LETTERS: Very discriminating

This is in reference to the news story “Thamel declared no go zone for vehicles” (THT, October 23, Page 3).

The idea to facilitate tourists in the country is certainly not a bad one. But not to consider the affecting aspect is equally important.

My point is that if certain areas like Thamel are made no go zone for vehicles, then how will it be possible for many businessmen running shops, restaurants, hotels etc to transport their required amenities at their respective places? Will it not create inconvenience even for the tourists to carry their luggage while arriving from the airport and vice versa? Furthermore, did the group of people whoever brought this idea ever realize which part of the areas to be called Thamel? Because the no go rules seems to have affected certain parts of Thamel only this is quite discriminating.

The better idea would have been to manage the entire Thamel areas through a one way traffic system instead of baring entry to certain portions only. As an alternate, if a no go zone is to be declared, then it should be for certain peak hours only so that the movement of tourists would not be affected. If a certain area only is to be made a no go zone, then the vehicles owned by the residents and businessmen of that particular area should be issued an entry pass and other vehicles controlled accordingly. In this regard, vehicles carrying tourists with luggage should be allowed as well, otherwise Thamel will not remain popular even for the tourists in the long run as such rules will have adverse effects.

Suman Raj Sharma, Lainchaur

Welfare

Interestingly, this year marks not only the centenary of the October Socialist Revolution but also the bicentennial birthday of Karl Marx. The major contribution of the October Revolution in the evolution of humankind is to establish that liberty cannot exist without equality and to bring forward a better order than archaic capitalism.

Now, human evolution has discarded dictatorship of the proletariat as it is found ~ “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This has made the modern welfare states to carry forward in the relay race with the baton of evolutionary progress.

A modern welfare state is now trying to amalgamate capitalist laissez faire liberty into socialist endeavours to ensure equality. Such amalgamation is necessary to create a level playing field with the help of subsidy and positive discrimination in order to climb up the ladder of human development index. Indeed, archaic capitalism has thus been discarded by the countries in North America, Europe and Australia. These countries have graduated from police states to welfare states and are according top priority to human development.

So, a welfare state – even the USA – cannot deny the contributions of socialism in its policy of social security like healthcare and handsome allowance for the unemployed. A welfare state which ensures freedom of an individual and at the same time guarantees his or her social security is a synthesis of the thesis of capitalism and antithesis of socialism.

Sujit De, Kolkata