My enemy, my friend

Sir ? Zarin and Bilal Musharraf were great hits in Delhi, but that was only to be expected (?Winning with whistle and wave?, March 19). Pervez Musharraf too did the rounds of his old haveli in Delhi a few years back, a fawning media in tow. These are PR circuses, meant to confuse Indian diplomats and lull the people of the two countries into a false sense of normalcy. Sadly, these gestures will be forgotten even before Musharraf goes back to Islamabad. And we?d better not forget that.

Yours faithfully,
Rajnish Basu, Calcutta

Hair trigger

Sir ? If a teacher can beat up a five-year-old mercilessly for a minor lapse like not carrying her art-and-craft work in a plastic bag, is it any wonder that many students turn out criminals (?Child beaten, hair yanked off?, March 17)? After all, violence breeds violence. The authorities of the Our Lady Queen of the Mission School are equally deserving of censure for trying to hush up the matter.

How do people like Ruma Pal qualify as teachers? And why should a child be made a victim of whatever professional or domestic travails a teacher is facing? Pal should face terrible consequences for her actions. Exemplary punishment for her will make other teachers think twice about resorting to such behaviour.

Yours faithfully,
Mahelaka Begum, Calcutta

Sir ? That a teacher, who has the responsibility to ensure that her pupils grow up to become responsible citizens, should be so cruel is beyond comprehension. What is this ?discipline? that the school is so proud of, which allows a teacher to yank off hair from a student?s head?

I commend Hitesh Gupta, Varnika?s father, for having the courage to lodge a complaint with the police. It needs to be ensured that he and his daughter are not harassed by the school for making the complaint.

Yours faithfully,
Pradip Chowdhury, Calcutta

Sir ? It was heartening to see Varnika Gupta smile just days after she was beaten up by her teacher (graphic with ?Hair split over torture taint?, March 18). Such beating can cause permanent damage like stammering and affect a child?s sense of confidence. If the teacher had just boxed her ears, it could not have made her father go to the trouble of doing the rounds of the police station and courts. The picture of Varnika shows a patch of white on her head, caused by some injury. Moreover, Shantanu Tripathi, the superintendent of SSKM hospital, has not ruled out the possibility of her hair being pulled out. His statement certainly carries more weight than that of the Bidhannagar sub-divisional hospital.

Yours faithfully,
Govind Das Dujari, Calcutta

Sir ? Parents are increasingly rushing to complain to the police about any punishment given to their wards by their teachers. They must realize that teachers punish their charge in order to correct them. A teacher has to manage a class of 30 to 40 students, many of whom are very mischievous. Thus she has to be strict to with the mischief-makers to ensure that others can learn. Some teachers may over-react but then they too are human. Parents must try to settle disputes by discussion with the teacher or her superior.

Parents like Hitesh Gupta are harming their offspring by showing that they too can harass the teachers when the children are punished for not maintaining discipline. It his daughter who will suffer from lack of discipline and knowledge, and not the teacher.

Yours faithfully,
Sanjoy Ghose, Calcutta