Letters to the Editor: Upheaval in Pakistan

All is not well in the Baluchistan province of Pakistan. The Baloch people have taken up arms against the state to free their land from Pakistan, which is their long-standing struggle. In successive armed attacks recently on the Pak security camps in Baluchistan, dozens of security personnel have lost their lives, while it has also been claimed that large number of freedom fighters have been neutralized. The people of Baluchistan were never reconciled to Pakistani domination. The province was administered after establishment of the Baluchistan Agency as a part of British India. After partition of India in 1947, Baluchistan was forcefully annexed to Pakistan on March 28, 1948 by an army operation and in 1955 Baluchistan was merged into Pakistan as fourth province. Baloch nationalism asserts that the Baloch people, an ethnic group, are a distinct nation. The clear view of the Baloch movement leaders is that Muslims are not a nation and that ethnic loyalty must surpass religious loyalty; a concept which was proved right when East Pakistan had snatched independence from Pakistan in the 1971 civil war. In the recent years the Baloch nationalist uprising, which was a low-intensity struggle, against the Government of Pakistan has greatly intensified. Pakistan, which is a theocratic state and weakened by internal contradictions, misrule, social tensions, religious intolerance and impudent army, will succumb to the unshakeable patriotic zeal of the Baloch freedom fighters the same way Bangladesh had emerged as an independent country in the world map 50 years ago.

At the same time, persecution on minority Hindu population in Pakistan is continuing unabated. A Hindu teacher, Nautan Lal by name, was sentenced on February 8 to life imprisonment and also fined Pakistani Rs 50,000 by a local court on a charge of blasphemy in Sind province. Needless to state that when a student had alleged the blasphemy charge against the teacher in September 2019, violent protests erupted in the town (Gotki in Sind) and the mob ransacked properties and a temple and damaged its idols. Besides, Hindu girls are kidnapped and converted to Islam and married to Muslim boys in full view of cheering fanatics, which are regular happenings in Pakistan. Where are two young female Rights activists - Swedish Greta Thunberg and Pakistani Malala Yousafzai - who have remained very active in issues Indian, on tweeter? They are totally exposed for their selective approach, and particularly it is shame on Yousafzai for her odious silence on gross human right violations being meted out to the minority Hindus in her native Pakistan!

Pannalal Dey,

Guwahati

Tribute to Rahul Bajaj

In industrial icon Rahul Bajaj's demise, the nation has lost one of its greatest industrialist, businessman, visionary and philanthropist who carved a niche of his own in the global industrial hall of fame and in the heart of us Indians. A colossus in the Indian industrial world, he made Bajaj a household name and the slogan 'hamara Bajaj' truly means how much we Indians are bonded to this man and his elite company.

At a time when Indians could only aspire for and dream of having a two-wheeler, Rahul Bajaj made the dream come true through his famous Bajaj Chetak scooter that became a must-have in almost all our Indian homes in the 1970a and 1980s and is still a part of Indian life with the modern Bajaj bikes and scooters standing tall in front of each and every portico. The name Chetak was taken from Maharana Pratap's valiant and faithful horse, and standing testimony to the name, Chetak scooters are so powerful and strong that riders believed that these travelling machines never let down its rider in their journey - short and long. Rahul headed the Bajaj group of companies which now consist of various sectors - automobiles, general and life insurance, investment and consumer finance, home appliances, electric lamps, wind energy, special alloy and stainless steel, material handling equipment and travel. This only goes to show his excellent entrep-reneurial skills and further shows that if one has farsightedness and the grit to venture into business endeavours with a clean and clear vision, success comes automatically. Definitely Rahul Bajaj is an encyclopedia in the business world and his life is a great lesson to be followed.

M Pradyu,

Kannur - 670001.