MyVoice: Views of our readers 13th March 2021

Well done, Shahidi!

This refers to the report 'Shahidi becomes 1st Afghan to scale Mount 200' (The Hans India, Sports Page, March 12, 2021). Kudos to Hashmatullah Shahidi for scripting a history by becoming the first Afghan batsman to score a double century in Test cricket.

After being awarded the Test status by the International Cricket Council in June 2017 and playing their debut match against India in June 2018, the Afghanistan Cricket Team has been performing consistently well in the format.

From learning to play in the refugee camps, enduring unending war and fickle inclusiveness policies of the cricket world to reaching its zenith, the team's journey has been inspirational. It will be interesting to witness them performing against the world class nations in the forthcoming years.

Tushar Anand, Patna

Was Mamata attacked or not?

This refers to the picture of Mamata Banerjee flashed in the media. The incident happened when she was returning after filing nomination papers in Nandigram. We have to feel sorry and hope that she will recover soon to campaign for the elections.

This happened when news was going around the circles that 'Dada' (Sourav Ganguly) will be pitted against 'Didi'. If it was politically staged just to attract sympathy to win over the elections, we have to feel sorry for the happenings. How can it happen to a Chief Minister who had Z+ security.

Is it a political 'master stroke' directed by TMC political strategist Prashant Kishor to garner votes for TMC in coming assembly elections?

BJP president JP Nadda claimed that he was attacked by TMC party workers when he toured West Bengal a few months ago. It seems TMC is paying on the same coin with the BJP.

If a leader having a stature as high as the Chief Minister of a state was being attacked so easily in spite of high security, what would happen to the common man in the state?

But it remains to be seen whether it will garner a sizable amount of votes to 'daughter of West Bengal' as she may campaign on a wheelchair much to the discomfort of her political opponents or will it boomerang in the ensuing elections.

Mudslinging has already started from the parties regarding security lapses, claiming sympathy etc., Whatever happened has happened. Time will only answer these questions.

All have to keep their fingers crossed till the counting of votes is completed and the results to be declared after casting their votes in assembly elections.

An independent 'neutral' inquiry and its findings before elections can only bring the facts to the fore and punish the culprits and at the same time not bestow undue advantage to any political party.

V Nagendra Kumar, Hyderabad

II

The contradicting claims of Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee reflects her embarrassment of losing power against BJP challenges. Her charisma and criticism of opponents is no more, as her early days in Congress and later setting TMC is on the wane.

She is losing confidence as the leaders of her own party are jumping into BJP. Time has come for regional parties to think. Challenging a national party by a regional party becomes an uphill task as against 1980s or 90s. Regional parties should think on what is supporting the growth of BJP.

D Kishan Prasad, Thimmapur

Modi's 75th Independence Day

It's heartening to learn that in memory of Mahatma Gandhi's historical Dandi march and to commemorate 75th Independence Day, a similar march is flagged off by the Prime Minister.

To evoke the patriotic feelings among people and to remember the sacrifices of the freedom fighters a seventy five week- long celebrations are planned from now. The salt tax of colonial regime that discouraged native people to produce, store and use local product had been taken to fight against and awaken people by Mahatma. That was real cry for atmanirbharta (Self-reliance).

Now the government is thinking of privatising PSUs as far as possible and saying that to be in business is not business of the government. Can such moves bring the country towards self- reliance in real sense?

Dr D V G Sankararao, Nellimarla

Water woes

This refers to today's news report, "China to build dam on Brahmaputra close to India border", (The Hans India, March 12). To devise a plan to engage China on the issue of the Brahmaputra dams, it is important to understand two fundamental issues. One, China's geographical position (an upper riparian State) cannot be altered.

Two, the Indian and Chinese approach towards water-related issues with the neighbours have followed different trajectories.

While India, as an upper riparian neighbour, has always opted for a treaty-based approach with Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, China's approach with 11 of its neighbours with whom it shares rivers, has been more unilateral.

Beijing uses water and dams as instruments of hard politics. Unlike India, Beijing has little respect for legal conventions — the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention is an example. India does not have a water treaty with China.

In this backdrop, India needs to refine its approach. While pushing China for seamless data-sharing on Brahmaputra-related aspects such as rainfall and water flow (irrespective of the politics of the day), New Delhi must strive to make water a core issue for bilateral dialogue along with the boundary matter.

At the same time, India must focus on building water storage capacities in the Northeast so that its needs are not compromised in case of a natural or man-made crisis; draw benefits from its own rivers; and focus on building a lower riparian coalition of Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar to lobby international support for recognising Tibet's water as a common resource.

N Sadhasiva Reddy, Bengaluru