Sir,

A Delhi court sentencing rape accused and former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar for life imprisonment is fitting retribution for a shameful act. The court also did well to impose a fine of Rs. 25 lakh, awarding an additional compensation of Rs. 10 lakh over and above the Rs. 25 lakh given as ex-gratia to the mother. The fine would go into the victim’s bank account after realisation.

 

An order should be given for attaching his properties, selling them in auction and realising the fine amount to be paid to Government and victim’s family. Harsh measures are the need of the hour if law-enforcing authorities hope to stop hardcore criminals like Sengar.

 

N J Ravi Chander

 

 

 

Sir,

It is indeed most unfortunate that some of the political parties are fuelling and fomenting countrywide protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. A top Government official said on Friday ‘Anyone born in India before July 1, 1987 or whose parents were born before that date are bona fide Indian citizens.’ According to the 2004 amendments of the Citizenship Act, people of the country, except those in Assam, whose one parent is an Indian and neither is an illegal immigrant, are also considered Indian citizens.

 

The clarification came amid on-going protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and several versions of the recently enacted law being circulated in social media about it. In case of Assam, the cut-off date for identification of an Indian citizen is 1971. Now all those agitating against the Bill must stop spreading canard and people must see through the hidden agenda of those protesters to destabilise India.  How many of the protesters exactly know all about the CAA and NRC? Are all of them protesting after knowing the real intention of the Bill?

 

All the protesters must stop this hue and cry over the Bill. They must also refrain from destroying public properties. We cannot achieve anything by being destructive. Protesters are trying to fish in the trouble waters. When India becomes weak, our neighbouring countries can celebrate it. Therefore, protesters please do not destroy this country by being destructive. Every right-minded citizen must spread the facts regarding the law. They are not supposed to spread fiction about the CAA.

 

T. K. Nandanan, Kochi

 

 

 

Sir,

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament and Planning Commission termed MPLADS useless and corruption-generating. The then Lok Sabha Speaker Mr. Somnath Chaterjee had suggested scrapping of the scheme. Many MPs and MLAs are over-generous to fund their favourite organisations from this scheme even though such funding may have nothing to do with public welfare. Parliamentarians and MLAs must get work done for public welfare from existing administrative machinery including wisely using RTI Act rather than needing short cut by way of corruption-generating scheme.

 

Madhu Agrawal