Law of sedition
P.D.T. Achary has lucidly explained the intricacies and implications of the law of sedition in India (Editorial page, June 8).
But the article was not complete in the sense that while it forcefully presented a case for its abolition, it did not present any suggestions on how the interests of the State are to be safeguarded in case of betrayal or rebellion or a call for secession. Without a new Act in place to provide suitable safeguards, abolition of the existing law will be akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and that would not be in the public interest.
Y.V.N. Sarma,
Bengaluru
Laws such as the sedition law and the Sonthal Parganas Act, 1855 are colonial relics. These redundant and often misused laws should be scrapped to ensure the freedom of speech and allow diversity of thought and action.
Anik Nandi,
Kolkata
Urban dangers
Whether it is the lack of signage, dangerous potholes, insufficient lighting or billboards, lessons are not learnt even after lives are lost. Billboard-related deaths are not new to India’s metros. Ironically, quite a few of them have the images and blessings of our all-powerful “netas”. Billboard fatalities are 100% man-made and can be avoided if there is the political and administrative will.
Avinash Godboley,
Dewas, Madhya Pradesh
Renowned anchor
In the passing of Gitanjali Aiyar, the nation has lost one of its finest news anchors, who was a pioneer in English news presentation on Doordarshan.
With her unique voice and distinctive style, Ms. Aiyar made watching news on television an absolute pleasure (“Former Doordarshan news anchor Gitanjali Aiyar passes away”, June 8). In the late 1970s and 1980s, when television audiences in India were living on popular programmes such as ‘Chitrahaar’ and ‘Krishi Darshan’, the 9 p.m. primetime news was made so popular and fascinating by newsreaders such as Gitanjali Aiyar, Minu Talwar, Neethi Ravindran and Ramu Damodaran. It was also a time when watching Doordarshan news was considered necessary to improve one’s English language skills.
R. Sivakumar,
Chennai
Ms. Aiyar represented an era when news was news and the entire family watched Doordarshan in rapt attention. The highlight of the day was the news read by a group of men and women news readers, who went on to capture the nation’s imagination. Who can ever forget Gitanjali Aiyar, Minu Talwar, Neethi Ravindran, Salma Sultan, Rini Simon, Usha Albuquerque, Sheela Chaman, Manjari Joshi, Sarla Maheshwari, Tejeshwar Singh, J.B. Raman, Ramu Damodaran and Sunit Tandon. In Chennai too, we had Shobana Ravi and Sandhya who read the Tamil news on Doordarshan in style.
Priya Vishwanathan,
Bengaluru
