Everyone is proffering their two bits to the Prime Minister “PM advised to revive friendly relations” (THT, Feb. 18,Page 1). While, as the most loquacious PM in living memory, he may not need any advices, and I cannot stop myself from jumping on to the bandwagon. Here are my two bits as well: ‘swadhinta’ and ‘swabhiman’ which he must protect at any cost. He should just insist on ‘swadhinta’ and ‘swabhiman’. People have already gone through terrible times for the last five months, and they are amenable to suffer much longer, for self-respect, dignity, national independence and sovereignty. Our two bits notwithstanding, KP Sharma Oli will have to play by the time, place and situation. However, we can be sure of one thing – we will never be able to establish the rights of a landlocked country in New Delhi, as suggested by representatives of the HLPCC. It is one thing to perform vocal exercise or clap, clap by tongue in Kathmandu. If he can return with ‘swadhinta’ and ‘swabhiman’ intact, he would have done his two bits for this great nation.

Manohar Shrestha, Kathmandu

Tragic

This is in response to the new story “Minor raped on school premises suspect arrested” (THT, Feb. 17, Page 2).The story tells a lot about how safe our children are even in the capital where private schools operators claim to be providing quality education, and the government claims to have provided security to its people. A security guard who had to protect people from danger turned out to be rapist of a five-year-old girl. He forgot his duty and committed a heinous crime for which he deserves the severest punishment. Cases of rapes are rising across the country. Considering the increasing violence against women, the government has recently tabled a bill in Parliament to punish the rapists to the maximum sentence. The proposed bill has suggested life imprisonment, meaning that the perpetrators will have to do time in jail till his death, in case a girl or women is killed after rape. A person who rapes a woman will have to spend 30 years in jail.

If Parliament passes the bill as proposed the perpetrator will not get another chance to committee a similar crime. On the other hand, only making a harsh law is not enough. It is the perverted mind and psychological disorder of a person who intends to commit such a crime without thinking about the consequences. In order to control violence against girls and women, the society in general and the educational institutions in particular should educate people at a young age about the ways of behaving with the opposite sex. The proposed bill must be passed without any delay, as it will at least act as a deterrent. Such a crime would not have happened had the school management made sure that all the children had boarded the bus and no one had been left alone after the school hours.

Niraj Singh, Global College