Where is sympathy for those massacred on October 7, 2023 (“Ramachandra Guha: Indians must hold our government to account for aiding Israel’s murderous Gaza war”)? Should Hamas not face trial in the international court for this act of terrorism and the inhuman treatment of hostages taken by them. Where is the condemnation of Hezbollah for attacking Israel without provocation. Why play the victim card on behalf of Hamas and Hezbollah? The point on civilian deaths has merits but it is well known that both these terror organisations hide behind civilians. Why should we Indians hold our government to account for supporting Israel? Did we get support from any Islamic supporters when we have faced terror from Islamic terrorists for the last 20 years? – Merwan Tamboowala

Alphabets and Tamil

Among the languages of the world, Indian languages and a few other related ones – Sinhalese, South East Asian – have a logical alphabet with the same sequence of letters (“Mother Tamil, father Sanskrit: The influence of Dravidian culture on Sanskrit”). However, European West Asian, Russian and other languages all use a 26-letter alphabet, more or less, all starting with “alpha” or “alef” while following no logical sequence. Dravidian and Sanskrit have a common order. It is unlikely to be accidental. Who could have originated it for others to follow? – Subrahmanian R

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Wonderful article on how language shapes civilisation. Political divisions and control with the self-centered behaviour of humans has changed the narrative and made it unrecognisable. – Sunder Rajan S

Women loco pilots

The board of directors may give due attention to resolve issues that are genuine after going through the article (“Why women driving trains in India want other jobs”). Rules and provisions state that female employees should have suitable facilities at the work place, including daycare centres. A male-dominated society like ours forgets to take care of their co-workers. The management should address this matter at the earliest.– S Sengottaiyan

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Those who speak of “Viksit Bharat” cannot make arrangements for female employees yet boast of building crores of sauchalayas. – Roshanraj Anand

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Railway should avoid or stop offering strenuous duties for women or men. Ensure privatisation to solve the issues. – Anil Krishnapur

Demolitions

The demolition is not wrong (‘Illegal’ mazar demolished in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar). Illegal structures should be demolished. – Raghupathi

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There should be an option to comment on Scroll’s “selective” reports. – Sethuram V K

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What is there to gain from being so sympathetic towards wrong-doers (“In Udaipur, one home razed, three families punished for a Muslim teenager’s crime”)? Why so much hatred against those who are right? Is there any monetary gain? – Shaoli Lala

Thinking philosophy

So, you started out with the question “what is philosophy” and ended up with the question “what is thinking” (“‘Do we perceive the world or do we think it?’ Sundar Sarukkai on thinking in philosophy”). Which is another way of saying you did not move forward one inch. These are old, nonsense question. Do we perceive the world? Yes. What we perceive is an object made of wood, a flat horizontal surface atop four pillars, with a vertical surface on one side. Do we think the world? Yes. Afterall, terms such as wood, flat, horizontal, four, pillars, vertical, side wouldn’t make sense. Language itself wouldn’t make sense, unless humans were thinking creatures. The fact the object is a chair is a thought of what the object can be used for. It could also be a bed, or a coat rack. The insistence of such fantasies like the subtle body that annoys me. This insistence of immortality through a soul leads to wasting one’s life because they'll always get a redo. So why not be stupid and make the wrong choice? – James E Newman