Outlook English - Print Subscribers Copy Outlook English, 02 July 2018 | Page 5
INBOXED
HYDERABAD J. Kishore: The nation
is really looking forward to a viable
Opposition that can end the saffron
storm that has taken the country hos-
tage. Considering the political situation
in the country, it can be concluded that
only a mainstream political party can be
an alternative to the BJP at the Centre.
The regional parties do not have the
bandwidth to capture the national imag-
ination for obvious reasons. But if all
Opposition parties come together, they
can change the stale, oft-repetitive pol
itical script into a more dynamic and fle
xible narrative. The only issue is the
conflict of political interests that has the
inevitable capacity to spoil such a
coalition dream.
Countering Fear Frontier
CALCUTTA Lt Col (retd) Ranjit
Sinha: This refer’s to A Hundred and
One Nights on the Edge, the story on
Jammu’s border villages (June 18). The
Line of Control (LoC) should indeed be
christened the “Line of Misery”, as your
slug suggests. The LoC is among the
ON THE EDGE A grief-stricken family
borders that have remained unsettled
for the longest while. Settlement of bor-
ders didn’t take this long even after the
World Wars or the Korean War. One can
argue that politicians of both India and
Pakistan are not willing to settle the
issue due to their vested interests.
Instead, their efforts have been directed
towards strengthening their war
machines rather than enhancing their
respective people’s living standards. The
people of both countries are made to
feel enmity towards each other in spite
of cultural and linguistic similarities.
Friendship between the two countries
would make them powerful geopolitical
entities working in tandem instead of
undercutting each other’s global influ-
Man-made Conflict
ON E-MAIL Nelson Petrie: This is apropos
the photo essay The Elephant in the Alley (June
11). Human-wildlife conflict is on a rise across
the country; Elephants and tigers are beco
ming scapegoats of the callousness of forest
officials. Ironically, your piece focuses largely
on the devastation that elephants are causing
to man and not the other way round. Authorities fail to realise how they des
troy habitats. For instance, the conversion of a 162 km metre gauge, fro m New
Jalpaiguri to the Alipurduar, to a broad gauge in the year 2000 in north Bengal
resulted in victimising many elephants. More than 200 elephants lost their
lives on this eponymous ‘death railway’.
Unfortunately, like the Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) in Odisha,
officials in other states are also not taking wildlife conservation seriously. The
funds for the environment sector are not being allocated commensurately.
Political parties show very little concern in protecting wildlife because
animals are not voters.
ence, while the resources they now
waste on their war machines could be
diverted towards people’s welfare.
Sick Talkies
KOCHI George Jacob: ‘Couch culture’
pervades the entire film industry, not
Bollywood alone (#MeMum, June 11).
As long as actresses refuse to oblige and
speak out, it can be tackled. But power is
an ugly game, with its own sinister seda-
tives—the promise of fame, the fear of
not getting work.
Priorities Anyone?
CALCUTTA Lt Col (Retd) Ranjit
Sinha: Apropos of Guzzle Grain, Go
Hungry (June 11), the government’s new
policy of using grains to produce biofuel
has invited adverse comment from both
Dr Swaminathan and the UN. The con-
cerned authorities must realise that in a
country where it is very difficult to arr
ange adequate food grains for the peo-
ple, using up these scarce resources in
ethanol production cannot be justified.
Maddening Transmissions
ON E-MAIL Mahesh Kumar: With
reference to Tales From the 4G Rumour
Mill (June 11), a solution must be found
to combat fake news and rumours
spread through social media before oth-
ers lose their lives in this bizzarre wave
of fear. The government must imp
lement strict regulation and take legal
action against the crazed transmitters of
such messages, while mainstream media
should take action to counter fake news
whenever it raises its ugly head.
Oh Calcutta!
ON E-MAIL R.N. Bhat: Change, as
you rightly remind us in Ping-
Pongology: Table For Ten (May 28), is a
way of life—and having been a regular
reader of Outlook since the late Vinod
Mehta’s days, I have been a first-hand
witness to this. However, one thing that
continues to mystify me is why Outlook,
despite having accepted ‘Mumbai’ and
‘Chennai’ for Bombay and Madras
respectively, refuses to switch over from
‘Calcutta’ to its changed name.
Federally Minded
GUWAHATI A.K. Chakraborty: The
analysis on how the Congress has to ret
hink its strategy in order to make a seri-
ous play for the Lok Sabha polls in 2019
was very good (Palm Fringed? May 28).
Indeed, if the Congress ties up with each
and every regional and national party in
the coming polls in MP, Rajasthan and
Chhattisgarh, besides the general elec-
tions in 2019, I think it would pose itself
as a great barrier before the BJP’s well-
oiled electoral machine. Moreover, in
2019, Rahul Gandhi should not be the
party’s prime ministerial candidate;
there are other singularly talented
young leaders there. If it happens, it will
look like there has been a revolution of
sorts in the Congress. And believe me,
people are really waiting for such sym-
bolic revolutions. If the Congress can
get out of this, its voteshare will cer-
tainly go up. In addition, the party has to
be ready for compromise wherever
there are potentially stronger allies—
like the TMC in Bengal.
2 July 2018 OUTLOOK 5