Sex ratio, law
Sir: The failure of the Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 to check the declining child sex ratio (CSR) is a matter of serious concern. This has led to a scenario of 918 girls per 1,000 boys in 2011, a fall from 927 per 1,000 boys in 2001. Large-scale female foeticide is the result of non-implementation of the provisions of the PCPNDT Act. The main aim of the act was to ban large-scale pre-natal sex determination tests. Being a most-advanced state, Punjab has the record of having only 895 girls per 1,000 boys. The fast-moving lifestyle in metro cities also indicates a declining trend. The Union Territory of Daman & Diu tops the list with the lowest CSR of 618girls per 1000 boys. The situation in Orissa is not satisfactory. It’s high time law-enforcing officials strive hard to bridge the gap. Otherwise, the scenario will further worsen in the days to come.
Ratikanta Mahapatra, Court Peta Square, Berhampur
Crime, punishment
Sir: Classy hearts bleed only when people like Salman and Jayalalithaa are caught in the cobweb of judicial process. The two had hardly faced any problem for them when they were briefly jailed. They have the resources to engage the topmost lawyers of this country to defend themselves for more than a decade. All avenues and loopholes available in the legal system have been explored.
At the same time, many innocent people are rounded up as terrorists and terror supporters, tortured beyond words to explain, forced to spend a decade or more in jails and ultimately released by courts when no charge could be proven. In the Akshardham attack case, a suspect was arrested when he was 33 years old. Now he, a 43-year-old, and dejected in life, is exonerated of all charges by the court. Who is to compensate the social and financial losses incurred by this man and his family?
Just imagine the plight of his children in the school and the locality. Tribals are caught relentlessly in between the state machinery and Maoists. When apprehended by the police as militants or terror supporters, we are incapable of understanding the situation faced by them and their families.
Torturing, maiming and even killing come very easily to law-enforcers, their victims being hapless tribals. Forget about engaging lawyers, the families of these poor people do not even have the money to reach the court on required dates. Tribals are not one among us; they are expendable! Hence, tears and chest-thumping are not for them!
Sankara Narayanan, BHUBANESWAR
