncated Bharat as a boy of ten years in 1947, from Pakistan. The word ‘migrant ‘is a misnomer as he came as a refugee to save his life and was a victim whose father and grandfather were brutally slaughtered by the Muslims in Pakistan. Again in same issue in another article titled ‘Endgame Angst’ by Ajay Bhardwaj a very wrong impression is given by saying that “Unbridled gory massacre of humanity and culture on such a large scale… There is no account of properties and valuables people on both sides lost to the looters and marauders,” as if both the Hindus and Muslims are equally responsible for it. Such language was often used by Gandhi and Nehru to hide the sins and crimes done by Muslims in Pakistan. The fact is, that Muslims started massacre of Hindus and Sikhs in west Pakistan much earlier. I was a boy of about 14 years when all the Hindu shops in Kulachi a Tehsil town in District Dera Ismail Khan in NWFP, were burnt and looted in one night in April 1947.Entire Hindu population had to leave the town and went to safe places, now in truncated Bharat. Our family went to Sailkot (now in  Pakistan), where my father was posted, only to witness complete liquidation of Hindus and Sikh population once again in August 1947. When we reached Agra in November 1947, the first place of posting of my father, I saw so many Muslims roaming about freely wearing skull caps and with beard without any fear. I
naturally felt very bad, as their Muslim brothers had made us homeless and slaughtered lakhs of Hindus and Sikhs.
ANAND PRAKASH, Panchkula, Harayana
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Not the Way to Deal

This refers to the article titled ‘Black day for Armed Forces’  by Brig (Retd) Anil Gupta in Organiser dated November 12. I totally agree with the writer that whatever may be the  demerits of the ongoing agitation by a group of veteran ex-servicemen at Jantar Mantar, Delhi, the way the Delhi Police treated them  on October 30 will be remembered as the darkest day in the history of Indian democracy. The veterans have dedicated the best years of their life for the service of the nation and expect nothing else but respect and dignity when they return home having risked their lives almost on a daily basis when in service. Their courage, discipline, sense of sacrifice and love for the nation needs to be imbibed in every citizen of this nation if we desire to become a superpower. Their ill-treatment can have a long-term implications on national security.
ANAND VENKAT, Chennai
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Time To Act
Smog in Haryana and Delhi-NCR is alarming, and the precipitating factors, which have polluted the air to this extent, need immediate check. General perception is that the current situation has been caused by the
farmers, who burn the remains of crops in the fields. Some media reports claim otherwise and hold vehicular pollution responsible for the prevailing situation. However in my view, both reasons are equally responsible and have contributed equally towards air pollution. Agriculturists of Punjab and Haryana are in no mood to relent and stop crop burning despite standing administrative orders against the menace, the reason is that the farmers claim to be helpless. Even bio-mass plants, where paddy residue is used to generate electricity, does not help. It in turns ends up polluting more. The democratic Government too has its limitations to initiate stringent action against the farmers because Opposition Parties exploit any measure for political dividends. Both the Government and the Opposition should hold dialogue with the farmers and reach to a solution. The Supreme Court also did not pass any orders against the use of diesel vehicles in Delhi-NCR region to reduce vehicular pollution, while it cracked its whip against the fire
crackers on Deepawali. Let us all put our heads together to solve the issue in the interest of the present and the future generation.
JAI PRAKASH GUPTA, Ambala Cantt
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BJP is Honest to Patel
It is a known fact that although Sardar Patel was number two in the Congress leadership after Jawaharlal Nehru, he was almost relegated to oblivion after his death. Patel’s supporters were dismayed that when it came to honouring him, while naming iconic national projects or structures, he was largely ignored, these were mostly named after Jawaharlal Nehru or his daughter Indira Gandhi grandson Rajiv Gandhi, etc. Recently, on the occasion of Patel’s birth anniversary on October 31, 2017, his historic role in persuading 554 princely states to merge in the Indian Union was highlighted. Since Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and his Party were in the forefront of the pro-Patel campaign, the present Congress leadership was terribly upset, condemning them to “appropriate “Patel for political reasons. Even Nehru acted against his deputy (Patel), after his death in 1951 as he advised his Cabinet colleagues not to attend Patel’s funeral in Bombay. As regard the Bharat Ratna, Nehru gave it to himself in 1955; Patel was given it in 1991, forty years after his death, that too by a non-Congress Government.
M RATAN, Via email

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Think Before You Speak
Kamal Haasan’s Hindu terror remark in a Tamil magazine that “extremism has spread into the Hindu Right-wing as well,” without tenable evidences, is outrageous and
unacceptable. Such pernicious reference is not expected from a film maker like him. It really hurts the sentiments of the majority community which constitutes 80 per cent of the entire population. It seems that he is well influenced and inspired by Left secularists from Kerala, ruled by the Communists . The nation wants satisfactory
clarification of his remark. It is well–known to him, who are the terrorists in our country. People would like to see Haasan as a comedian rather than a politician who has no roadmap to fight against poverty, unemployment, price rise, corruption and with an innovative idea of improving infrastructure.  
M C SHARMA, Kanpur
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Learn Lessons
The recent accident at the NTPC’s Unchahar Plant, Uttar Pradesh, must serve as a wake-up call for the country as we embark on a massive industrial expansion spree. This
incident is also a reminder of the poor work safety standards and lax enforcement of regulations that have led to horrific accidents earlier too. It is high time that safety audits be conducted for all the under construction projects by an independent agency so that such incidents are avoided in the future. Safety factors should not be compromised at any cost in rush of running the plant. The Government should also take lessons from the blast and take punitive measures to stop such incidents in future.
RAMESH G JETHWANI, Bengaluru