A working paper titled ‘Share of Religious Minorities’ by a member of PM’s Economic Advisory Council is totally misused by BJP politicians. The purpose of the paper is to inform the world that minorities enjoy such a conducive environment in India under Modi’s dispensation. Thus the BJP government is propagating the “Hindus are in danger” narrative.
The working paper shows that the share of the Muslim population in the overall population increased by 43.15% between 1950 and 2015 while that of the Hindu population decreased by 7.82%. Now this is used as a bomb in an election campaign to polarize voters. But the fact is that there are credible figures which show that the rate of Muslim population has been declining in India since 1990. In some parts of the country, the total fertility rate (TFR) of Muslims is actually less than the replacement, thus it is prejudice and hatred that drive these arguments and they are being deployed as a weapon in the election campaign.
Nazeer Ahmed Kazi
Prof Secab, Vijaypur, Karnataka
At Least We shouldn’t be Complicit in Gaza Genocide
It seems that over 35000 civilian deaths in Palestine are not enough for India to send another shipment of 27 tonnes of explosive material to Israel.
While South Africa has pulled Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the ongoing Genocide in Gaza, students all over America are standing up in solidarity with the Palestinians, and there is widespread condemnation of the ‘Ethnic cleansing’ perpetrated by Israel in Palestine, India is sending explosives to assist Israel.
If you could not stop the ongoing ‘Palestinian Holocaust’, at least we should not be complicit in the horrors taking place.
Action speaks much louder than words. If Spain had not denied the ship carrying explosives from India to dock on their shores, we would not have known the evil design between the two.
Shame! Shame!
Nazir Ahmed
Mumbai
Let Peace Prevail
It was good to read about the truce in the conflict-ridden Gaza Strip being extended to allow humanitarian aid to flow in and to give a respite to the civilians hit hard by the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel.
Thousands of Palestinians including innocent women and kids have already been killed in the bombings and one can’t help wondering why they should be made to pay a price for a war which is none of their doing.
It’s heart-warming that neighbouring countries like Qatar and Egypt have succeeded in making sure the guns fall silent at least for some time. Let’s hope the cease-fire is converted into permanent peace and the war ends once and for all.
Roopali Kumari
Hyderabad, TS
Academic Stress A Killer
Academic pressure on students is taking a heavy toll and the latest example of this is the heart-rending incident from Kota in Rajasthan, known as the hub of professional course coaching. Not everyone can become a doctor or engineer as this depends on their intellectual capacity and many other factors.
There are many other streams students can choose and can be as attractive as the ones they nowadays pursue relentlessly. There is a limit to the frustration and disappointment which any students can take and this seems to be the case with many of the students who have killed themselves in recent months and years in Kota.
It’s time the pressure levels are brought down so that we DO NOT have more incidents of this kind.
Suresh Gowda
Bengaluru, Karnataka