Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Cheating hearts
8226; THE Madhava Menon Committee8217;s draft national policy has come as a shot in the arm for the National Commission for Women. But in actuality this is what I think is being recommended by NCW: adultery by women should be treated as a social offence, and adultery by men should be treated as a criminal offence. The people who support the NCW recommendations and adultery are ignoring the fact that Section 497 of the IPC is discriminatory, as it allows for conviction of men and allows women to go scot-free for being adulterous. This emboldens women to commit adultery without fearing punishment. Such gender discrimination is a bigger crime than adultery. The Committee8217;s argument that considering adultery as criminal offence will become an obstacle to any kind of rapprochement between the husband and the wife is unsound. Rapprochement is possible even if adultery is treated as a crime. The only thing for the victim to do is forgive the guilty. NCW is expected to know that marriage is a sacred institution whose base is trust and respect. Any attack on this base will weaken the institution. Treating adultery as a social offence will encourage it and weaken the institution of marriage.The so-called sexual freedom has spawned more sociopaths.
8212; Amjad K. Maruf, Mumbai
Cleanser timely
8226; THIS refers to the order of Supreme Court resulting in the disqualification of BSP MLAs in Uttar Pradesh for party-hopping and joining Mulayam Singh Yadav8217;s government. It is a milestone decision, which would restore the faith of voters in the party they voted for and not these MLAs individually. The disqualification would also discourage the opportunist MLAs from defecting for financial gains. It has become a trend MLAs to break away from the mother party in order to form their own party or join another for money. Such MLAs should not only be stripped of their membership but also be penalised for betraying the faith of the people.
8212; Krishna R. Patel; Narsinghpur, MP
Gory days behind
8226; THE letter by M. Ratan 8216;Not by Parzanias8217; IE, February 13 compels me to comment. I have nothing to do with human right-wallahs, but certainly with my individual rights. I feel that there is not a single person including Minister Dasmunshi who is fit to decide what I should watch. Bans cannot be an answer to every problem. Many Gujaratis living outside Gujarat have watched the movie, and not a whimper was heard. He raises a ridiculous question: 8216;Do you want Gujarat to remain mired in self-pity?8217; Are the Germans now living in self-pity and condemnation? Hundreds of movies are made about Hitler8217;s cruelty, but Germany is doing well as a society.
8212; Behram Aga Mumbai
Tiwari over hill
8226; IN his article, 8216;The CM keeps people guessing8217; IE, February 15, S.M.A. Kazmi has actually tried to defend the octogenarian N.D. Tiwari . At one place Kazmi has given him a certificate of good governance record. This hill region was ignored by Tiwari when he was the CM of UP four times. The neglect continues. Under Tiwari8217;s five years tenure, SIDCUL being the set up but only in plains not hills. Like in Singur, Tiwari government took over the most fertile land of Rudrapur, Pantnagar, Hardwar, Sitargunj and Bajpur for projects to develop the hill areas. Tiwari would have gone down as the CM of good governance: dozens of ex-bureaucrats, technocrats, and even NRIs from Uttaranchal offered their free services as consultant for the development of the state, particularly hills, but Tiwari and his caucus refused.
8212; Harish Awasthi Delhi
