Stop child labour

Stop child labour
Children, who should be going to school, are forced to work in hotels or at food stalls in Mumbai. The children are brought to city, sometimes without the knowledge of their parents under one pretext or another. They toil whole day for pittance. Though child labour is banned, it is blatantly practiced under the gaze of law and the concerned authorities (‘Child labour tumbles out of SoBo closets’, (July 19). Cases like that of Indrajit Tiwari, 16, who was brought to city from Bihar on the pretext of joy ride, and employed in a kachori stall at Zaveri Bazaar, landed in hospital due to the bomb blast are eye openers. The concerned authorities should survey city hotels and street food stalls and those found to be blatantly flouting the law by employing child labour should be punished suitably. The children should be sent back to their parents.
—Jitendra G Kothari, via email

Exemplary service
Gujarat CM Narendra Modi has done the right thing by personally calling on Reshma who tipped police about the cache of arms in the possession of her husband Shahzad Rangrez and handing a cheque for Rs25,000. Her courageous act prevented untold damage in form of loss of lives and destruction of property. Now the government should compensate the patriotic woman for depriving her family of a bread winner, which is an almost unprecedented act. It is hoped that Modi, a man of action, does something tangible in the matter.
—KRP Gupta, Mumbai

All the best, Team India
India is all set to face England shortly, in its territory, which can be a daunting task. That being said, India has had its share of success in English conditions. India has medium fast bowlers, with swing variations, which should suit their game in England. India’s test batting mainstay Rahul Dravid has excelled in England and his present form will augur well for India. Man-to-man they are definitely an inferior side compared to India. India has been doing well in all formats of cricket in recent days and its world cup win has heralded a new confidence in the team. English players, like Australians, are astute in playing mind games and Indians should ward off this aspect as soon as possible. MS Dhoni’s men must adapt themselves psychologically to focus on the job and triumph in an important tour.
—Ganapathi Bhat, Akola

Opposition to Lokpal
Apropos ‘Your draft is weak, send ours to House’,(July 19), Swami Agnivesh, a member of Anna Hazare’s team has questioned the honesty of PM Manmohan Singh, on the issue of Singh getting elected to the Rajya Sabha, by showing himself as a resident of Assam, even though he is not from Assam. Swami Agnivesh does not seem to be aware that this issue has already been settled by the apex court. Moreover, has Swami Agnivesh ever questioned Anna Hazare on the Justice PB Sawant committee report of 2005, which has indicted a trust with which Anna Hazare is associated with is involved in a graft case.
—Deendayal Lulla, via email

Shielding culprits
Apropos ‘Cash for votes: Amar Singh may be next in the line of fire’, (July 20). It is alleged that the Congress had lured MPs from various parties and converted their minority into a majority. The Supreme Court ordered the enquiry and the Delhi police arrested Amar Singh’s aide Sanjeev Saxena in connection with probe on cash-for-vote scam of 2008. If impartial probe is held, former SP leader Amar Singh would be prosecuted and the government operation in resolving Indo-US deal will be in precarious position.
—Achyut Railkar, Mumbai,

Apt reply
Under the heading ‘Aftermath’, published on page 8 on July 19, the way the learned celebrated quartet have vehemently attacked Dr Subramanian Swamy for his inflammatory article made for a heartfelt reading. Amongst them, with all her close acquaintance with Dr Swamy, Seema Mustafa’s article outranks others. More so, the other three also in their concluding paras of the article have shown Dr. Swamy that he is an outdated politician not required in the present day context.
—Vanita Shenoy, Mumbai