The Hindu : New Delhi News : A dangerous trend

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Monday, Jun 16, 2008
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New Delhi

A dangerous trend

Of late a disturbing trend has been discernible in almost all the public agitations — turning violent, leading to destruction of public property, causing inconvenience to the public and ending up in injuries and death of agitators as well as law enforcement functionaries who are frequently made a scapegoat by the political parties.

The latest in the series are the Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan and the Madiga agitation in Andhra Pradesh. Through coercive pulls and pressures, despite directions of the higher judiciary which are implemented half-heartedly, the governments are being forced to concede demands which are certainly not in the interest of the larger population. This is a very dangerous trend which unless nipped now will lead to anarchy and jungle raj.

Such incidents remind me of the tactics of the Communists in the 1950s when they used to paralyse day-to-day life of the people not out of any great concern for the labour class but to sow seeds of discontentment and reap the whirlwind. If the Centre and State governments do not act in unison now to put an end to these violent and reckless agitations, we will end up with many pockets of insurgents wielding power.

G. M. Rama Rao,

Camp: 1199, Iffco Colony, Sector 17-B, Gurgaon - 122 001.

Women’s woes

I wish to draw the attention of the honourable Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh as well as the Union Railway Minister towards the plight of women aboard the daily E.M.U. trains that run from Aligarh to Delhi and back.

Though there is a separate coach allotted to women passengers, you hardly find a woman in it as it is taken over by the “stronger” men. The men take pride in occupying the ladies’ compartment, and if a woman dares to ask them to vacate a seat she is greeted with ugly stares and outrageous remarks. And if a woman dares to enter the men’s compartment, she is ridiculed and made to feel uncomfortable. She is harassed no end as men try to get close to her physically or warn her to move out to the ladies’ compartment at the next station.

This is a regular affair but no one seems bothered. Even the men in uniform aboard the trains make no attempt to help the women.

Who is responsible for such a situation? Why are there no routine check-ups to tackle the problem? Why aren’t the guilty ever booked or the police on duty questioned? Making U.P. crime-free will always remain a dream if women are oppressed like this. Shadaan Alam,

Moshir House, Street 4, Greater Azad Enclave, Aligarh.

UPSC’s ways

My recent experience has left me convinced that those in charge of affairs at the Union Public Service Commission do not care at all for the civil services aspirants whom they are supposed to serve.

My sister, who appeared for the examination this year, was not issued the hall ticket by the UPSC. When I tried to contact the UPSC office over telephone, all the three numbers provided officially were constantly busy. I kept trying through the day but to my utter frustration the numbers continued to be unreachable from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. day after day. I would get a ring on all the numbers immediately after 5 p.m. but of course no one would pick up the receiver then. There was no escaping the conclusion that the staff on duty had kept the receivers off the hook all day on purpose so that they were not “disturbed” during office hours.

Ultimately I was forced to personally go and collect the hall ticket.

I hope the organisation pays more attention to the grievances of candidates in future. Over the years it has had a reputation and it should try and live up to it.

Areesha Anjum,

Hudson Lines, Kingsway Camp, Delhi.

Not music

I purchased a mobile phone, Nokia N-70 Music Edition, on October 13, 2007, from The Mobile Store in Meerut under the “Buy and Fly” scheme offering two free domestic air ticket vouchers. I paid an extra Rs.300 for this mobile set only to avail of the scheme. I sent the required documents on November 14 to their agent, Countrywide Holidays Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi, as instructed.

After some time I was asked to submit the documents again, which I did on February 10, 2008, but once again now (after several complaints by me) they want me to re-submit the documents and pay airport tax, fuel surcharge and other charges for the journey before the promised flight tickets can be issued!

If I have to pay all this in the name of free tickets and still not get the destination of my choice, since they have not assured me of any destination, then I must say I feel thoroughly cheated. The consumers deserve better.

A. K. Gandhi,

637/2, Shastri Nagar, Meerut.

That’s cricket!

The formation of IPL teams resulted in a great deal of camaraderie among players belonging to different cities and different countries. It will motivate more and more players to play only for the game and not for any specific country.

This in turn will enrich the spirit of cricket not only for the players but also for the spectators. Three cheers to IPL for making this possible.

Amit Mithal,

Lecturer, JECRC, Shri Ram Ki Nangal, Tonk Road, Jaipur.

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