Under attack

Sir — The Malaysian airliner, MH-17, crashed in Ukraine after being hit by a surface-to-air missile fired from a rebel territory in Ukraine (“Missile claim as Malaysian jet with 295 crashes and burns in Ukraine”, July 18). The plane was going from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and had around 295 people on board. It crashed near the town of Snezhnoye, killing 298 people. Samantha Power, the ambassador of the United States of America to the United Nations, told the UN security council in New York that the missile was fired from a rebel-held area near the Russian border. The Ukrainian government in Kiev, the separatist pro-Russia rebels and the Russian government that Ukraine accuses of supporting the rebels all denied accusations of shooting the plane down. Moscow also denied backing these rebels.

The involvement of Russia in the attack cannot be overlooked. The missile that was believed to have brought down the jetliner was the BUK surface-to-air missile system. It is an old Soviet-built weapon designed to engage aircraft, cruise missiles and drones that is still widely used in Ukraine. It is capable of taking down large airliners flying at an altitude of 33,000 feet. The intensity of the impact is likely to have blown the Malaysian plane apart in the sky.

The world powers and the UN should come together to tackle this crisis and put pressure on Russia to punish those responsible for the attack.

Yours faithfully,
Sunil Pradhan, Nuapada, Odisha

Sir — The shooting down of the Malaysian civil jetliner over Ukraine’s airspace is shocking. It also amounts to a big blow to the global fight against AIDS. There were at least six prominent experts on the disease among the 298 people who died. Barack Obama, the president of the US, had said that the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH-17 was caused by a surface-to-air missile launched from areas in Ukraine controlled by Russian separatists. Within hours of the attack, Moscow came up with conspiracy theories that the separatists had mistaken the airliner for the Russian president’s jet. The BUK missile used in the attack is made by Russia. The crisis in Ukraine should not be allowed to go on any further. Russia’s recent annexation of Crimea has given rise to bilateral tensions. The political upheaval in Ukraine should be brought under control as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully,
Benu Kumar Bose, Calcutta

Sir — The recent attack on the Malaysian jetliner needs to be condemned in harsh terms. It is an affront to humanity. The people on board included vacationers, students and a large contingent of scientists heading to an AIDS conference in Australia. The UNSC has called for a thorough and independent international investigation into the attack.

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, suggested that both sides in the Ukrainian conflict should hold peace talks. He said Ukraine was responsible for the unrest in the Russian-speaking eastern regions. But he did not accuse Ukraine of shooting the plane down, and evaded the key question of whether Russia had given the rebels such powerful missiles.

Malaysia now finds itself grappling with the horrific and unusual loss of two of its airplanes, the incidents occurring within four months of each other. The other Malaysian airliner mysteriously vanished over the Indian ocean.

Barack Obama has stopped short of blaming Russia for the incident. An independent probe will help unearth the truth in this case.

Yours faithfully,
Sravana Ramachandran, Chennai

Welcome move

Sir — The government of India has decided to do away with the necessity of getting affidavits filed by a gazetted officer or a notary for official work (“Nudge to self-attest papers”, July 16). It has decided to promote self-attestation instead. This will come as a major relief to citizens. The government has also asked states to review the requirement of attaching affidavits with various application forms. It is now encouraging self-attestation of documents. The Kerala Public Service Commission had done away with the policy of attestation by gazetted officers long ago.

Getting an affidavit is a cumbersome process. People have to dole out money for getting affidavits from a notary. Most of the gazetted officials do not attest affidavits in the absence of sufficient documents. The present decision will reduced the suffering of people, especially in villages and remote areas.

Yours faithfully,
K.A. Solaman, Alappuzha, Kerala

Parting shot

Sir — The Sri Lankan batsman, Mahela Jayawardene, has decided to quit Test cricket later this year. Jayawardene, who has scored 33 centuries in 145 Tests, will retire after the home series against Pakistan. He will continue to play in one-day internationals. Jayawardene has been a stalwart of the batting order ever since he made his debut against India in 1997. His batting has always been light and it seems as if he plays for the love of the game. He plays new, modern shots, easily fitting them into an essentially classical base.

The right-handed batsman has always maintained a low profile. Jayawardene has decided to bow out of the cricketing scene with dignity, unlike some of his Indian counterparts.

Yours faithfully,
Kajal Chatterjee, Calcutta

Letters from Odisha

Sorry state

Sir — Rampant cases of kidney theft have vitiated the atmosphere and created fear in the minds of the citizens. The facts that many of the cases are leading the police to neighbouring states and that the evidence is clearly pointing to the involvement of high-profile people show that this crime is highly organized. Big hospitals and even small nursing homes have come under the scanner. This is a double whammy for the common man as everyone cannot afford treatment in big hospitals. Now it seems that a person has to pay dearly even in smaller nursing homes. Why can the police not keep a check on the nursing homes that are mushrooming all over the city?

