Pandemic in Asia
It is disquieting news that there is a renewed surge in COVID-19 infections in parts of the world (Page 1, “South Korea registers over 6 lakh COVID cases in a day”, March 18). We must be alive to the fact that a virus has the ability to mutate into new forms and pose new challenges. It is premature at this stage to conclude that the pandemic is all over. We must step up disease surveillance, genome sequencing and the booster dose programme.
G. David Milton,
Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu
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Missile incident
I dread to think of the situation had there been an accident following the ‘accidental firing’ of a missile by India into Pakistan. I wonder what India’s reaction would have been had Pakistan done this — the imagination can run riot!
India must correct the perception that there could be security lapses.
Tharcius S. Fernando,
Chennai
Claim on Pegasus
So far, the general perception — mainly stemming from the statements of the NSO Group about the nature of its clients — is that Pegasus, a state-of-the-art spyware, was sold to central government agencies only. But the ‘disclosure’ by a leading Chief Minister in India seems to throw more light on the nature of potential clients of the NSO Group (Inside pages, “Turned down Pegasus spyware offer, says Mamata”, March 18). If this disclosure is accurate, it is puzzling how many State governments the NSO Group had approached to sell the spyware, and in turn, how many State governments accepted the offer. And more importantly, why did the Centre allow the State governments to deal with military-grade spyware on their own? Given the nature of the spyware, will it not be a threat to national security itself?
A. Venkatasubramanian,
Tiruchi, Tamil Nadu
K-Rail protests
The report, “K-Rail: police use force to remove agitators” (March 18), brings out the utter agony and despondency some citizens in Kerala face. It brings back memories of the Independence struggle and those archaic methods used by security forces of the bygone era! There are two aspects to the entire episode of protests against K-Rail. One is the complete failure of the ruling party and government to sensitise the public about the need for such a mammoth and grandiose project. Second, is the failure of the police force to adopt and adapt to novel ideas of crowd-controlling measures.
Visuals of policemen crudely dragging away even women in full media glare are a shock to those who believe in democracy.
Jayasekharan V.P.,
Payyanur, Kannur, Kerala
The police acting in a very rough way with women and even children is distressing. Where are our human rights commissions? How can women and children be treated like this? Some of the video content on social media is upsetting and only conveys a very poor image of the law and order situation under the present regime in Kerala.
K.A. Solaman,
SL Puram, Alappuzha, Kerala
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