Dear Sir,
This is in reply to the Article "Yeh khulapan jayaz hai ?" published on the front page of Prabhat Khabar,
Ranchi edition dated 25th April’13. It is very unfortunate and to an
extent disturbing that your esteemed paper has chosen this particular approach
to the issue of so acceptability of the called “Open-ness”.
The only thing more frustrating than
the moral-policing – shaming approach to an issue which should have been
delicately handled was the little box with statement from the secretary of
Ramkrishna Mission alongside. It appears
that it is being suggested that religion/belief (dharma) is the only thing
required to “cure” the youth from such (apparent) moral depravity. Is it? If a
person does not share a belief in god can he not be a moral and ethical human
being? Why do we have to drag in religion in places where it does not belong?
We seem to seek all solutions
from the lap of god of whose existence is no definitive proof but we blatantly
ignore the dynamics of human union due to which we literally are here. Isn’t it
time that this hypocrisy is put to an end?
I have always reserved my objections
to the seemingly scandalous Ads published in your paper under the section “Friendship”
and the products like "Japani Ling
Vardhak" advertised under the so called “Medical” section which I find to
be as misleading as it is dubious to the naive reader (I find putting the Ad label of ‘Medical’ for
potentially untested, unverified, un-certified so called devices, treatments and ayurvedic “recipies” is grossly inappropriate ) but this
time I am forced to object to the gross misuse of the precious ( at least 2 Lakh
rupees worth of space if I am not wrong) newspaper space .
People romanticise about the old
times and how morally upright the youth was or so it appeared to be.. Well, the
times have changed, the way society interacts has changed, our priorities, lifestyles,
means of livelihood, technology around us has changed. We cannot go back but instead
of trying to go back we sure can go forwards.
I agree that public display of
affection in our midst is offending to many of your readers. Is this the right
way to address the issue? Dear sir, It
takes two to tango: did all of those couple photographed agree to them being
published on the front page? Publishing
them too is ignorance of sensibilities. We need to reach a point of agreement
between conservatism and outbursts of liberty by youth trapped in a sexually repressed
society. Why can we not dedicate an effort to that?
I do not see why a reputed newspaper
like yours cannot devote space to an effort to bring about respect for women, equality among sexes and foster a healthy interaction between them. Why can we
not encourage a society where know the last names (and implicitly the person’s
caste) is not important and the ability, dedication and intellect of a person
are ?
I realize that this is a topic of
frenzied debate nonetheless, I will conclude by saying that shaming and sermons
by pious, holy men is the last thing we need to bring about a positive change
in the society. It would be appreciated
if the newspaper put an effort to bring unanimity to collective sensibilities of
people rather than enforce a regressive and draconian framework of so called
morality upon the youth by the means that has been used in this case.
Regards
A citizen hoping to reside in an intellectually
free, progressive and open minded India.
P.S. Link to the article for those who aren't aware: "Ye khulapan Jayaz hai? "