Yours faithfully,
Sruti Nayak, Bhubaneswar

Sir — The discovery of several rackets involving the illegal sale of kidneys in the state has exposed the fact that the checks and balances sytem is not adopted by the medical institutions that carry out the transplant operations. It is fairly well known that an expert committee has to approve of the transplant at the government-level, but such scrutiny appears to be absent at the hospital-level.

This is highly recommended in the present context where semi-literate and needy people are being exploited by agents who hunt out parties on behalf of hospitals or people who desperately need kidneys for transplant. In this situation, it is for the state government to protect the poor from the hands of the kidney racketeers.

Yours faithfully,
Manas Sahu, Bhubaneswar

Sir — The Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994 prohibits kidney transplants between people other than close relatives. But due to a lack of awareness about the legal provisions and driven by poverty, gullible people are lured into the kidney racket. Besides, in the urgency to save one’s life, laws are bent by people who describe the donor as a ‘close relative’ in order to escape legal hassles. The law should be made simpler so that it is not violated or twisted and, at the same time, enables precious human lives to be saved. The authorization committee of the government should act in a more responsible manner to prevent the organ commerce. There should be widespread publicity about the legal provisions so that the people are not cheated.

Yours faithfully,
Raghabendra Pati, Bhubaneswar

Sir — The recent incidents of illegal sale of kidneys prove the sorry state of the healthcare system, which has fallen into the hands of money-minded people who open hospitals to make profits. This also shows that the rich continue to take advantage of the poor. After one incident surfaced, more followed, and after some time, many other cases will surely come to the fore. What shocks us are the complaints about people being called to donate blood and then being robbed of their kidneys unawares. If such allegations are true then there is little hope for the world. Instead of trying to cover up such incidents, the government authorities should try to bring the culprits to the fore.

Yours faithfully,
Sthuti Samapika, Bhubaneswar

Sir — The exposure of the illegal sale of kidneys has paved the way for the state police to break the racket. With complaints of illegal kidney sales being registered frequently, it seems that several well-organized rackets are in existence. The most important fact about the kidney sale racket is that all the transplantations, barring one, seem to have taken place outside the state. This means that the racket has managed to bypass all existing rules and regulations. The police so far have arrested a few. Proper investigation will surely lead to more arrests. Another interesting fact is that all these cases seem to have been reported much after the incidents took place. The state government should undertake a massive awareness drive to educate people about the laws relating to organ transplantation. Such cases should be handed over to a specialized investigating agency.

Yours faithfully,
Santosh Mallick, Jajpur

Letters from Bihar

Loose talk

Sir — The minister of art, culture and youth affairs in Bihar, Vinay Bihari, appears to care very little about hurting the sentiments of the people. Recently, he was reported to have said that the youth use their mobile phones to watch pornography, which results in a rise in the number of rape cases (“Manjhi leaves mobile phones to ‘wisdom’ of user”, July 16). This is an irresponsible statement to make, especially when it is coming from a minister who is in charge of youth affairs. Tarring all young people with the same brush only points to the minister’s regressive thinking. Bihari does not seem to have any idea about the youngsters who have made the entire nation proud so many times. He should do his homework properly before making such an ill-informed comment.

Incidents such as rape and eve-teasing reflect the sordid mentality of those who indulge in such acts. Had the use of mobile phones been responsible for molestation and rape, then these crimes would not have been so rampant before cell phones became an integral part of people’s lives. But that is not the case; rape and other forms of sexual harassment existed long before mobile phones came into use.

I also contest the perception that the number of such incidents is on the rise. Owing to the presence of a vigilant media and the growing awareness among women, it seems as though incidents of rape and harassment have multiplied. The truth is that such incidents used to take place earlier as well, but social taboos and the fear of being stigmatized made the victims suffer in silence. Now that women have become aware of their rights, they come forward and report crimes. This results in the perception that cases of rape have suddenly proliferated.

Bihari also said that people who eat non-vegetarian food are inclined towards carrying out crimes like molestation and rape. Had this been true, then places such as the United States of America and most European nations, which have some of the highest numbers of meat-eating people, would have recorded the highest rates of rape and other sexual crimes. This does not appear to be the case. Bihari should avoid making baseless statements and concentrate more on his work. The minister himself is fighting a case in which he has been accused of releasing an album of vulgar Bhojpuri songs. He should refrain from saying things that would only land him in further trouble.

Yours faithfully,
Parveen Chandra, Patna

Trouble again

Sir — Giriraj Singh seems to be in the news for all the wrong reasons. His irresponsible remark at the time of the general elections, about sending critics of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, to Pakistan, has not been forgotten. He even applied for anticipatory bail to avoid the ignominy of being arrested for his hate speech. Singh has now generated a fresh controversy. When the theft of a huge sum of money from his home in Patna came to light, Singh was found questioning the efficiency of the state government and its ability to safeguard a parliamentarian’s residence. However, when the money was recovered, he hastily claimed that it belonged to his cousin. One wonders why Singh’s relatives would stash their money in his house instead of their own homes or their bank accounts. Even if Singh manages to escape punishment, will he be able to mend his public image?

Yours faithfully,
Sanjiv Singh, Patna