I think the people of Manipur and Myanmar have to share some of the blame by not helping the army against militants. Civilians have accepted militants as their rulers. In the Pearl Harbour incident of 1941, the government of Japan attacked the US even though civilians had nothing to do with it. But they had to pay the ultimate price in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. So unless civilians help the army, there should be retributive violence from the army (“The Indian army must refrain from retributive violence in Manipur”). – Nishant Kale
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Do you think the soldiers don’t have human rights? You can only blame the army, but can't suggest how to neutralise insurgent outfits. The Indian Army is a humanitarian army. – Naveen Kumar Vyas
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Kishalay Bhattacharjee does have a partisan outlook to life and while stray instances of excess might happen, the situation is nowhere as alarming as projected by the so-called senior journalist. The article is shallow and factually incorrect for I can't conceive of a situation where a journalist would be allowed on an operation, and if he was nowhere near it, how did he became an eye witness?
He can by no stretch be called the conscience keeper of the nation. He is more of an anarchist, who can see only bad in what the state does and good in what the insurgents do. If you have done a similar article condemning the actions of Insurgents then send me the links and I will apologise. – Kapil Kaushik
Judging doctors
I am a junior doctor at a government medical college in Kolkata and I would like to make a few points regarding your article about the labour room (“'I can't take it anymore': Sights and awful sounds from the labour room of an Indian public hospital”).
1. I have attended LRO for two months alone giving 10-12 hours with just one or two PGTS where the condition is such that about six deliveries occur simultaneously along with an occupied C/S OT.
2. Simultaneously, new patients stream in and we have patients in the LR observation ward as well whom we have to monitor hourly.
3. Most of the patients are uncooperative and do not even think about following our instructions.
4. As for the water part, any patient can be taken to the OT and if put under GA, it can lead to aspiration which is fatal.
5. As for labour pain, we do administer drotaverine, but there is no effective drug which can reduce pain without causing fetal distress.
So unless we shout (rather forced to shout) at the patients, they neither obey our instructions, nor would we be able to manage the huge numbers in such a short span of time. – Deepanjan Bhattacharya
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I suggest the writer become a doctor first, and then somehow enter the OBG course in the college mentioned in this article, perform deliveries for literally thousands of women day in and day out without getting a blink of sleep. Then let me know if she loses her cool or not. I suggest she investigates the working conditions and pay of the postgraduate trainees that she was so silently and illegally judging. And then, if she gets the time she might open an OBG textbook to know about the benefits and ills of episiotomy.
In no way am I justifying the ill treatment meted out to the poor village women. But she has absolutely no right to judge doctors based on a single visit to a labour room. And at the end I will blame the government for failing the poor and for failing us doctors. – Ketaki Mukhopadhyay
Fake food
There are many bogus manufacturers who are supplying food products illegally by using the names of top companies like Nestle, Parle, Britannia, Brooke Bond, Pepsico, Coca Cola and Amul, at less than even half the prices printed on their packs or bottles.
Why is no legal action taken against the criminal manufacturers of such bogus food products, which are extremely harmful for the health of millions of Indians? Spurious food products are most likely to be contaminated with toxic quantities of lead, arsenic, antimony, chromium and zinc.
There are many powerful politicians and officials in the central and state governments who are Benami partners in the bogus companies that are manufacturing duplicate food products, which can earn unaccounted profits. – Ashok T Jaisinghani
Having followed the Maggi controversy quite closely, I would like to clarify that Nestlé insisted on clarifying the test methods i.e. individual components in the pack vs both the noodle cake and Tastemaker separately (“Nestlé's defence: It is only real (lead-free) Maggi when the noodles and masala are boiled in water”). As these are not sold separately, they form part of the same package and consumer would have got them together. The pack has to clearly comply with the norms without cooking or dilution.
The key concern here is to align and understand the differences in results between the Food and Drug Administration labs and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India accredited labs used by Nestle for reference tests. The latter one is consistent in the results and former all over the place with the same batches being certified clean by some and implicated by others. I smell a rat here and the air needs to be cleared as soon as possible.
