Sinister message

Sir — The Italian fashion designer, Giorgio Armani, postulated that jeans represent democracy in fashion. However, a recent commercial by American Eagle starring Sydney Sweeney debunks the liberal outlook about the most popular pair of pants worldwide. It mentions “Sweeney has great jeans” — in a nod towards her genes — which are “passed down from parents to offspring... determining traits like hair colour, personality and even eye colour”. The pun is not only awful but the attempt to conflate the actor’s blue irises with the blue jeans also ends up promoting notions of White supremacy and eugenics.

Dona Saha,
Mumbai

Ambiguous speech

Sir — In his speech during the debate on Operation Sindoor in the Lok Sabha, the prime minister, Narendra Modi, attempted to set the record straight about the government’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack (“Sindoor sabres out”, July 30). The Union home minister, Amit Shah, said in Parliament that the three militants involved in the Pahalgam carnage have been killed. The timing of the information seems a bit dubious. Prior to the parliamentary debate, the government had not shared the identity of the deceased.

One wonders whether the terrorists who carried out the butchery in Pahalgam were stupid enough to remain in India two months after the April 22 incident to be neutralised by India’s security forces. If the terrorists indeed came from Pakistan, as Shah stated, the question is how they could cross the border under the watchful eyes of India’s border forces.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,
Faridabad

Sir — By declaring in Parliament that “No world leader asked India to stop its (military) operation”, Narendra Modi avoided addressing Donald Trump’s claim about mediating peace between India and Pakistan. Modi could have categorically said ‘No world leader, including Donald Trump...’. Modi’s ‘no world leader’ is a face-saving attempt.

Avinash Godboley,
Dewas, Madhya Pradesh

Sir — Narendra Modi gave an ambiguous speech during the debate on Operation Sindoor in Parliament (“War of words”, July 31). He narrated India’s account of the ceasefire with Pakistan but evaded the claims made by the president of the United States of America about making New Delhi and Islamabad agree to a ceasefire at the height of Operation Sindoor. The prime minister also failed to give the details of the sequence of events, including the talks between the two countries. It is unfortunate that the Opposition and the nation are still being kept in the dark.

Murtaza Ahmad,
Calcutta

Sir — The prime minister asserted in the Lok Sabha that the government gave a free hand to the armed forces during Operation Sindoor. This is at variance with the account of India’s defence attaché to Indonesia who acknowledged that the Indian air force was operating under “constraint” laid down by the Indian political leadership: the military had been asked not to attack the Pakistani military establishment or its air defences. Earlier, the chief of defence staff, Anil Chauhan, also confirmed that India lost fighter jets during Operation Sindoor.

It was naive to assume that Pakistan would not retaliate against Indian missile attacks on its soil. India’s political leadership must accept the responsibility for placing such unrealistic constraints on the military. Instead of taking moral responsibility for Pahalgam, Narendra Modi again resorted to blaming the Congress and Jawaharlal Nehru for the conflict with Pakistan.

S.K. Choudhury,
Bengaluru

Sir — Rahul Gandhi’s hard-hitting questions in Parliament on Operation Sindoor left the prime minister nonplussed and desperate (“Military Op to protect PM image: Rahul”, July 30). Mincing no words, Rahul Gandhi stated that Narendra Modi’s hands were smeared with the blood of the 26 people killed in Pahalgam. The leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha questioned why Modi is using the defence forces to improve his image. Why is the government not adhering to transparency and accountability and resorting to ambiguity and doublespeak on such a sensitive issue?

P.K. Sharma,
Barnala, Punjab

Sir — The leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha ripped into the prime minister for failing to counter Donald Trump’s claim about brokering peace between India and Pakistan. But, as usual, Narendra Modi and his ministers sidestepped the real issues raised by Rahul Gandhi and started repeating lies and attacking the Congress.

Jahar Saha,
Calcutta

Vital training

Sir — Shashank Pandey discussed the implications of the three years of court practice mandated by the apex court for candidates appearing for judicial service examinations (“Strike a balance”, July 29). The rule comes as a necessary intervention. The standard of the lower courts is not up to the mark. The appointment of rookie judges, who do not have court experience, worsens the effective delivery of justice.

Asim Bandyopadhyay,
Howrah