1) Netaji should be kept above or equal to Gandhi
75th anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was celebrated in an unprecedented manner by the present Central Government, while earlier Congress-UPA government-led by the members of Nehru-Gandhi family deliberately diluted great contributions of so many others whose contribution for freedom struggle was undoubtedly much-much greater and effective than even of politically worshipped Gandhiji.
Central government should ensure installing of a statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at a long-emptied canopy of India Gate at New Delhi on his coming birthday on January 23 which should also be traditionally marked as the start of Republic Day celebrations when gallantry awards should be announced. However, National Honours should be continued to be announced on the eve of Republic Day.
Since it is not in the public interest to increase the number of public holidays, therefore, instead of announcing January 23 as a national holiday, the government holidays of October 2 and April 14 on the birth anniversaries of Gandhi and Ambedkar should be abolished to put Netaji at least on par with Gandhi and Ambedkar, and declaring all such birth anniversaries as extra work day and increasing work hours by half or an hour as real tribute to these leaders.
The monopoly of Gandhi photo on currency notes should be broken by putting pictures of different pre-independence freedom fighters on various denominations of currency notes.
– Subhash Chandra Agrawal
2) Targeting media houses is undemocratic!
Taxes make a nation and everybody should pay their taxes honestly and contribute to our country’s development as well as progress. However, raids on media houses which don’t blindly follow government’s agenda, at a time when Parliamentary elections are near, is undemocratic. Income Tax raids on media baron Raghav Bahl and his company The Quint raises a lot of questions in today’s environment of rumour-mongering when political thoughts and acquisition are hitting the headlines. The Quint has been struggling with TV licences and now the special treatment from tax authorities comes as a surprise.
Media is a watchdog of the society and contributes in protecting the democracy. Every profession has a black sheep and the government should let the media function independently. Yes, those breaking laws should be targeted but not harassed for what they report. Media houses too should restrain from the controversial issues that divide the nation but try to unite people in the interest of the nation whenever the situation demands.
– S.N.Kabra
3) Train driver not to be blamed for accident
I agree with the Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha that “the incident was not the railway’s fault. There was no lapse on our part and no action against the driver be initiated.” Though it was a heartbreaking disaster, but the Railway Ministry or driver is not responsible for this horrific incident rather the local authorities are responsible for this. Usually, this kind of events are conducted with the permission of local administration so they must have informed concerning railway department to make them aware of this situation on the track, but there was no information for railway officers. It is also impossible for a driver to stop the train abruptly, because it may lead to a bigger disaster for the passengers and train itself. So the driver should not be blamed and trialled in this regard. The local administration must be asked that why did he not inform to railway authorities about this events.
– MF Qasmi
4) It is just hypocrisy
Once again stirring the Ram Mandir pot, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath exhorted his supporters to start preparing for the construction of RamvTemple in Ayodhya. It looks an irresponsible statement from a Chief Minister of a state which spread violence and poisonous atmosphere all over the country. Why the BJP leaders and Hindu organisations are in so hurry to construct Ram Temple? Why can’t they wait for the verdict of the Supreme Court? Why always they remember Ram just before elections? It has become quite clear that they are playing their political game using the religious sentiments and emotions of common people. It is just hypocrisy and myth to talk about Ram Temple just before the elections and keep silent otherwise.
– Mohd Rahmani
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
