Letters to the Editor: Why so much of hatred?

From late 1980 to early 1990s Doordarshan was the primary mode of entertainment on TV sets. During those days some of the serials like Ramayana, Mahabharata, Chanakya, etc., hooked viewers to TV sets without any miss. The telecast of these serials on Doordarshan didn't have any smooth sailing as leftists' ecosystems repeatedly objected to the broadcast terming it as attack on 'Secularism'. When Doordarshan started Ramayana in 1987, leftists called it attack on secularism and Hindu propaganda. Doordarshan's Ex-Director General Bhaskar Ghose refused to give 26 more weeks to complete the serial and asked the team of Ramayana to stop the show midway. He even asked Director of Ramayana, Ramanand Sagar to reduce 'Hindu Element' in the serial for secularism. Bhaskar Ghose is the father of noted journalist Sagarika Ghose, another Hindu basher.

Chandraprakash Dwivedi's Chanakya series telecasted in 1991-1992 on Doordarshan. The series was suddenly asked to discontinue as the left ecosystem called it Hindutva propaganda against secularism and raised questions on display of saffron flags, 'Har Har Mahadev' slogans used by the characters and use of term 'Akhand Bharat' by the main protagonist. According to them raising 'Har Har Mahadev' slogans on TV, displaying saffron flags on national TV and use of the term/word Akhand Bharat hurts the religious sentiments of the minorities in the country.

Noted folk singer Malini Awasthi was stopped from singing a religious bhajan on Doordarshan in 2005 because the bhajan said Lord Ram was born in Ayodhya. There was a deliberate ploy to keep Lord Ram away from Ayodhya even at that time so that Ayodhya dispute lingers on and on. Even celebrated film-maker Lt. IS Johor's movie named Johor Mehmood in Kashmir was banned and a song in it 'Ye Kashmir hai Bharat Ka' was never allowed to play and banned strictly. This continuous ploy to denigrate or attack on the culture, customs and rituals, beliefs of Hindus went on unabated till 2014. Now, many skeletons from the closet of Nehru and 'Gandhi clan' have started to emerge.

Julie Bhuyan,

Gaurisagar.

Nimatighat

ferry tragedy

The horrific tragedy that happened a few days ago should be an eye opener for the general public or commuters who have to take the river route to go to their homes or offices.

Alertness of the public will have to be a major area that needs due importance. The Government can issue orders and SOPs, but the travelers have to be very alert as their lives are at stake. Whenever they travel via river route, they should demand lifejackets from the respective boat or ferry or bhutbhuti. Our lives are precious to our families.

If lifejackets are not there, it will be wise not to undertake that journey. We can avert some accidents and the owners of the ferries or bhutbhutis should remain. The authorities should compel them to keep sufficient number of lifejackets or lifeguards.

We all have to learn our lessons well from the past ferry accidents. We will have to take charge of our own lives, and that way task of the Government will also be easy.

Purabi Pathak Barua,

Guwahati

Paradise lost

The attention all tennis lovers of the world to Flushing Meadows, New York on September 12 evening when a new era in tennis was going to happen. It was the evening in Flushing Meadows Arthur Ashe Tennis arena when Novak Djokovic, No.1 tennis player in the planet clashed with world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev for the ultimate honour in US Open, the last Grand Slam event of Tennis. Apart from being the last grand slam event, this final match was very vital for Djokovic's career as that very win would have made him the second male in tennis history to claim calendar Grand slam win (winning all the grand slams in the year) after great Rod Laver of Australia. He would have also broken Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's 20 Grand Slam singles titles. But alas, it was not to be so as Djokovic lost to rookie Russian Medvedev in straight sets in the presence of some of the distinguished guests apart from the Great Rod Laver himself who was especially invited to attend the match what would have been a history if Novak Djokovic would have triumphed over the Russian. Ultimately, history was not written on that day and paradise was lost by the Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic. Now, he shall have to wait till next year's Australian Open to add to his 20 Grand slam Singles title.

Dr Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Entertainment TV channels

It is a matter of satisfaction and joy that all the premium entertainment shows, including Kaun Banega Croreparti and The Kapil Sharma Show (Sony TV) started with worship of Ganeshji with full devotion in a most attractive manner on the holy occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. It was worth noting that all the performers performed Ganesh-puja without wearing shoes.

As the Supreme Court once rightly defined Hiduism as a way of life, and only the religion, star-performers on popular TV shows performed for Ganesh-puja with full devotion irrespective of their faith or religion.

Nation remains grateful to nationalist, and freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak was the man who turned the private household Ganesh Chathurthi celebration into the present-day carnival. Our present-day politicians and those posted on high posts should remember to take off their shows on usual beginning of occasions with lamp-lighting like was observed during celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi on The Kapil Sharma Show on 11.09.2021.

Madhu Agrawal,

Delhi-110006.

APSC CCE

question paper

Looking at the GS (general studies) paper 1 of the APSC CCE examination conducted recently, it seemed like the APSC has insulted the efforts of those who prepared for the examination seriously. In 2019 itself, APSC said that it would conduct exam in the lines of UPSC. They even uploaded two model question papers which were of UPSC level. Serious aspirants prepared according to that standard. But when we faced the question paper, it was easier and of below average standard than the papers of the recently conducted SI examination and Assam Secretariat examination.

The APSC should know the difference between a GS paper and a GK paper. It will not be exaggeration if we say that a student of class 10 can easily solve the APSC GS paper 1. It can no way be fair to select civil servants.

How the APSC wants to select future administrator? It seems like reforming APSC is a myth and the APSC doesn't want to learn any lesson from its past failures. They should maintain a minimum standard while setting the question paper for selecting future administrators. We highly doubt the efficacy of people who set such low-standard question papers. This paper was not based on understanding and analytical ability of candidates rather it was based on the memorization ability. The APSC should not set such low-standard question papers.

Prabhas Gautam

Bhatipara, Jogighopa,

Bongaigaon

Academic in pandemic

With COVID-19 restrictions lifted across the country, it is promising to see the Centre and states focus on the way forward for reopening schools. The government should open schools, even if it's for an hour, to facilitate some student-teacher interaction. Most teachers feel that students should come to school because the best learning occurs with students physically present in the classroom. There is plenty of evidence on how prolonged school closures can result in learning loss, impact mental health, and increase the risk of child labour, early marriage, and nutritional loss for children. The loss of socio-emotional learning and increasing malnutrition due to school closures may likely be a human-induced health epidemic, if not acted upon quickly.

Adithyan M,

Palakuniyil paramba, Vengeri

Calicut-673010