“Even if a single person goes without food, we shall destroy the world,” was Tamil poet Mahakavi Subramaniya Bharati's war cry against hunger. It was painful to read U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's estimate of $1.6-billion as the amount needed to save the starving Somalis and thought-provoking to read about the $2.5-billion Mars rover being planned by NASA (July 23). The enthusiasm and money being pumped in by powerful countries to force a regime change in Libya while displaying a lackadaisical attitude in raising funds to save millions of lives leaves a reader with a revolting feeling about the moral fabric of the human race. Failure to respond to the unfolding tragedy will prove that the human race never learns its lessons.
A. Raghuram,
New Delhi
The publication of the crisis in Somalia in The Hindu is the first step towards extending help to starving Somalis.
There are readers who would like to help, but it is not clear how they should go about this task. The plight of those starving is very moving.
P.U. Krishnan,
Udhagamandalam
Perhaps the U.N. should make it clear how individuals have to help Somalia. Also, such appeals need front page coverage. There are a number of people who would like to help.
Suganya Naveen,
Chennai
The crisis in Somalia is because of the uneven distribution of resources and lack of coordination between the rich and famine-stricken countries.
The fact that there is still mass starvation in today's world is heart-wrenching. In each of those desperate faces in the pictures we see, there are lives waiting to blossom.
Naveen Kumar Prathipati,
East Godavari
The need of the hour is to provide foodgrains, health facilities and shelter in refugee camps in the Horn of Africa.
India cannot remain a mute spectator. What happened to our foreign policy?
Amit Sankhla,
New Delhi