The issue is further compounded by political overtones with some states giving a clean chit and others implicating without even testing. With the concerned ministries passing the buck to each other, it is imperative that a sane and transparent call is taken. – Jagdeep Marahar
Singling out Nestle?
Why does the Indian government allow any brand of noodles or, for that matter, any of the instant or processed foods, to advertise themselves as healthy? Fresh raw vegetables and fruit are practically the only instant foods that can be called healthy (“The Maggi mess: Two-minute flash in the pan or a wake-up call?”).
This daft article passes over whether Maggi actually contains lead over prescribed amounts; and whether MSG is actually harmful. If MSG hasn’t been banned as an additive in cooked food, why single out Nestle as a transgressor?
“Healthy” is not an absolute signifier. Moreover, no one eating instant noodles thinks it’s a substitute for vegetables. – Jasjiv Sahney
Japanese noodles
The fact that Indians consume much less Maggi aka Ramen than other countries is probably because Maggi has only few variations – masala, chicken and atta/vegetable Maggi (“How Chinese noodles were packaged by a Japanese businessman and brought to India by the Swiss”).
In countries like Japan, they have a lot of variety, including pork, fish, prawns, corn, etc, which makes it a very versatile dish for everybody. The fact that they have a whole museum dedicated to noodles (the Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama) shows the craziness of this 'jiffy food' all over Japan and for that matter the Asian belt.
And for the people who do not like Maggi/Ramen, they are missing out something really good in life. – Parul Kapoor
Ayurvedic standards
The author has made blind, bogus and baseless allegation regarding Ayurvedic medicines (“Maggi controversy: Millions of Indians face danger of lead poisoning ‒ from Ayurveda”). Leading manufactures strictly follow the quality standards. Moreover, Naga (lead) is rarely used in Ayurveda practice. This is fake journalism. Take back your words. – Dr Vasant Patil
Don't generalise
The author makes us believe that all kind of Ayurvedic medicine contains "lead" or MSG (“Graphic story: Dr Hemant Morparia detects a case of lead poisoning”). Such generalisation is really uncalled for. I agree there could be people who unknowingly consume lead due to some medicines given by local so-called hakim/vaidyas, but you cannot apply it and tell all ayurvedic medicines are bad. – Harsh Saha
A cry for help
As an Ola driver all I can say is that if the Kejriwal government too stops taxi services, then we will have to commit suicide. We cannot give food and education to our children (“Driven to despair: Uber and Ola drivers face Delhi ban amid police crackdown”). – Janakraj Saini
Unbecoming minister
Absurdist playwrights like Samuel Beckett preferred long, meaningful silences to false speech as they found language being used to distort the integrity of communication. Prevarications, sly falsehoods, blatant lies seem to be the order of the day, cutting across party lines. What should be the freedom to dissent be touted as a special privilege selectively granted by the ruling powers! It would be interesting to see how the HRD minister responds to Ram Guha's factual rebuttal of her suppressio veri (“Ram Guha slams Smriti Irani for claiming he gave anti-Modi speech at official event”). – Usha Subramanian
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Unfortunately, Smriti Irani has not either gone through the whole speech or she has failed to understand it. Indeed it is unbecoming of a minister of a cabinet rank, that's too HRD. Deeply disturbing. – Dr HA Shankaranarayana
Stifling dissent
I think you missed the point. We are all aware that the bureaucracy is under instructions from their masters. The question here is not about them but about how the rulership can reprimand an autonomous body, which by its very nature is supposed to be free of governmental interference (“Yes Minister: Life imitates art as HRD ministry cautions UGC head for speaking his mind”).
This government seems to have overstepped its limits once too often in a bid to gain unprecedented control over such autonomous institutions. Democracy is being stretched Indian style into a possible monolithic top-down structure where dissent is not tolerated and only the two bosses from Gujarat are the masters. That is the reading of this episode. – Rajratna Jadhav
Ramayana’s Bharata
While it was interesting to read the views of the author, his statement that Ramayana had no mention of the sword and other iron weapons is factually incorrect (“Was the Ramayana actually set in and around today’s Afghanistan?”). Valmiki Ramayana indeed mentions many such weapons, the production of needed knowledge of iron.
