What you need to know:
- Readers discuss Pope Francis' visit to the UAE, scams and politics.
A foundation for peace
We had anticipated Pope Francis’ historic first-ever papal visit to the UAE and were honoured to witness this interfaith dialogue and mutual understanding between the followers of both religions (“Pope Francis: ‘Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life’”, Gulf News, February 6). Pope Francis’ declaration to make him a channel of peace is a clear invitation for peaceful dialogue and cooperation has been an inspiration to us all. We strongly support the idea of face-to-face dialogue between human beings. This will be a path for co-existence among different religions with the ultimate goal of peace on Earth. We agree with the Pope that “faith in God unites us all and never divides”. Religion is a way to build peace. We welcome your hard work to harmonise understanding between the diverse religions of the world.
We were especially honoured that he participated in a dialogue of religions, which took place in Abu Dhabi, at the Founder’s Memorial. We believe that this visit will create a new chapter in the history of relations between faiths.
Dialogue, communication, tolerance, co-existence among religions and cultures, and love will build harmony, peace and security for future generations. His visit was the embodiment of these values and perfectly marks the Year of Tolerance - 2019. The message of this historic moment is uplifting to all.
From Ms Muna Saeed
UAE
An emotional moment
Knowing that the Pope visited the UAE is overwhelming for me! I remember when Pope John Paul II visited the Philippines, way back in 1995, I was one of the youth delegates sent by my parish to attend the World Youth Day event. It was indeed a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be able to get closer to him amidst the millions of attendees. It was so humblin,g and I felt extremely blessed. It is an emotional experience for Christians. The woman in the video is experiencing the same emotion when she met Pope Francis.
From Ms May Nahid
UAE
Facebook comment
Building relationships
The Pope’s visit to the UAE was indeed historic and one hopes that it will further cement the relationship between the Christians and Muslims in the region. Pope Francis has done it at the appropriate time so one hopes that this will go a long way in establishing durable peace in the region.
From Thomas Matthew Parackel
Kerala, India
A budget for the people
The recent Indian interim budget covered the important aspects of farmer’s waiver and has assured the annual income for their families (“India’s latest budget is a repeat of old promises in new guises”, Gulf News, February 6). The income tax limit has been extended up to five lakhs and this is a great move by the government. It is also a relief measure for many citizens. As usual opposition parties are not happy with certain aspects, however, this is a budget for the people.
From Mr K. Ragavan
Bengaluru
Disputed remains
The matter of disputed land acres in India has been a pending case in the Supreme Court for over a decade (“Shah asks Rahul to clear stand on Ram temple”, Gulf News, February 6). There is no reason for them to evade this. There is a saying that justice delayed is justice denied. It seemed to be a justified move by the government to ask for the return of adjoining land of 67 acres to its owners, which was acquired by the government in 1992 for the temple, which is a dream that was never realised. Prolonging this matter further is beyond my comprehension.
The Supreme Court should consider to conduct proceedings in this matter without any further delay. If nothing is found to be workable, let the disputed land be converted into a green belt, with no structure whatsoever by any party, without honouring the claim of anyone.
Let the temple be allowed to be constructed on the adjoining and non-disputed land, thereby closing the matter once and for all.
Undue lingering of this long outstanding matter is causing unnecessary tension, dispute and conflicts besides making this issue a political fiasco in every election.
From Mr K. K Singhal
Dubai
Don’t get scammed
It’s a tough time for global markets, when unemployment has struck many qualified people (“More arrests likely in Wisdom Jobs scam”, Gulf News, February 1). Unfortunately, it is a fertile period for bad recruitment agencies to ply their unethical tricks. There are so many stories on the internet about recruitment agencies and their credibility. People are getting duped. One such employment agency was Wisdom Jobs, which has a history in scamming innocent people around India and in the Middle East. They have misled many people and have scammed them. Given the current global scenario, many frustrated job seekers fell into such scams with immense hope. The spread of internet tools help the job rackets to misrepresent themselves into some fake website to chase young people who are in search of jobs. To avoid being caught in the net of fraudulent agencies, it is important to know the names of those companies who are legitimate and are highly recommended. Their advertisements will also be authentic and follow due recruitment protocol without requesting upfront fees or offering any kind of job guarantee.
If you sense any of these internet scams, you need to report them immediately.
From Ms Sumitra Nair
UAE
Job racket bust
I was very glad to read in Gulf News the report on the Wisdom Job’s racket and it lead to action against the person in charge and other subordinates. I actually experienced something similar in September 2013. I planned to complain to the newspaper at that time, many innocent job seekers were getting fooled with scams like these.
I am grateful to the Gulf News team for cracking this job racket and getting the culprits arrested. Well done and keep up the good effort.
From Ms Sasi Athanikkal
UAE
Justice where it is due
I appreciate the wonderful job done by the Gulf News team for exposing the culprit, Ajay Kolla, and for giving people their justice. I had faith in God that he and his staff would be exposed soon. I had been cheated by the same man and his company.
From Mr Ronald Menezes
UAE
Boys in blue
We definitely feel sorry for Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma, who was playing his 200th One Day International match, but got all out without making any runs (“We showed a lot of character, Rohit says after win”, Gulf News, February 4). At the same time we are happy that he admitted that this performance was one of his worst ones. There is no point brooding over the loss. There is no shame in losing, but I hope the team has learnt their lesson.
From Ms Janaki Mahadevan
India
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