Uphold immigrants’ rights
Since February 5, around 300 illegal Indian immigrants have been deported from the US. The second flight took-off to India while the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in the US to meet President Donald Trump. The immigrants consisting of mostly young men and women and children, were sent back in the US air force planes that have only one toilet to cater to 100+ passengers. As per reports and statements of the immigrants, the feet and hands of the men were chained and handcuffed and they were freed when they wanted to use the toilet. There has been uproar in the Parliament about the inhuman treatment of the immigrants while the External Affairs Minister said that this is the standard procedure of the US’ Administration. Are the immigrants’ hardcore criminals to be chained? Would there be a mutiny onboard the aircrafts under the watchful eyes of the military, if the immigrants are not shackled? They have lost their jobs, savings, were cheated by travel agents, endured hardships by following the unsafe and tortuous ‘dunki’ routes land, and are neck-deep in debts for having decided to immigrate to the US. The Indian government needs to be sympathetic towards the immigrants who are returning dejectedly. For once, let both the governments forget tariffs and geopolitics and handle the issue of the immigrants in a more sensitive and dignified manner.
Sridhar D Iyer, Caranzalem
India-US bonhomie
PM Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Washington was brief but had the headline-generating developments. The meeting saw a welcome assertion of continuity in relations and a declared intention to expand and deepen the strategic relationship. Both the leaders mutually praised each other that created a feel-good factor. There was a focus on defence trade and technology partnership, but how it will play out, and who will benefit will depend on the details. India has a big trade advantage with the US, which Trump obviously wants to reduce and wants India to import more oil and gas from the US. India has been buying Russian crude oil at prices significantly below market rates. In contrast, importing oil from the US will cost India more. Also, there is not much evidence that Modi’s visit significantly softened Trump’s stance on imposing counter-tariffs and reciprocal taxes or influenced a more humane approach to the deportation of undocumented immigrants. India must carefully assess its own interests, assert its position where necessary, and push back when required to safeguard its strategic and economic priorities.
Gregory Fernandes, Mumbai
Failure of crowd management
Public memory is short and so is the official kind. Otherwise 18 people would not have died in the stampede at New Delhi railway station a couple of days back. In 2010, the same station had decided not to change platforms abruptly after one such change resulted in two persons dying in a stampede. Crowd management is a well researched science and empirical data points to the fact that preventing the swell in numbers of people at public places is the key to avoid critical mishaps. Between 1980 and 2022, 14,000 people had died in stampedes globally, many of which started with one person falling. The Qutub Minar tragedy is a perfect example, a person slipped in the dark but 45 people lost their lives because the exit was blocked. The fall didn’t kill anyone, people were crushed by the weight of those behind them. At Mumbai’s Elphinstone Road in 2017, 23 deaths resulted due to crowd collapse after a woman slipped. During the 2013 Prayagraj Kumbh, 37 fatalities occurred because the railways failed to check the flow of pilgrims towards the station. The Kumbh ends on February 26 but this cycle of avoidable tragedy will continue if the government doesn’t learn any lessons from past mistakes.
Rekha Sarin Trehan, Benaulim
Alarming parking situation
Cities like Mumbai in Maharashtra face a mounting problem of vehicular congestion. One of the factors is the parking of private vehicles along the roads. The neighbouring state’s government is now mulling a policy of asking the people to show they have a parking space before registration of new vehicles. The situation in Goa may not be identical or as grave as it is in Mumbai but we do have a major parking problem. The Panaji city and major towns also lack sufficient parking places due to which we see unregulated and haphazard parking. Authorities have taken some measures to ease the situation but these are not enough. There is acute shortage of parking space due to the growing number of new vehicles on the roads. Gone are those days when only the affluent households possessed cars. Today most households can afford a car. The increase in two-wheelers is mindboggling. The population of vehicles in Goa will continue to grow fast requiring more parking spaces. The government and civic authorities should draw up a long-term plan and address the parking problem before the situation goes out of hand.
Rodney de Souza, Assagao
