Left to bite the dust

Sir — With every passing year, Independence Day is starting to resemble any other festivity, with rock concerts and bargain sales marking the day. From days before August 15, street-vendors start selling miniature tricolours, and on the day itself, the entire city is decorated with these flags. But what happens to these afterwards? They are found strewn all over the streets, to be trampled by pedestrians and vehicles. School curricula should be made to include a module to teach children how to show respect to the national flag, and thereby to the nation itself.

Yours faithfully,
Santosh Upadhyay, Calcutta

Double jeopardy

Sir — Division along communal lines is still writ large all over India — from the conflagration in Jammu and Kashmir to the plight of the electronics engineer, Rashid Hussain, in Jaipur (“Techie jobless after cop quiz”, Aug 20). The policies of the Central and state governments swing between victimization and appeasement of Muslims; there is nothing in between. The fact is that both kinds of policies are premised on the social discrimination of the community. Added to it is the lethal incompetence of our law and order authorities for which Hussain has had to pay too heavy a price. His religious identity was enough for the police of Rajasthan to stamp him as a terrorist and put his job on the line. It is precisely this kind of sham investigation and isolationist tactics that sow the seeds of hatred and violence, instead of putting an end to terrorism in the country.

But again, goof-ups of this kind are not unexpected of the country’s police. What is truly surprising is the stand taken by Hussain’s employer, Infosys, reputed hitherto for its fairness and corporate ethics. A human rights organization should come forward and take up the case and demand a quick redress of the wrongs done to Hussain. If this is not possible in the BJP-ruled state of Rajasthan, Hussain should be rehabilitated in a state where he would be treated with greater respect.

Yours faithfully,
S. Mukherjee, Burdwan

Sir — The way the police and the management of Infosys treated the engineer, Rashid Hussain, made our heads hang in shame. It was also a huge blow to the so called integrity and secularism of India. First, the Jaipur Police should tender an unconditional apology to Hussain for detaining him illegally for nine days. It should also help him regain his dignity in society and his job. As a citizen of India, I feel ashamed that another Indian is subjected to such a traumatic experience simply because he happens to belong to a minority community.

Yours faithfully,
Kapil Sarma, Calcutta

Sir — In India, if you are a Muslim, you can be sure to have a hard time getting a job. Recent history has taught us that in India, if you are a Muslim and are questioned by the police, you also have to give up the hope of retaining your hard-earned job. The sacking of Rashid Hussain by the renowned IT company, Infosys, following his illegal detention and interrogation by the police, smacks of religious profiling.

Yours faithfully,
Tirthankar Guha, Calcutta

Parting shot

Sir — India’s burgeoning population poses the biggest threat to our economy. Not enough is being done about this. It is evident that the two-child norm has not produced the desired results. A stricter measure would be to raise the marriageable age of men to 25 years and of women to 21. It goes without saying that this stricture needs to be implemented with an iron hand, with severe penalties to those who would dare to flout it.

Yours faithfully,
M.M. Kale, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh