Something rotten

Sir — During a trip to Digha, I found the rotting carcasses of turtles on the beach near Mohona where fishermen regularly unload their catch. The turtles caught in the nets are mercilessly thrown away on the beach by the fishermen. The dead ones rot in the sun, while the injured animals never make it back to the sea again. There were carcasses even of the endangered Olive Ridleys on the sand. Conservationists should take immediate action against this mindless killing of endangered species going on in their own backyard.

Yours faithfully,
Shivaji K. Moitra, Kharagpur

Black tongue

Sir — A storm of sorts blew over the whole of India when Shilpa Shetty was subjected to a racial attack in the Big Brother reality show. The organizers of the show were forced to issue apologies after the uproar. And now in India, two cheerleaders have been asked to leave the ground at Mohali because of their complexion (“Cheerleaders called ‘niggers’”, May 23 ).

No word can be strong enough to condemn this incident. It seems that our countrymen have forgotten that once we were addressed as ‘niggers’, much to our shame and anger, by the British rulers because of our skin colour. We can be so discourteous as to insult the girls because they are a shade or two darker than us. This is simply an instance of the pot calling the kettle black. After this incident, white men in Europe would have no qualms about heaping racial insults on Indians. To make matters worse, Wizcraft International, the event management company which had employed the individual who had allegedly made the comment, has denied the allegations, thus making it appear as if the girls are lying.

If we have any decency left in us, Preity Zinta herself, being the owner of the team for which the cheerleaders were working, should personally apologize to the girls.

Yours faithfully,
P.K. Bhattacharya, Calcutta

Sir — Incidents of racial abuse suddenly seem to have become common in India. First it was Harbhajan Singh, who supposedly used the word, ‘monkey’, to abuse the Australian cricketer, Andrew Symonds. Now, two British cheerleaders have alleged that they were racially abused at an IPL match. Do we have to learn anew that a person is not responsible for the colour of his skin? And that no one has the right to hurt other people’s feelings? The human rights commission should take up the case immediately and ensure that the girls get justice.

Yours faithfully,
Jyoti Prakash Basu, Calcutta

Sir — Indians always complain about being victims of racial attacks in other countries. But we never acknowledge our own racist mentality. Racism in India has traditionally operated in the form of casteism. We continue to discriminate against people on the basis of their birth, labelling them as ‘untouchable’. So one should not be surprised by the recent incident in which Ellesha Newton and Sherinne Anderson were insulted because of the colour of their skin. After all, this is only to be expected in a country in which one of the largest selling products is fairness cream.

If Wizcraft International does not apologize to the girls, the duo should sue the company. Every conscientious Indians should support the girls at a time like this.

Yours faithfully,
Sayani Ghosh, Calcutta

Sir — Mahatma Gandhi had created history by fighting against the colour bias in South Africa. His country has now been shamed by the incident of an Indian reportedly abusing two girls racially. The company that had hired the accused should punish him and issue a formal apology to the women.

Yours faithfully,
S.K. Mukherjee, Calcutta