Regarding the golden deer, while Bharata Varsha was much larger than Bharat, i.e. today's India, the animal would have existed for but would have been rare, like white rats, white elephants, krishnasarpa (black snakes) etc.
Locating Ramayana's Bharata (that is the land) is certainly an interesting exercise. The weaponry used in the epic certainly dates the work as one of Iron Age. Though it is not necessary to take the Hindutva narrative, historical evidences should be taken seriously. It gives us some details of the inexorable progress of social systems, myth, and portrayal in literature. – Rama Teertha
Taliban and the Islamic State
I read your article on the Pakistan-Afghanistan situation and I liked the fact that somebody has been trying to understand and write about the conflicted area (“Why Pakistan is the problem and not any possible solution for Afghanistan”). While I agree the ideology of the Islamic State has been understood well, I would not think the clashes between them and the Taliban would be on religious ideology.
Taliban has been a home-grown problem for Afghanistan, during the Soviet War. It rose to fame when the legendary leader Ahmad Shah Massoud was fighting for the control of Kabul. Back in the 1990s, Mullah Omar had joined hands with Osama bin Laden and gave him refuge. This resulted in an interwoven group of both Taliban and al-Qaeda. Together, they destroyed tombstones and grave markings of spiritual people all across Afghanistan.
Along with religion, the main ideological difference that could be the deciding factor would be the stance IS takes on helping Afghanistan as a country. Taliban is a nationalist group with deep affinity to the idea of a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Whereas, IS wants a strict code of conduct over all the countries. – Sulaiman S Taji
Misunderstood Bhindranwale
I read your article on Sant Jarnail Singhji Khalsa Bhindrawale wherein it is mentioned that he was an evil man (“The Bhindranwale cult: How politics allowed an obscure preacher to challenge Indian democracy”). However, let me tell you why he become such a man.
First, he was not a terrorist. Secondly, he never hated every Hindu, he only hated those who hated Sikhs. He helped poor Hindu girls by saving their marriages because of dowry and other bad stuff, and helped build temples.
Do you have anything to say about Indira Gandhi? She wanted to divide and rule the Sikhs. Santji was armed just for the sake of Sikhs. At that time, the police use to kill any Sikh without any reason because they would get rewarded for the same. Thousands of Hindu Brahmins were killed just because of the Congress party. She had control over the media and always gave false statements about Sikhs and Santji, which created a false personality in people's mind. The Congress created a misunderstanding between the Sikhs and the Hindus for its own sake.
I do not support Khalistan, but we want justice. That’s the only thing we expect from this government. – Baljinder Sidhu
The shame of Blue Star
I fully agree with Khuswant Singh on Operation Blue Star (“Operation Blue Star 'was a well-calculated and deliberate slap in the face of an entire community': Khushwant Singh”). There was no need for an army intervention. It was like killing a fly with a hammer. Apart from what happened at the Golden Temple, more tragic events followed - the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the killing of 4,000 innocent Sikhs in Delhi. No one has been punished till today and the main culprits died old.
President Zail Singh, supreme commander of the armed forces, was a mute spectator. Senior officers involved in the planning and execution of this unholy episode were rewarded with plum postings, perpetual security with luxury houses and land. Shame on those who planned and conducted this infamous operation. – Satnam Singh
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The best documentary was made by the BBC on this subject. Watch Storming the Temple. gave the voiceover in English on the Bhindranwale speeches. – Ahmad Khan
Promoting Hindi
From a reader's perspective, Hindi as a market is largely untapped (“English has given me some new access but it is Hindi which has got me fame: Geetanjali Shree”). The problem is not just content but more importantly marketing.
When I visit a bookstore, the Hindi section comprises mostly Premchand's bibliography by different publishing houses. I hve yet to discover good contemporary writers in Hindi. They do exist but are not effectively promoted. Translations are worse, right from the title to the content. Imagine "Are you for real!" becoming "Kya tum sach mein ho!". Scroll.in should do a series on the best (or good) contemporary writers in Hindi literature. – Mohit Talwar
In praise of Prufrock
Excellent piece on TS Eliot’s poem (“One hundred years of no solitude: ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ lives on in India”). I still remember the day I first heard my professor MG Ramanan reciting it in class in 1979. – Mohan Divakar
Kasab comparison
In the Ujjwal Nikam story, I would like to bring your attention to the following paragraph (“Why Ujjwal Nikam's lie about Kasab and mutton biryani should shame and anger us”): "And yet, we weren't so different, were we? We too killed in cold blood, just as Kasab did. Kasab probably thought he was meting out retribution on India, avenging wrongs…" This is a wilful misrepresentation of facts.
