Hollow reverence
On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti; the nation, as has been the practice the past so many years, in its own inimitable style, pays homage to the Mahatma by holding a number of events in his memory. Garlanding the statute of Gandhiji, political leaders, cutting across party lines, extol the virtues of the ‘Father of the Nation’ and encourage citizens of this great nation to follow the teachings of the Mahatma. Yet all along there has been a feeling that all these commemorations have been nothing more than shams, a perfunctory show of ‘getting done’ with formalities that successive generations of the Indian populace have been going through without ever feeling obliged to understand what the great man stood for. In fact, the reverence for Mahatma Gandhi is more obvious in countries abroad. The United Nations General assembly observes the International Day of Non-Violence each year on the 2nd of October, the Mahatma’s birth anniversary. However, the relevance of Gandhi’s philosophy on ahimsa continues to be misunderstood in India to an extent where sections of our modern society blame him for many of the ills that plague India post-independence. Meaning nothing more than a holiday, we Indians continue ignoring the teachings of a noble soul whom the world recognizes as a saint.
Pachu Menon, Margao
Murder over meat
When Indians kill their fellow brethren just on the suspicion of eating beef, when the beef is sent to a lab to be tested, despite the fact that it is a non-issue and that testing shouldn’t be necessary, and when a minister declares it an accident, we need to sit back and introspect on how far we have come as a society. The BJP government and its allies have certainly not respected the laws of a democracy, by imposing bans and nonsensical rules. Meanwhile, the prime minister flies across the world trying to get everyone to invest in the country. That may be a good sentiment but we also need someone to run this country and stop the slide back to the dark ages. There is no honour in oppressing fellow human beings and imposing your views on them. A prime minister of the country should know atleast that.
Bhushan Kamat, Miramar
Dhirio vs slaughter
It’s interesting that many of those who are pushing for a ban on cow slaughter are also pushing to legalise dhirios. Those ideals are so far apart you could fit the universe in between. It doesn’t make sense, not in the least bit. The idea is that, while one is a sport and may have an occasional death, the other is a purposeful death which also results in the eating of meat. Or is it perhaps that the whole opposition is because of the eating, not of the killing per se? Nothing ever really makes sense here.
Cynthia Andrade, Taleigao
