MyVoice: Views of our readers 24th April 2023

Crores open doors of their hearts to Rahul

Nearly 80 former MPs who lost elections in 2019 are still occupying government houses. Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi are still occupying their government bungalows despite not being MPs for years. Nodoubt, some are paying rent but in spite of receiving firm eviction notices they are refusing to vacate the bungalows. But,

Rahul Gandhi vacated bungalow within deadline and roared that he is ready to give up house and MP seat but not give up his fight against the Modi government.

The court has given time to vacate house and he can stay by paying rent, but it is not his principle. By vacating

his house, he has shown his exemplary gesture to move and this shows his respect for the rules. Rahul Gandhi vacated his house, but crores of people have opened the doors of their hearts and homes to him.

Zakir Hussain, Kazipet

How can gurudwara let a terrorist give sermon?

Amritpal Singh has been on the run since March 18. It wasn't an arrest. He surrendered like a VIP after giving a sermon in a Gurdwara. If the law & fair justice system prevails, the management of gurudwara must be made accomplice in giving shelter/platform to an alleged terrorist. While talking about surrender, a criminal surrenders only when there are no other options. This surrender won't make his crimes any less grave.

Vishal Mayur, Tumkur

Time to usher in Uniform Civil Code

In the context of forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, the BJP-led Central government intends to initiate measures regarding implementation of its long-time polls promise of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in India. Just like the common civil or criminal laws, it is indispensable that common personal laws to all citizens irrespective of religious differences are ensured in our secular democracy at earliest. There is no justification for failing even after lapse of 75 years since independence to implement the related constitutional provisions - solely for placating minority vote bank. Unless and until the UCC is implemented, real or meaningful secularism will not prevail here, and utter divisionism alone will continue ever here. What a pity!

B Veerakumaran Thampi, Thiruvananthapuram

II

Besides the fact that Uniform Civil Code was a poll manifesto of the BJP, a UCC is indeed the need of the hour in a country where umpteen faiths coexist. As things stand, each faith exerts its own influence on important issues the society has to deal with, on a daily basis viz., marriage, divorce and inheritance. Drawing up and implementing a path-breaking reform like the UCC must only follow multiple sessions of deliberations and consultations with all the parties involved, be they religious, political or social, to prevent the sensitive issue like the UCC from blowing over, assuming anarchic proportions, which is quite likely in today's India .

Dr George Jacob, Kochi

Eknath Shinde a dismal administrator

This refers to Shiv Sena (UBT) MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut who claimed the death toll in the Navi-Mumbai 'Maharashtra Bhushan' award 2022 event is higher than the government claims. He said 50-70 people would have died of heatstroke as they waited under the

direct sun when the event was organised. Yes, it is undoubtedly a foolish and thoughtless idea to conduct the award ceremony under the mid-day sun as the VIPs and

organisers were sheltered under cool protection from the searing sun, while the public on the ground were exposed to cruel heat of the mid-day for as long as six hours. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has proved to be a poor and dismal administrator despite his modest and poor background who failed to understand this basic reality

in which innocent lives were lost. The event could have been conducted in the evening, with plenty of drinking water arrangements that would have enhanced the credibility of the government.

K R Parvathy, Mysuru

Need for strict and honest drug control administration

Cops have seized millions of bottles of sedative cough syrup from pharmaceutical units across the country, which were notably sealed in long ago. It is discovered that the syrup contains codeine, an opiate on the list of controlled substances. How this escaped the attention of regulators for so long is perplexing, given that all units

using it are required to file quarterly returns of the narcotic substance used. Lax regulatory controls and gaps in the inspection of medical and drug-making firms have been identified as major causes of the sector's ills. This is a

serious lapse in judgement because bogus medicines cause havoc in the lives of consumers and can even be fatal.

The grip of law enforcement on this critical segment must be tightened. Pharma must also improve their internal quality control measures.

Vijaykumar H K, Raichur