1. Kasab was not killed. He was prosecuted and given the death penalty. It was given by the court, not the people of India.
2. Kasab was not killed in cold blood like the many innocent people he killed.
3. This attributes to contempt of court.
4. Here the author is trying to justify a terrorist by saying "Kasab probably thought he was meting out retribution on India, avenging wrongs". Are you sure about this?
5. The author is trying to do the opposite to people of India by saying "So did we, when we killed Kasab, orchestrating a frenzy for his hanging by scripting a lie". – Sandeep Rathour
Great expectations
When are you going to let the ex-servicemen live and die in peace? (“Why the One Rank One Pension scheme is so terribly important for the Indian military”). – Ragini Gaikwad
Misogynist Modi
Narendra Modi thinks he is a smart and impressive orator and can fool people by disguising his Hindutva ideology, but cannot hide the deep-rooted misogyny in his psyche (“Modi gets an earful for remark that Bangladesh PM is fighting terror 'despite being a woman'”). Ashamed of his statement. – Gurjeet Kaur
Read Islamic rights of women properly
I appreciate your article and the question that you have raised using the Aruna Shanbaug and Nirbhaya case (“Questions Aruna Shanbaug and Nirbhaya would have asked had they lived”).
I suggest you to read Islamic rights of women. Not what is popularly said about women's rights in Islam but what is actually written in Islamic Shariah and the Quran. – Humam Ansari
Army epitomises professionalism
The most respected institution of India are the three armed services. They have an international reputation for valour, and professionalism. By and large they have remained untarnished by corruption that is prevalent in their civilian surroundings. This is despite the recent slur campaign against them by people with vested interests, including the media. The main reason for no militarily takeover in India is the deeply inculcated belief in democracy coupled with professionalism (“Why there has never been a military dictatorship in India”). – Pritam Singh
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I truly feel from deep within my heart that now the time has come for an Indian military coup. Now is the time that the army should start ruling India. Only the Indian army (all three wings) should and must rule India. – Shailendra Tendulkar
Dravid, the great
Yes, it is correct. Rahul Dravid is great (“With Rahul Dravid, India’s cricketing future and young cricketers are both in safe hands”). – Damuka Rajaram
Sanskrit origins
I read your article about where Sanskrit originated from with great interest (“Video: an animated map shows how Sanskrit may have come to India”). Genetic studies published over the past 10 years show that South Asia has minor contributions from Central Asia (Sengupta et al American Journal of Human Genetics 2006 Feb; 78(2): 202-21). How such a minor influence could result in a major influence on language is unexplained by the linguists. – N Sharma
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Do you really mean what you said in this article? Vedas are not of Indian origin but from somewhere. What a load of garbage. – Deva
Drunk driving
As we all know, people are roaming freely even after evidence exists that they were driving drunk (“Another drunk-driving accident: Why do Indians think that the laws are for someone else?”).
This is not the first time people are pointing to those who sleep on the footpath and telling them it’s their mistake as footpaths is not meant for sleeping. It doesn't matter whose mistake it is. What matters is how we can overcome the issue so that lives can be saved. Now our government is doing a great job by initiating missions like Swachh Bharat, but they should introduce something similar for automobiles.
For example, the government can ask automobile vehicles to install a sensor either in the steering wheel or gear knob. The one which is in the steering wheel will measure the breath of the person and if the alcohol content is more, it will stop the engine directly. The other way is providing a sensor in the gear knob, which will sense the content of alcohol when you touch it and stop the engine. If the government can make this mandatory, drunk driving can be reduced easily. – Varun Parakh
Yoga: Beyond asanas
As a practitioner of yoga or, as we say in India, a Sadhak or spiritual seeker under the guidance of a highly evolved guru, I would like to give my understanding of yoga for anyone who is interested (“Yoga was created 5,000 years ago, right?”).
