Well done

• Sir - The Olympic medal-winning wrestler, Sushil Kumar, made a glorious return to the international arena a few days ago by clinching gold as India won an impressive 59 medals at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships in Johannesburg. Sakshi Malik, who is also an Olympic medallist, won a gold medal upon defeating New Zealand's Tayla Tuahine Ford by a score of 13-2 in the final of the 62kg women's freestyle category ("Sushil and Sakshi clinch gold medals", Dec 18). The freestyle wrestling team won 10 gold, seven silver and two bronze medals, as India returned with a tally of 29 gold, 24 silver and six bronze medals from the championships. Kumar's defeat of New Zealand's Akash Khullar in the final of the 74kg men's freestyle category was impressive. It was his first gold medal since the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. All the wrestlers who did India proud should be rewarded.

P.B. Saha,

Calcutta

Ugly state

• Sir - Mukul Kesavan's article, "Invisible minority" (Dec 17), was interesting. The author made some pertinent points in the context of the recently-concluded Gujarat assembly polls. He said that each political party was bent upon creating suitable electoral planks with which to win over voters. So while the Bharatiya Janata Party banked on bigotry, the Congress, represented by Rahul Gandhi and his associates, drew upon Hindu credentials and on the poor economic record of the BJP government in the state. The latter's rhetoric of development, achchhe din, demonetization and the goods and services tax was largely missing. Similarly, important issues related to the minority community and the deaths of its members at the hands of vigilantes did not figure in the Congress's campaign. As a result, voters were in a fix. This does not augur well for India, which likes to call itself a secular democracy.

Jahar Saha,

Calcutta

• Sir - In the article, "Invisible minority", Mukul Kesavan points out that the Muslim community has been treated as politically irrelevant in Gujarat. Muhammad Ali Jinnah had anticipated this turn of events a long time ago; his apprehension eventually resulted in creation of Pakistan. Today, the minority community has a negligible share in trade and commerce, as well as in positions of political power in India. Will the proponents of Hindutva follow in the footsteps of oppressive regimes in other countries when it comes to committing atrocities against an entire community?

Fazal Ibrahim,

Calcutta

Heavy oath

• Sir - It was heartening to learn that a premier school in Calcutta has decided to make teachers take a 'no abuse' oath in order to ensure that no sexual harassment of students occurs in the institution ("'No-abuse' pledge for teachers", Dec 14). The move deserves to be lauded as it aims to offer safety and protection to the children within the school premises. Now, parents might feel a bit relieved. This will also affect the academic atmosphere in the school in a positive way.

Teachers have a big responsibility; they are tasked with training young minds. Hence, the school authorities should insist that teachers undergo workshops, counselling and medical checkups periodically in order to deal with professional stress. Countries such as Japan, France and South Korea follow advanced methods to ensure the all-round development of teachers as well as students. India must follow in their footsteps.

Ratan Kumar Halder,

Calcutta

• Sir - It is a matter of shame that the actions of a few have tainted the entire teaching community. Now, all teachers in an elite school in Calcutta have to take a "no abuse" pledge in order to keep their jobs. As a civilized society, we must pledge to stop one another from either committing or falling victim to immoral acts.

Babulal Das,

North 24 Parganas

Good work

• Sir - It was encouraging to read that the judges of the Calcutta High Court worked on a Saturday for the first time in its history ("Saturday history at high court", Dec 17). If Saturdays, as well as some minor holidays, were treated as working days, judges would be able to clear a large number of pending cases. As the salaries of judges are paid out of taxpayers' money, perhaps there ought to be some kind of legislation that makes it compulsory for judges to hear a set number of cases in a month. One hopes that courts across the country will follow the example of working on Saturdays to ease the burden of pending cases on the judiciary.

Naushad Shahid,

Calcutta

Great show

• Sir - The Australian team put up an incredible performance to win the Ashes tournament. It was a remarkable turnaround, considering their poor show during the last Ashes tour and the Champions Trophy debacle along with a 2-1 Test series loss to India. Steve Smith will go down in history as a great captain and batsman. For cricket lovers, the Ashes is a reminder of what Test cricket truly signifies and that it remains relevant even today. Day/night matches have also rekindled interest in Test cricket.

Anoop Hosmath,

Mysore