Pension to personal staff of ministers

 The latest actions/ mutterings of the Kerala governor appear to be maverick, to say the least.

In the case of kannur university VC, he had to eat humble pie and agree to continue aa chancellor , even though he had declared that he would not hold that post!

Then came the policy declaration speech which was ro be made in the assembly.  His refusal to sign the speech which was approved by the cabinet , was clearly against constitutional provisions. Here too he had to make a retreat the same after some hours of uncertainty, even though after getting government secretary removed from the post!

And then he makes an issue about the pension being paid to political workers appointed as personal staff of ministers! While his intentions are unquestionable, i wonder , why he has raised the issue knowing fully well that he would not be able to do anything about a decision taken by cabinet and approved by the then governor.

Still it is good that he has flagged the issue to the public domain from where the youth of the state , irrespective of religious or political leanings, should escalate to reach a logical conclusion in the matter. I am sure no youth organization affiliated to various political parties will not move a little finger in the matter. Let us wait and see

Dress with religious connotations

 A new row has started in Karnataka regarding the uniform worn by students to the school/college. While the muslim girls insist on wearing the 'hijab' , students from the right wing object to this and start wearing saffron head gears/ shawls and the college authorities have disallowed both the practices .

Here the pertinent question to be asked is why the row has started all of a sudden. Have the muslim girls been wearing the hijab as part of the uniform till date and was it permitted earlier? If yes, why the other students started objecting to it now only , which clearly points out to an element of intolerance on their part and should be condemned and dealt with seriously. However, if wearing the hijab is a practice started recently, one needs to look into the reasons why a new practice has been introduced suddenly , which will only point towards the 'assertion' of the minority community.

Personally I would like to take a totally different stand on the issue . Why a person should display his religious beliefs publicly by displaying it through the dress worn, colour of the accessories and other tell tale signs. Then it can be argued that anything on the body, even a simple ring on the finger , ear lobes on the ears or a locket on a chain can be construed to declare the religion. So there needs a definition of which can be worn as part of the uniform in school or in other public places. If a christian nun or priest  is permitted to wear the 'sacred gown' to the school / college , why a muslim girl cannot wear a hijab, it may be asked! While the former can be part of their profession, the latter cannot be said to be that. The specifications should be clearly spelt out in the details of the prescribed uniform , after arriving at a consensus in the academic council/ management committee/ PTA as the case may be. 

In any case it is high time all of us , whether belonging to majority or minority religion, showed tolerance to the belief of others and avoided such skirmishes in the larger interest of the country's image and it's vast population. Hope better sense will prevail over everybody who incite such ill feelings in the minds of the followers.