In India, there are 10 paths that our ancient rishis through intense research and practice created for human beings to experience enlightenment or Moksha, which is the union of the individual soul with the universal soul. These paths known as Darshans are described in our Vedas, Upanishads and other spiritual texts. Yoga was one of the paths divided into eight steps and came to be called Ashtanga yoga. Asanas occupies only one verse in Patanjali's yoga Sutras as the purpose of doing asanas was to achieve a state of physical wellbeing after which one could sit comfortably in a meditative posture and contemplate with self.
The reason many modern gurus still choose to limit yoga to asanas and pranayama is because in modern times people do not believe in the concept of enlightenment. The British so successfully killed all spiritual knowledge through their educational system that Indians forgot the concept that the purpose of human birth was for material enjoyment as well as realisation of god. – Priya Chandrasekar
Food prejudices
No, India doesn’t need eggs (“Seven reasons why India needs eggs on the menu of midday meals”). This is a lie the corporate world is spreading. Only a vegan lifestyle is economically, ethically, physically and environmentally sustainable. Please be compassionate and do not cause pain to other living beings. – Sandhya RVS
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I recall Hindus and Muslims associated with each other according to their social class and ate with each other, though behind closed doors. Partition promoted resurgence of religious bigotry. Food prejudices are a part of it. – Syed Ehtisham
Maharana Pratap and Medha Patkar?
At least read what you are writing. You guys have crossed all limits of decency. Leave patriotism aside, but how can you think about comparing the great Maharana Pratap with Teesta Setalvad and Medhaa Patkar? (“The spirit of Rana Pratap lives on – in the brave deeds of Teesta Setalvad and Medha Patkar”). Remove this article right now. – Jha
Rajput failure?
Can you please provide the basis for your analysis on why the Rajputs failed? (“What our textbooks don't tell us: Why the Rajputs failed miserably in battle for centuries”). Also Ghuri was defeated 16 times before finally being able to defeat Prithviraj Chauhan. How is there no mention of that in the article? – Harshal Naik
Last Mumbai local
The photo essay on the first local train in Mumbai was a walk down memory lane (“Photo essay: On Mumbai's first local train at 3.25am, a gentler ride”). An interesting anecdote indeed. I too cherished an interesting episode in the opposite direction from Churchgate to Kandivali. While the world was sleeping, my fraternity and I, who used to work in a newspaper office at Sassoon Dock, were trying to catch the first train at Churchgate station at 4.30am. We used to walk from Sassoon Dock to Churchgate, taking a breaking at CTO for a cup of tea around 3.30 am and proceed to Churchgate station, which normally opens at 4am. Once open, scores of people made a dash for the waiting train. – Colanara Hari
Visa blues
I don’t know about TvoA’s and e-visas. However, when I tried to fill in a government of India online form, it kept rejecting my entry because Singapore mobile telephone numbers have only eight digits, whereas the form is geared to accepting only 10-digit numbers. Ultimately, I added two zeros at the end, to jump the hurdle, but obviously this is not an acceptable modus operandi (“India’s visa on arrival scheme to boost tourism is not quite the success it was meant to be”). – Jamrith
Reclaimed Mumbai
If the people who wrote the article about Mumbai’s coastal welfare scheme could name two or three world cities similar to the size of Mumbai which has achieved what they are suggesting then it would be nice (“Mumbai's coastal road plan is a welfare scheme for the well-to-do”).
Also, can they give a rough estimate how much infrastructure would be required to push Mumbai public to public transport and how much the ticket will cost? It’s very easy to pass judgement with vague solutions. About 80% of Mumbai is reclaimed , reclaiming a little more will not cause any more of an environment impact. – Neeraj Gupta
Leave the IITians alone
I believe it is an absurd thought to stop funding the IITs (“Dear Smriti Irani, stop giving my money to IITians”). There are only a handful of institutions in our country that have earned an international reputation. All the money allocated by the government goes towards paying salaries as well asthe upkeep of the IITs. There is already a move to increase the number of IITs in the country and along with this, how can we have such a retrograde suggestion?
