No boon from closed mills

Sir — The chief minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, has asked the Central government for the land belonging to factories that have shut down. This is undoubtedly with a good intention, aimed at starting new industries. But will the chief minister please tell us what the government has done with the 90-bigha plot of Mohini Mills that it had taken over in 2003? The Central government’s industrial units’ lands shall have no better fate than that of Mohini Mills under the inefficient Left Front government.

Yours faithfully,
Asoke C. Banerjee, Calcutta

Old and irrelevant

Sir — If two individuals want to live together, religion, in that case, has no place in the scheme of things (“Religions unite against ruling”, July 3). Lesbianism, transsexuality, single motherhood, in-vitro fertilization and so on are realities in all societies nowadays. The archaic law that is Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is not in tune with the social liberalization that has been witnessed all over the world, including India. Therefore, in the best interests of the members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community, this law should be repealed. Even if the law is not scrapped, gay and lesbian live-in couples will continue to exist and grow. So one hopes that the government will take a pragmatic view of the matter.

Yours faithfully,
A.S. Mehta, Calcutta

Sir — My experience on the committee of the Oxford Indian Society brought me face to face with a homophobic undercurrent that prevails even among the educated circles of the Indian diaspora. I had proposed the creation of a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and hijra officer’s post, which would be useful in the OIS for LGBTH welfare as well as for support to those who felt intimidated by a largely unfamiliar concept.

It was shocking that nobody on the committee made any cogent argument as to why the post should not be created. There were arguments about how ‘pride parades’ create more rifts than bridges. Others argued that if LGBTH issues need an officer, so did women’s issues. One member suggested that there were other important things that needed immediate attention. Another member even described the proposal as opportunistic in the light of the pride parade season. All votes but one were against the motion. Interestingly, two years ago, the OIS committee had approved of such a post and had also called for elections to it. It later backed out because one member of the society had raised a strong objection to the election-call for the LGBT officer, arguing that the OIS was working against India. While the newly-elected government and the media have made a good attempt towards decriminalizing homosexuality, I can see that there is a long way to go before Indian sexual minorities are accepted in Indian society.

Yours faithfully,
Manish Kushwaha, Oxford, UK

Sound check

Sir — Thanks to almost everyone owning a two-wheeler, and a rapid increase in the number of three-wheelers and trucks, there is a high level of sound pollution. Blaring horns disturb senior citizens and children, resulting in a disruption of their sleep patterns. The sound also results in damage to the eardrums, causing loss of hearing. One can be sure that future generations will develop serious deficiencies of hearing. Governments should regulate the movement of vehicles within the city. They should also ban electric or gas horns and compel a change to bulb horns. This will also help reduce the speed of vehicles, reducing accidents.

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