Moral Policing must Stop
THE comment by the Supreme Court of India on premarital sex and live-in relationships will rein in the self-appointed guardians of public morality. Boys and girls have been assaulted and/or handed over to the police on account of their so-called indecent behaviour.
This has been escalated to such an extent that a boy and a girl of different communities cannot be seen together in public. They are publicly attacked, all in the name of maintaining decency and morality in the society. Let each family take the responsibility for the behaviour of its members and not, some extra-constitutional bodies, masquerading as the conscience-keepers of the society. If some behaviour is really objectionable, let the law enforcing agencies take action. Nobody gives the moral police the right to take matters in their own hands.
SND POOJARY, Miramar
Bill Payment Woes
Utility bills are a regular affair. While only phone bills are accepted at the nearest post office, water and/or electricity bills are accepted in cash by certain banks. The banks that accept the payment have their own timings: some do so between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and others accept between 10.30 a.m. and 12 p.m. Also, some banks do not accept water bills. In addition, some banks do not accept the meagre payments on Saturdays, although they make the usual large transactions. Furthermore, a customer who wants to pay by cheque has to go to the PWD office at St Inez or to Vidhut Bhavan to pay the water and electricity bills, respectively. These aspects are frustrating and a waste of one’s time. Perhaps, the authorities (PWD, Vidhut Bhavan, banks etc) could have a drop box facility for cheque payments, similar to BSNL. Also, the timing and days of the concerned banks could be made uniform and advertised in newspapers and behind the bills. These steps would help the consumer to pay the bills before the last date and garner much-needed revenue for the government.
SRIDHAR D IYER, Taleigao
Clerical Folly
IT is not that scandals do not affect other institutions, lay or religious, but apparently now ‘the severity of clerical abuse and the failure to stop it, goes to the heart of the gravest crisis the Roman Catholic Church has faced since the wartime Pope Pius XII was accused of responding inadequately to the Holocaust’. There are accusations that the present Pope himself (who was earlier Archbishop of Munich and Freising) ignored charges of paedophilia against Hullerman, a priest and allowed him to return to pastoral work. Here Hullerman, landed himself in trouble again. It is good that, at least now, decades of abuse allegations have culminated in a letter of apology from the Pope to the Irish faithful. His well-drafted Pastoral letter also sends a timely message to the broader Church and this is to be appreciated. As faithful Catholics what must we do at this juncture? Let’s seek repentance, make amends, and renew our faith in a merciful and forgiving God.
FRANCISCO COLAÇO, Margao
Vandalism at Chandor
THE desecration of religious sites at Chandor is shocking and a shame. The main ploy of these people is to create a communal divide between communities on religious grounds. All communities have lived in peace and harmony for centuries in our peaceful state. It is the handiwork of a few people who are trying to sow the seeds of discord and ferment communal divide in this peaceful state. All efforts should be made to nab the culprits and the harshest punishment should be meted out so that such disgraceful incidents do not occur again.
WENZEL D’MELLO, Mapusa
