MyVoice: Views of our readers 25th May 2020

The mystery behind Pak plane crash

Though the real reason behind the crash in Pakistan will take some time to be zeroed upon, one thing is very clear. Like elsewhere around the world, Pakistan's aviation sector is also faced with the problem of grounding of planes during the two-month-long lockdown period. Since planes are grounded for this long, they need to be tested by flying them without any passenger on board to ensure that they are fit enough to ferry travellers. Here lies the catch. There is no law which talks about a plane to undergo a test flight before it resumes its commercial flight operations, even after a gap of more than 60 days. So, in the absence of a law, the airliners want to avoid test flights so as to save their money. The rule of test flight is applicable in case the plane was stuck in a hangar for a long period of time. But there is no rule for planes which have been grounded under the open sky. It is high time India thought of this as Indian aviation industry is all set to operate its flights.

Ramesh Vanga, Hyderabad

India's failure in taking care of its migrant workers

This is with reference to innumerable reports on the plight of migrant labourers across India who are heading for their native villages on foot, following the lockdown. It may be remembered that in 1971, India hosted 10 million refugees from Bangladesh. The refugees, both Hindus and Muslims, had fled the crackdown and genocide by the Pakistani army, which had been let loose to teach Bengalis a lesson for electing the Awami League to power. West Pakistan would not allow a Bengali, Muzibur Rahman, to become Prime Minister of united Pakistan. This led to the war with India in December 1971, creation of Bangladesh and dismemberment of Pakistan. But from February that year to January 1972, India had to bear the burden of refugees in camps set up in West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya. India was then a 24-year-old young republic. Its economy was weak. It had to depend on food aid from the US to feed its teeming millions. Therefore, hosting 10 million additional souls was no small task. But the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi vowed to send the refugees back to Bangladesh with honour and dignity. For almost a year ration was supplied to refugees in the camps: each adult was given 300 grams of rice, 100 grams of wheat flour, 100 grams of pulses, 25 grams of edible oil and 25 grams of sugar every day, and half of this quantity for children. They were also given cash for daily expenses. The question is, if India could bear the burden of 10 million refugees for a year then, why has the Indian government failed to take care of the migrant workers almost 50 years later, when its economy is a lot stronger; when communication is faster, when roads are better.

Anuradha K L, Visakhapatnam

Modi's package, a charter of deception

It is beyond anybody's doubt that the Modi government is only taking measures to promote private investment, including foreign investment, dismantling labour laws, weakening environmental safeguards and facilitating easier and greater corporate control over natural resources and human labour. Such measures are bound to prove all the more irrelevant and disastrous in times of a massive crisis like the present juncture. Worldwide, people are talking of changing the priorities and bringing the needs of public health, human survival and environmental protection at the heart of the economy. To treat such a moment as an opportunity to accelerate the failed economic agenda of liberalisation and privatisation and call it the rise of self-reliant India is nothing short of a crime. This rhetoric of 'self-reliance' is a preposterous euphemism for total abdication of responsibilities by the State, leaving a billion-plus people in the lurch of a cruel lockdown and mounting misery. The package is a charter of deception and disaster and pressure must therefore be mounted for a reversal of this course and for an alternative package that answers the immediate needs and also serves the long-term interests of the people.

Satya Narayana N, Hyderabad