Letters to the Editor – June 2024

Ever-eluding peace

Editor Rasheeda Bhagat is hopeful that the Rotary Peace Fellows will focus on bringing lasting peace in the world. ­Peace has always eluded us; historically, there have been wars practically every year, and we are still at war. The human brain is conditioned to war, hate and conflict through this long period of evolution. Only when we move away from the direction of hate and conflict, can there be peace in this world.

KMK Murthy, RC Secunderabad — D 3150

Striking a chord among readers, the Editor’s note has rightly mentioned the violence in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Syria and even the random gun attacks in the US. But it missed out the atrocities on women and children in Manipur. For the past one year, Manipur is burning with the worst crimes on women and children. The state has been divided into Kuki and Meitei camps, and the editorial has skipped the blatant atrocity in Manipur. I am sure the Rotary News editor has a point or two to convey on this issue. I agree with her, that peace does have a chance in our world.

Manu Sharat Tiwari, RC Jabalpur — D 3261

Thanks for mentioning Manipur, where the violence is a collective blot on our conscience. Allow me to point out that in the August 2023 ­Editorial, I did touch upon the violence in ­Manipur. Here is an excerpt: “The chilling video of two Kuki-Zo women being paraded naked in Manipur, “with their private parts being touched by humans-turned-monsters,” as the ­Editor of The Shillong Times writes in a signed article, proves that brutality against helpless women continues.”

Editor

I read with interest the May editorial. I am not a supporter of either Israel, Hamas or Palestinians. But think about a situation where you are surrounded by six enemies ready to annihilate you. Don’t you think you will do your best to protect yourself. This is the situation of Israel. The Hamas attack on Oct 7, 2023 was an intrusion in the peaceful existence of Israel, and created a humanitarian crisis. Palestinians are suffering immensely while their bosses are enjoying in five-star comfort. The true picture is captured in the book Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef, who is the son of the Hamas founder.The world can’t have peace as long as there are greedy politicians and no respect for international laws and boundaries.

Brij Khandelwal, RC Madras Central — D 3232

The ­article Rotary gifts a human milk bank in ­Aurangabad and Tirupati shows the highly appreciable project done by both the clubs for neonatal ICU. Also, the Tirupati club has put up a crematorium which was most useful during the Covid pandemic.

Santaram Cherukuri, RC Nashik Smart City — 3030

PRIP Rajendra Saboo has penned an excellent article (May issue) on APJ Abdul Kalam, a great son of India and role model for the youth. As director of TVS Schools, Madurai, I had a rare opportunity to invite Kalam to address the students in Feb 2015, a few months before his demise. He conquered the hearts of around 1,500 students with his words of wisdom in a 90 minute interaction. He was particular that we should also invite about 200 students from the Corporation schools. So, we restricted the participation of our students. This was appreciated by Kalam in his speech. All the students were impressed with his ability to connect with the youth.

Nine years have gone since he addressed our students, but we cannot forget that day when Kalam tapped the youth power and imagination with his simplicity and charm. He left sparking many a dream in the young minds.

R Srinivasan, RC Bangalore JP Nagar — D 3191

I am a non-Rotarian who reads regularly Rotary News that is available in a local library in Rajkot. With reference to the article on Dr Kalam, I feel he was a stooge of the Brahminical lobby, and only danced to the tunes of his masters. He was loved by Hindus but never took up any genuine problem faced by minorities and weaker sections of society. In short, he was more Hindu than born-Hindus. For this qualification he was selected as President of India and conferred Bharat Ratna.

Farooq Abdulgafar Bawani, (Non Rotarian) Rajkot, Gujarat

Maiden coverage

We are grateful to the Editor for her support and the ­extensive coverage given to our projects in the last issue of Rotary News. On behalf of my club, we thank her for this. It is worth mentioning that this is the first time in our club’s 71-year history that we have received coverage in Rotary News.

Sarita Lonikar, RC Aurangabad — D 3132

An interesting and informative column ‘Music and Melody’ has been missing in the recent issues. We are deprived of getting interesting information from S R Madhu’s column on India’s great singers, artistes and music directors. Do try to revive this column.

Shyama Charan Das, RC Subarnnarekha, Raibania — D 3262

RN Plus: Great reading

I enjoyed reading the various projects done by Rotary clubs in Rotary News Plus, April 2024. The details given in these articles motivate Rotarians to do good for the community and also let them know different ways to reach out to local communities.

T D Bhatia, RC Delhi Mayur Vihar — D 3012