A thriller of an election
The Gujarat State elections is going to be a thriller this time, like Agatha Christie’s novels (“A make or break election in Gujarat”, Gulf News, December 10). Undoubtedly, the Congress president designate has enhanced his image in the state. At the same time, the untimely and uncalled comments from politicians Kapil Sibal and Mani Shankar Aiyar, have given enough teeth for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to enhance their chances in Gujarat. In any case, this election is going to be too tough for the BJP to retain power, which is mainly due to the comments from Aiyar and Sibal. Anyway let us wait and see what’s in store for the voters of the state of Gujarat.
From Mr N. Hariharan
India
The game of thrones
The timing of Rahul Gandhi’s elevation as the Indian Congress party’s president has been planned properly. Gandhi is definitely creating some ripples among the BJP in Gujarat. He is definitely giving a tough fight to Narendra Modi and his team, who may scrape through in Gujarat. For Gandhi, this setback in Gujarat will not be the end of the road for him, but will be the beginning of a new journey. Without a doubt, everyone is looking for a new India, as the BJP is spoiling their chances by equating New India with patriotic lynching, introducing a new finance bill, threatening the depositors, and more. Unless they mend their ways, it could be a Herculean task for the BJP to retain power, not only in states but even during the 2019 general elections.
From Mr N. Viswanathan
India
Deeper meaning to celebrations
December 10 is celebrated as Human Rights Day by the United Nations (“UAE celebrates International Human Rights Day”, Gulf News, December 10). This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is a document that entitles rights to every human being, irrespective of gender, caste, creed, colour or nationality. If we look around, we still witness human rights violations everywhere be it in countries where wars are being fought or where they have the refugee crisis as a result of civil wars. Detaining innocent people and having them tortured is also another violation of human rights. Some women face such issues in their own homes. They are denied the freedom of expressing their thoughts or voicing their concerns. We often read stories of children being denied the right to an education, food, and are forced into child labour and prostitution. It would be advisable for the UN to identify such classes and work for their upliftment especially among women and children. As the UN gears for a year-long celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of the day, may it utilise this year to bring about considerable change in the lives of the people suffering as a result of such violations. This would add meaning to celebration of such an anniversary.
From Mr Eappen Elias
Dubai
An expired concept
I have never ever been able to comprehend the concept of beauty pageants (“Should beauty contests be banned?”, Gulf News, December 8). To begin with, how can we define beauty? There are no set standards. For one person someone might be extremely beautiful, but that same person might be just mediocre in someone else’s eyes. I strongly believe in the age old saying, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Moreover these competitions simply promote prejudices, objectify women and paint a very twisted image of beauty in the minds of young people. How can we justify the small number of African winners in any of the four major international beauty pageants? What message does it give to people when all the girls are of one particular body dimension? It is inconceivable that some of these competitions still hold the cringe-worthy swimsuit-round. The recently introduced concept of beauty with brains is simply to satisfy critics as we all know contestants give politically correct answers to predictable questions and take up some humanitarian work only to earn the essential points. Where is the actual talent in being a winner of a beauty pageant? There are thousands of people in the world with exceptional talents in sports, arts, music, acting, dance, academics and many such vast fields. But they are not given any kind of promotion. In the current times, where gender neutrality and gender equality are given the utmost importance, women empowerment is the keyword. It is high time such beauty pageants be abolished as they are demeaning to women.
From Ms Sajida Kamal
Abu Dhabi
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