Daesh destroying our history
The latest series of events, where Daesh has taken control of more territories, serve as testimony to their devious tactics (‘Emboldened Daesh may be reaching its limits’, Gulf News, May 29). It shows that the future of Palmyra, Syria, is a serious concern for those who care about world history and heritage sites. It is reminiscent of Taliban’s destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan. Looking a little deeper into the reasons for the strong aversion of radicalised people towards man-made artefacts, it becomes apparent it is all about a collective mindset that has become perverted towards art, and negates creativity. They tend to connect religion and spirituality to the idea of extreme austerity, which denies the pursuit of beauty, creativity, scientific knowledge, gender equality and freedom of thought. These aspects of human existence are fundamental and essential to the advancement of mankind as intellectually and emotionally developed beings.
To those who argue that efforts to protect historical sites and archaeological assets are just a wasteful preoccupation — nothing could be more wrong. Historical artefacts, apart from their aesthetical qualities, provide a kaleidoscopic view into the past and a wealth of information on human history, culture and civilisation. So, the destruction of ancient artefacts in Palmyra by Daesh will wipe out a chunk of human history from existence. However, the massacre they have carried out will be marked as one of the most heinous crimes mankind has committed in modern times.
From Mr V. I. Mohammad Sageer
UAE
Daesh expanding their reach
The so-called ‘holy marriages’ between the fighters is a lucrative idea to attract more people into Daesh’s fold (‘For a Daesh fighter, a paid honeymoon in caliphate’s heart’, Gulf News, May 27). The terrorists are enjoying their personal life in their ‘Caliphate’ while destroying the same for others. It’s as if the people living outside Iraq and Syria are not serious about the draconian laws, brutalities and practices of Daesh, as they think these events are happening somewhere else and are applicable to someone else. But, the reality is different. We recently heard they had already captured 39,000 square kilometres of Syria — that is almost half of the total geographical area of that country. Daesh is expanding its reach day by day. Their ideologies are spreading across the continent rapidly. The US already expressed its inability to contain the rapid expansion of terrorism. The most urgent question is, if US cannot, who else can? The world needs to act right now, before Daesh comes knocking on our doors. As French emperor Napoleon pointed out, the world suffers a lot not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people.
From Mr Girish R. Edathitta
Dubai
Big leap in progress
The latest move by the UAE Space Agency to start a space research centre in Al Ain is a big leap towards its aim to conduct a Mars mission by the UAE’s 50th anniversary in 2021 (‘Moonwalker praises UAE space ambition’, Gulf News, May 28). A period of 50 years happens in the blink of an eye in the case of nations. It is amazing to see that a nation that had to get qualified teachers from Egypt in the latter half of the 20th century has developed all necessary universities of excellence and is ready to launch a Mars mission in the beginning of the 21st century.
From Ms Meenakshi Rajesh
UAE
Website comment
Help needed to handle heat
I am a bit sad to read Gulf News’ report about Indians yearning desperately for heat relief (‘Indians scramble for heat relief, but many still must work’, Gulf News, May 29). Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the two southern states of India, are under the grip of scorching heat and continuing to reel under the heat wave that has claimed more than 1,800 lives so far. The maximum temperature in most places in both states remains three to seven degrees Celsius higher than the average, but they have to work to survive and feed their families. No respite from the blistering heat is in sight as both states sizzled under the peak temperature of 47 degrees Celsius. Andhra Pradesh has accounted for more than 1,000 deaths. Almost all the deaths were reported during the past couple of weeks. Impoverished people, especially the homeless, construction workers, rickshaw drivers and street vendors, were the worst hit by the heat wave. It is high time for the Indian authorities to act.
From Mr Sunny Joseph
Mala, India
Modi takes positive steps
If the polls conducted by various agencies are to be believed, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s performance during the first year in office has been good, but not good enough (‘Letters to the editor: Modi must speak for himself’, Gulf News, May 28). Though it is too early to expect dramatic results, Modi has succeeded in restoring the confidence and credibility of people in India. The economy is showing signs of recovery, with many institutions and experts predicting good days ahead. Investors are now looking up to India as a destination for investment. Unnecessary procedures have been done away with and replaced by transparency. The most remarkable achievement is in the area of external relationships. India needs a huge amount of aid and investments from abroad, for the ambitious projects the present government has embarked upon. Modi’s foreign visits have laid the foundation for an inflow of funds into India that will help these ambitious projects succeed. Although it may not happen immediately, it is a positive step in the right direction.
One may argue the power is not distributed and that it is too centralised with Modi, which may lead to a dictatorial style of governance. This is a blatant exaggeration. On the other hand, as the captain of the ship, Modi has every right to be assertive in order be in control of overall governance. Though there is long way to go, what has been achieved so far by the Modi government is commendable.
From Mr Ganeshan Srinivasan
Dubai
Be responsible for your health
I refer to Gulf News’ story about the amount of money spent by insurance companies on claims associated with obesity and I would like to suggest that medical insurance companies be allowed to increase their premium for obese patients or to co-charge some expenses when they come in for treatments (‘Millions of dirhams in insurance claims linked to obesity’, Gulf News, May 27). The reason is that people have taken for granted, the medical insurance given by government entities for its employees or companies, and they do not care for themselves. Everyone has the attitude — ‘it doesn’t matter, my insurance will take care of me if I become sick’. I think that the insurance industry and the UAE medical authorities should come down hard on insured patients to take care of themselves. At least the insurance industry must have an increment in premiums based on the increase in weight above the BMI, so that people get the message and take steps to reduce their weight and be healthy.
From Mr Shabir Zain Al Deen
UAE
Stop young people from smoking
Last weekend, I went for an outing to Ajman beach with my friends and family (‘Community Report In-depth: Say ‘no’ to the cancer stick’, Gulf News, May 26). It was shocking for all of us to see some children who were our age, smoking cigarettes, one after the other. What surprised us the most was that these children were least concerned about health problems. As our society is maturing at a faster rate than ever before, more and more students tend to be persuaded to try such unhealthy practices. I was determined to do my part towards bringing about a change in this situation. This addiction to tobacco products in teenagers is due to lack of awareness in the community, schools and within families. It is absolutely essential to bring this social issue into the limelight as it greatly affects the health of a many people in society.
In association with the World No Tobacco Day being observed last week, and as the ambassador of the eco-club in my school, our club has decided to initiate many activities in collaboration with the faculty and youth community to widen students’ knowledge of the ill effects of smoking and to prevent them from taking up these harmful activities.
From Ms Anagha Rajesh
Dubai
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