Letters to The Editor — January 2, 2025

The state of Manipur

How far Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh’s expression of ‘regret’ and urge to ‘make a new beginning’ would solve the long-pending issues in his State are anybody’s guess. In fact, his inability to do anything so far, in a positive sense, demands that there should be nothing less than his resignation from office. A more concerning matter is the Prime Minister. In the beginning, the Congress’s demand that Mr. Modi visit Manipur was treated as a ritualistic anti-Modi slogan. But this has now changed maybe after the old saying, ‘repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth’.

P.R.V. Raja,

Pandalam, Kerala

Manmohan Singh

There have been many letters in this column paying tributes to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. While Dr. Singh was very successful as a Finance Minister, he cannot be awarded full marks as Prime Minister as it is under his stewardship that there were many scams. Sadder still was his closing his eyes to all the misdeeds. Impartial and dispassionate critics see him as a 100% Finance Minister and a 50% Prime Minister.

B.S. Jayaraman

Coimbatore

The unwarranted spat between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress over Dr. Singh must not be stoked further as it would be an insult to the memory of the departed leader who always kept the interests of the nation above all else. Dr. Singh is ever alive in every Indian’s hearts. He has etched his name with his simplicity, statesmanship, constructive work, implementation of welfare measures and, above all, economic reforms which transformed the Indian economy.

Gregory Fernandes

Mumbai

Going to school barefoot

The feature, “Barefoot trek on raw road to education” (Online – ‘Spotlight’, December 27, 2024), was a good read. It was on the plight of the children in Kidagari, an interior tribal village in Andhra Pradesh, walking through forests in a hilly region without footwear. But how can the villagers not care about snake bites or multiple dangers from other creatures?

Every parent will look at the safety of his child, no matter how poor or even how remote and treacherous the place. It is puzzling how the villagers or the system can afford to spend money on good uniforms, backpacks and study materials, but ignore basic safety by not providing any footwear.

Amar Singh,

Mumbai

Published - January 02, 2025 12:24 am IST