Letters to the Editor: Killing fields of Uttar Pradesh and why JEE-NEET should be deferred   

Killing field of UP

Three journalists killed in UP in the last three months seems to have escaped much media attention. Nor has the media been perturbed over the UP govt filing FIRs against eleven more journalists for allegedly criticising the administration or the chief minister, mostly on social media. Nor has the media paid attention to the state government not allowing any political activity on the pretext of the lockdown. It is absurd to allow 10 policemen, some without masks, huddle together but prevent five political leaders from visiting bereaved families. But then the so-called national media has been quiet on fake encounters, police excesses and failures of the Yogi govt in maintaining law and order and managing the pandemic as well. But the real issue is the law and order situation in the state. Like Nawabs of Oudh, the chief minister announces varying compensation for people who lose their lives. In the latest killing of a journalist, Ratan Singh associated with Sahara Samay, the CM announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh. Many victims of violence and even murder, however, receive no compensation from the state. Nobody is quite sure why. If compensation is ruled out in case of death due to personal rivalry or property dispute etc., then compensation announced in several of these cases may not pass muster because they do not show any application of the mind. Despite the glaring failures of the UP govt on several fronts, chief minister Yogi Adityanath not only gets a public pat from the Prime Minister but is also hailed as the ‘best’ chief minister by publications! And like the PM, this CM is also not used to answer inconvenient questions but believes in ruling by fiat. It is sad to see the media failing the people and not raising the right questions.

Pradeep Dikshit

Defer JEE & NEET

The JEE and NEET examinations scheduled for September may get postponed following widespread protests by students and political leaders. Students and examinees took to social media and webinars to virtually threaten the government, asking it to back off. But while the Government may save its face by deferring the dates, it reflects poorly on the Government and speaks a lot on its governance style. What the stubbornness of the Government shows is a singular lack of understanding of ground realities. It seems to be in denial over the havoc the lockdown has caused in the economy. But it cannot be oblivious to the fact that even five months after the lockdown, public transport in several states is not available, and, if available in a limited way, is expensive. To expect examinees to travel hundreds of kilometres, stay in hotels and run the risk of getting infected or infecting relatives is cruel. The Government could have saved itself from embarrassment if it had consulted all the stakeholders and not just the coaching institutes. But then this government doesn’t seem to believe in consultations.

Ratan Kiro

WhatsApp Forward

Napoleon comes back to life and visits the USA, Israel and India After his visit to the USA, he tells the president: “If I had your military equipment and training, I wouldn’t have lost the battle of Waterloo!”He goes to Israel and at the end of his visit, he tells the Israeli PM: “If I had your Mossad and espionage system, I wouldn’t have lost the battle of Waterloo!” He comes to India and, at the airport, before leaving, he tells Indian PM: “If I had your press, television and media, no one to this day would have known I lost the battle of Waterloo!”

Meera Dutt

The untold story

The brouhaha over Bloomsbury India backing out from publishing a one-sided book on Delhi riots earlier this year points to the sad state of publishing. While the publishing house did itself no credit by accepting a book, which is a thinly disguised pamphlet for propaganda, what is even more disturbing is that PDF copies of the book circulated to journalists covering the BJP in Delhi claims that the copyright lies with one of the three authors, an advocate. It would tend to indicate that the publishing house was used to print the book for what was essentially selfpublishing or vanity publishing. The tag of an international publisher and its distribution network would have made it easier to push the book’s sale.

Worried journalist