Readers’ comments: On ‘Tejas’ review – why not trash Salman Khan movies?

Why don’t you trash Salman Khan movies (“‘Tejas’ review: Patriotic thriller surely and steadily nose-dives”)? Is it bad if a woman is flexing her muscles and romancing a guy? What do you think of heroes who flex their muscles, don’t know how to act and romance heroines? – Jyotsna Ambasta

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The media is anti-India and always favour others over the country. – M Thrivikraman Unnithan

Stray dog problem

I have been working on the problem of rehabilitating stray dogs for 30 years in Chennai (“Why is India seeing so much rage against street dogs?”). When it comes to articles about stray dogs, I always have some questions.

First, where do the statistics on the dog population in the country come from? Who has conducted a scientific census before arriving at these numbers?

Second, neutering is not a solution as it is not possible to keep the rate of sterilisation at par with the fecundity of dogs. Despite the animal birth control programme being operational for the past 20 years, it has failed to have had any visible impact.

Third, the problem of stray dogs is fuelled by people who abandon pets. It is important that people are educated about the dangers of abandoning dogs.

Fourth, not only the health department but even wildlife biologists cannot tolerate dogs.

The mind set has to change. It will help if Scroll also publishes articles on the brighter side of dogs, their origins, history and why people should not abuse or abandon them. – RJ Ranjit Daniels.

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The government must start a taxation relief scheme for adopting dogs in every state. Each family must adopt a dog after the government sterilises the animal. Then, the government can reduce tax by some percentage. This way a dog will get a family, food and shelter. Basically, dogs require food and nothing more. They also fear human beings. – Suranjana Mandal

Congratulations, Pramila Venkateswaran

Pramila Venkateswaran winning the Best Poetry Award at New York Book Festival is great news for several reasons (“Meet Pramila Venkateswaran, winner of the Best Poetry Award at New York Book Festival”). First, producing poetry books, even as accomplished as this one, is tough as Venkateswaran recounts in this article. Second, this honour comes at a time when anti-Semitism is rising across the world and being legitimised.

That India is as one of the earliest refuges for the Jewish diaspora and the only nation that holds no prejudice against them is little heard of, as is the role of Jews in the making of modern India. For instance, they helped build the commercial capitals of Karachi and Mumbai. But unfortunately, anti-Semitism has been on the rise post-Partition in the subcontinent.

A century-old synagogue in Karachi was demolished decades ago by General Zia ul Haq while the synagogue in Mumbai stands, but behind a police barricade. – Vijay S Jodha

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I am thrilled for Pramila Venkateswaran and her well-deserved award. I enjoyed reading We Are Not a Muséum, an insightful and lyric poetry book of her own “history” and experience in the Jewish settlement of Kochi combined with her imagination and the researched history of the community. The pages are full of life and emotion. Congratulations, Pramila! – Barbara Segal