Letters to The Editor — October 18, 2024

Row with Canada

With the four other partners in the Five Eyes ‘Anglosphere’ intelligence network rallying around Canada in its diplomatic row with New Delhi, India faces a sort of isolation in the comity of nations on the issue. That India and Canada have both recalled some of their core consulate staff signifies a total collapse of diplomacy. Both sides need to lower their pitch. Our External Affairs Minister, a career diplomat-turned-politician, has to admit his own failure in preventing the situation from getting so ugly. Canada alone has not accused India of dark deeds. The U.S. too has levelled similar allegations. The Washington Post suggesting the involvement of some in the top Indian leadership adds a new dimension to a very sensitive issue.

S.K. Choudhury,

Bengaluru

Before starting an international campaign to ensure accountability from Canada, India would have to first show its readiness to cooperate with Canada.

Muralidhara Acharya,

Bengaluru

Exit polls

One is in agreement with the Chief Election Commissioner of India and his views on exit polls (“CEC slams exit polls, early trends on TV channels”, October 16) — that they are being carried out unscientifically. After the fiasco in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the exit pollsters got it all wrong again in the Haryana Assembly elections. The News Broadcasters & Digital Association and other stakeholders concerned need to take corrective measures as such poll exercises raise public expectations. This wasteful political exercise should perhaps make way for a more democratic and productive discourse on prime time television.

Dr. Thomas Palocaren,

Vellore, Tamil Nadu

Rains and the city

The scare over a 40 cm deluge in Chennai may have subsided, but the city has still not passed the test even in the 7 cm of rain that fell. Officials have again highlighted the ‘plastic menace’. It is still not too late to use drones to map the flooded areas and take corrective measures.

S. Subramanian,

Chennai