By this logic, all government aided institutions must raise all their finances through private means. Hundreds of crores of government money is lost in several government schemes and scams in almost every state. The money spent on the IITs is a pittance in front of them. – Kedar V Chikhalikar
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It's not only the mistake of the IITians that they don't join the army, but it is the mistake of the government as well. If an IITian goes into the army, then he will get some salary and salutes, nothing else. If after their deaths no one will care about their families, why should IITians join the army? It’s all because of politics. If our politicians are good then we can develop our country in every field. If we make our country corruption-free, then anyone can go into the army without fears about their future. – Aanchal Goyal
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Switching to management by pursuing an MBA after an intensive four-year engineering course is indirectly denying an opportunity to another deserving candidate to do the same. The total remittance of NRI IIT professionals compared to skilled workers in the Gulf is also a point worth noting. But these are all symptoms and not the causes of the actions by our bright IIT students.
The real questions we need to ask in my opinion are-
1. Are there enough opportunities in the country to enable the IIT professionals to perform to their full potential apart from the governmental organisations?
2. If there are, is the environment conducive (without red tape) to enable them to perform without hindrance?
3. Can sufficient engineering companies run in the country (without being hindered by archive industry laws, red tape) give job opportunities to IIT professionals with a fair compensation?
4. Are the international trading laws and the industrial eco system conducive to make indigenous products in the country against international competition and give job opportunities to IIT professionals? – Radha Arur
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If doctors are supposed to work in rural areas for two years after they complete their degree, then the IITians should not be given visas to fly abroad soon after their education is complete. They should work within India for a period of two years before they can be issued any visa. – N Viswanath
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Stop paying taxpayer's money to the IITians when they are not serving the country for at least five years. – Usha Jampa
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Who cares for india?
Well it is sad the way the writer tried to defend the IITians and the subsidy given to them (“No, Smriti Irani is not wasting your money on the IITians”).
Talk to any parent of any IIT aspiring candidate. They all want their child to graduate and go abroad and earn millions. They don’t care about India and its needs.
I am a teacher of management and I know why nobody wants to join the army, navy or the air force. Our children have been taught not to take any riskss in life and aspire for a cushy job, a dowry and settling abroad. Who cares for India? Smriti Irani, stop pampering these IITians going abroad by imposing a strict rule that you have to serve the country for five years. – Parag Paul Choudhury
Even farmers have rejected GM crop
While your article's three main points about Vandana Shiva’s ideology, namely that a) farmer suicides are not necessarily caused by Genetically Modified crops, b) GMO crops are not necessarily bad and that c) a lot of the left-leaning phobia of GMOs is irrational) are correct, this does not mean that Monsanto is doing good science or increasing agricultural productivity (“Vandana Shiva is confusing ideology for science – and getting rational people to believe her”).
The primary idea behind genetically modifying a crop is to make it resistant to pests and diseases while directly or indirectly increasing productivity. However, Monsanto has taken a shortcut. Instead of making GMO seeds resistant to pests and weed on their own, they make their seeds resistant to a glyphosate pesticide. The sale of these 'roundup ready' seeds and also the pesticide itself forms a large majority of Monsanto's revenues.
From a scientific point of view, this is lazy. From an ecological point of view this reduces the question to whether glyphosates are safe, which is an open question. – Mohamed Rameez
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Girsih Shahane's article seems to lack credibility. The war against genetically modified crops is based on disturbing evidence on life forms as well as the ecosystem. It cannot be rubbished away as some anti-capitalist or insane ideological movement. With regards to Vandana Shiva, being a physicist does not preclude her for being vocal about what is right or wrong for human consumption. She runs an NGO that supports organic farming. By promoting indigenous crops, farmers are also supported and the ecology of the region thrives. Introduce a manipulated seed containing genes from bacteria and the system undergoes undesirable change.
The article does not make a strong point by questioning her educational background to support GMOs. Farmers are by and large uneducated, but they are better adept at soil and crop science. When they have rejected GM crops, how can an elitist defend it? – Neelam Pereira