Curious bias
Sir — It has come to be quick to understand new languages — be it collecting a performing knowledge from watching international-language Tv set demonstrates or on apps like Duolingo, Babbel and Rosetta Stone. Nonetheless, there are apparent biases when it arrives to which languages are accessible for studying. Bengali, for instance, is challenging to discover on this kind of applications. This is irrespective of its rich literature and the truth that extra than 350 million persons talk Bengali. However, fictional languages like Dothraki and Klingon are easily readily available. Could it be that the unwillingness of Bengali-speakers to use their mom tongue is the induce for its unpopularity?
Dipti Basak, Calcutta
Careless mindset
Sir — The silence of the prime minister on the agitation and violence in Manipur, his weaponising of the movie, The Kerala Tale, and his single-minded aim on elections at a time when the state is beleaguered on several fronts are stressing (“Scary story”, May 6). Narendra Modi need to fulfill with several agitating segments in Manipur and try out to put out the other fires throughout the state.
K. Nehru Patnaik,Visakhapatnam
Sir — Similarities could be drawn amongst King Nero and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The previous performed the fiddle although Rome burned. The latter is rigorously campaigning in Karnataka for the impending assembly elections, indifferent to the burning difficulties of riots, violence and arson in Manipur and the protest of the wrestlers in opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Celebration parliamentarian and main of the Wrestling Federation of India, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
M.C. Vijai Shanker, Chennai
Sir — When all of India is in strife, Narendra Modi is occupied being garlanded and sporting headgears in Karnataka.
Fakhrul Alam, Calcutta
Stark variation
Sir — The police have at last registered a circumstance against the Uttarakhand urban development, finance and parliamentary affairs minister, Premchand Aggarwal, who assaulted a person for crossing his convoy (“‘Assaulter’ BJP minister booked”, May perhaps 4). The stark difference in how elected reps treat persons ahead of and immediately after elections is stunning.
Ananda Dulal Ghosh, Howrah
Faulty project
Sir — Ramachandra Guha’s post, “History for chauvinists” (Might 6), underlines the shortcomings of the Hindutva model of Indian history that is staying written beneath the existing political regime. The Hindutva solution to producing history focuses on the life of renowned personalities and their achievements. A genuine image of the earlier can only emerge when a historian encompasses the total human practical experience. Hindutva heritage reminds me of the strategy of the historians utilized by royal patrons, whose primary activity was to glorify the life and deeds of the ruling classes. If this distortion of Indian historical past proceeds, future generations will stay ignorant about the correct history of our nation.
Yousuf Iqbal, Calcutta
Sir — Ramachandra Guha has uncovered the erroneous way in which Hindutva historians are likely about rewriting history. Guha rightly factors out that record is no lengthier meant to tell us only about highly effective kings and emperors but also of the struggles and the lives of popular people today who have been specifically neglected until now.
Satadal Deb, Calcutta
Sir — One simply cannot rewrite heritage to fit a unique narrative. This government would like to change history and make us believe in a variation of Bharat which almost certainly under no circumstances existed. Sadly for the Bharatiya Janata Get together and other Hindutva outfits, they do not have historians of eminence in their ranks. Their half-baked theories are only superior for WhatsApp groups and not really worth major study as they are not backed by info.
Anthony Henriques, Mumbai
Dig out the reality
Sir — The barrel of a British cannon that was a short while ago unearthed in Calcutta reminds us of the horrors of colonialism (“Dig unearths ‘British-period cannon’”, May well 5). The excavation of the barrel tells us that the record of revolt towards the colonisers and the tireless initiatives of the revolutionaries will not fade from memory. Enhancing out bits of record will not disguise the truth.
Zinat Sultana, Calcutta
Parting shot
Sir — Go 1st, the Wadia Group’s minimal-charge carrier, has come to be India’s initially domestic airline to go into a mid-air stall and seek individual bankruptcy security considering that the pandemic. Go First’s economic woes are largely symptomatic of the malaise afflicting the wider market. Offered the large capital and operational costs, the professional air transport field operates with wafer-slim margins. The onus is on the Centre to uncover extensive-expression plan solutions if it needs India’s battling airways to realize success.
Chhanda Pesnia, Rayagada, Odisha
