Mere sport
Sir — Readers of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein will perhaps be intrigued by the news of a man in the United States of America using tissue and organs from wild sheep in Central Asia to create ‘giant’ hybrid sheep. However, Arthur Schubarth did not perform this cross-breeding using body parts from the prized Marco Polo sheep as a science experiment. He was trying to manufacture massive animals as trophy specimens for hunting events on his ranch. Given the carbon footprint of livestock, breeding them for food is already a growing problem. To do so for mere sport seems unconscionable.
Adrija Biswas, Calcutta
Face saver
Sir — In a series of developments, the Bharatiya Janata Party in Haryana dumped its erstwhile coalition partner, the Jannayak Janta Party, and changed the state’s chief minister a few months before the assembly’s term is scheduled to end (“Next, please”, Mar 14). With this move, the BJP seems to have secured its position in the state while the JJP is now in crisis. This is yet another example of the BJP’s selfishness.
Jats are the most politically significant group in Haryana. After the defection of Brijendra Singh, the member of Parliament from Hisar, from the BJP to the Congress, replacing Manohar Lal Khattar with a fresh face is a politically expedient step to assuage the concerns of the Jat community.
Khokan Das, Calcutta
Sir — The quick-fire developments in Haryana reveal some interesting strategies adopted by the BJP ahead of the parliamentary elections. Manohar Lal Khattar’s removal may not only insulate the party from anti-incumbency but Nayab Singh Saini’s appointment is also an effort to garner the support of the other backward class communities. The BJP has shown its willingness to make or break alliances for the sake of political profit.
Gregory Fernandes, Mumbai
Sir — Manoeuvres such as the overnight replacement of Manohar Lal Khattar with Nayab Singh Saini as the chief minister of Haryana prove that the BJP is not complacent. Such tactics are part of the now-familiar BJP playbook. Right from 2014, the saffron party has tinkered with traditional caste-based politics to prevent the consolidation of votes.
S.S. Paul, Nadia
Science matters
Sir — The film, Oppenheimer, based on J. Robert Oppenheimer, the head of the Manhattan Project and the creator of the atomic bomb, grabbed eyeballs at various award ceremonies recently. Partha P. Majumder’s article, “The prick of science” (Mar 14), was spot on in linking advancements in science with moral lessons that society has failed to learn even after decades of warfare. Once scientific innovations fall into the wrong hands or are used for divisive aims, people all over the world tend to suffer. Humans should work together to use science as an instrument for progress.
Vijay Singh Adhikari, Nainital
Sir — In the article, “The prick of science”, Partha P. Majumder discusses the need to consider the harmful impacts of scientific inventions, using the atomic bomb created by J. Robert Oppenheimer as an example. Two references to the Bhagavad Gita have been made in the piece, but there are other events from the Mahabharata which can be used to highlight the devastating impact of war: the havoc wreaked by the battle of Kurukshetra, for instance, is quite similar to the untold misery caused to people by the Second World War.
Sanjit Ghatak, South 24 Parganas
Sir — Only after its use in the Second World War did J. Robert Oppenheimer realise that the atomic bomb has the capacity to annihilate the human race. If we are to survive, we have to push for nuclear disarmament.
G. David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu
