PICTURE SPEAK

"Single & Unsafe", May 30

"The rise in number of rapes reflects the falling ethical standards of our people who are out of sync with our culture and heritage."

Wing Commander (Retd) S.C. Kapoor, Noida

Countering the Menace

Lack of vigilance on the part of the police, milder punishments and low rate of convictions because of loopholes in the judicial system are the prime reasons behind the increase in the number of rapes ("Single & Unsafe", May 30). In feudal and patriarchal society women are thought of as disposable objects. Until we are able to change this mindset, severe punishment is the only way to control this increasing menace.

Vitull K. Gupta, Bhatinda

The only way to bring down the number of rapes is to award the death sentence to all rapists-be it the policeman of the Marine Drive case or those involved in the rape of the call-centre worker in Delhi.

Rahul Dutta, on e-mail

The report that Delhi is the worst city in terms of safety of working women does not come as a surprise. Local newspapers are full of news of rape, violence, abduction and murder almost every day. Since a lot of working women use their own transport, be it a two-wheeler or a car, manufacturers of these vehicles should explore the possibility of installing alarms that would go off in the instance of an attack.

G.S. Rao, Kolhapur

The story did not discuss any measures to stop the perpetrators. I do not believe the police in Delhi and Mumbai are effective. The best way to bolster the forces is to induct the best policemen from all states in these two cities and train them properly to handle such crimes.

Solung Khya Sonam, on e-mail

The increase in the number of rape cases proves that men are very insecure and frustrated because of the progress made by women.

Farah Anwar, on e-mail

Flavia Agnes' comment that medical textbooks are biased against rape victims is factually incorrect. The textbook on jurisprudence by Dr M.C. Modi, which is used by most students, emphasises how to conduct the medical examination with utmost care and sensitivity. It also prescribes the medical opinion should restrict itself to ascertaining whether it was forcible intercourse, whether the victim resisted and there was any previous intercourse.

D.S. Kanade, Pune

I am a medical professional with more than 25 years' experience. However, I do not recollect any textbook in forensic medicine which taught us that "a rape victim is not to be trusted" nor do I recall any lecturer telling us that "rape victims always tell lies". Agnes' column conveys the totally erroneous message that a doctor performing an investigation on a rape victim is prima facie prejudiced against her.

Harsh Goel, on e-mail

Delayed justice not only denies due redress to the victim but also fails to work as a deterrent. Hanging someone 20 years after he has committed a crime can hardly be a deterrent. In fact it is a mockery of justice.

Group Captain S.N. Sharma, Gurgaon

Nothing will change unless we get to the root of the problem. It is an entirely escapist attitude to blame the police or to term it a law and order problem. We cannot expect the police to be everywhere. Women themselves must take adequate precautions to ensure their safety.

Brigadier (Retd) K.S. Chhokar, Delhi

The police investigation and cross-examination of rape victims by defence lawyers is so humiliating that it amounts to another rape in public.

S. Balakrishnan, Jamshedpur

At a time when there is a controversy regarding women dressing provocatively and that being touted as one of the reasons for attacks against them, it would have been better if the woman on your cover was shown wearing something more conservative. You could have done better than give more ammunition to the culture police.

Saleela Kappan, Bangalore

Reserved Berth

The Aligarh Muslim University was established with the broad vision that all students would be eligible for admission and exemplary education regardless of their caste, creed or religion ("Seat of Contention", May 30). But now AMU has been turned into a mini Muslim world. This is a departure from the noble aim of the founder of the institution.

Kuttippuzha Viswanadhan, on e-mail

The move to reserve 50 per cent seats in all professional courses in AMU for Muslims goes against the concept of national integration.

Abdul Qadir, Aligarh

The reservations will further alienate even educated Muslims. AMU Vice-Chancellor Naseem Ahmad's remark that the reason behind the move is that the university is not attracting the best Muslim students is ridiculous. Educational institutions should always remain above any religious bias.

J.V.V. Murthy, on e-mail

All fears that AMU's new admission policy will depreciate the worth of the university's degrees and would adversely affect the employment opportunities of its students are totally baseless. St Stephen's College, Delhi, which reserves seats for Christians is regarded as one of the best colleges in India.

Syed Mohd Anas Iqbal, Aligarh

TROUBLED TEAM

The story about the performance of the ministers of the UPA Government and their rating is as ironical as it can get as it just shows what a grave mistake we made by voting for a Congress-led government at the Centre ("Much Left to be Done", May 30). Naveen Kumar Joshi, on e-mail The UPA could have done better had it not been for the L factor-Lalu Prasad Yadav and the left parties. Bal Govind, Bareilly Evaluating the performance of the ministers is fine but what about the evaluation of the non-playing captain? Sandeep M. Mourya, Amravati

Glam Sham

The only high point for India at the Cannes Film Festival seems to have been the number of actors who attended it and the parties they were seen at ("Side Show", May 30).

Arun Gargi, Jodhpur

Conservation Measures

The rampant poaching of tigers in India will not stop until there is international pressure on China to ban the production of medicines from tiger parts and capital punishment is imposed on the ruthless poachers ("The Missing Tigers", May 23).

Partha Sarathi Banerjee, Kolkata

While there is a hue and cry all around over the falling numbers of the tiger one wonders what the WWF is doing about it.

G. Kumar, Kolkata

Cut the Flab

It is ironic that Manmohan Singh, regarded as the father of economic reforms, is heading the coalition which creates a panel every week despite the extra flab it adds to the government ("Committee Raj", May 9).

Deep N. Agarwal, Nigeria

Wrong Picture

While we applaud you on the cover story, we are shocked that you printed a photograph of Tiger Balm plaster above the caption "Fat: Extracts from tiger's meat and fat are used for treating rheumatism. Price $100 a kg ("The Missing Tigers", May 23)". The inclusion of the photograph of Tiger Balm plaster next to this caption is highly misleading. Readers will be misled into drawing the conclusion that Tiger Balm plaster contains tiger parts. It further implies that our company is also responsible for the depletion of this wonderful animal. This is completely erroneous. We would like to put on record that Tiger Balm plaster contains only herbal ingredients and it does not contain any animal parts.

A.K. Han, director and general manager, Haw Par Healthcare Limited, Singapore

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