It is saddening to read about the closure of the Thamizhosai BBC Tamil Radio service (Tamil Nadu, “After 76 years, BBC Tamil radio to go off air”, May 1). During the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971, BBC Tamil was neutral and extensive in its coverage even though BBC was biased against India. During the 1967 general election, when the Indian National Congress’s popularity declined considerably, BBC was again objective. I recollect programmes such as “Paattondru Ketten”. Whenever an important event took place in India or Tamil Nadu, BBC Tamil was among the first to contact VIPs and air their opinions. The station also played a crucial role in presenting the ground reality in Sri Lanka by interviewing Sri Lankan Tamil politicians.
Supreme Court orally indicates that the government should not deport Rohingya “now” as the Centre prevails over it to not record any such views in its formal order, citing “international ramifications”. The Supreme Court on Friday came close to ordering the government not to deport the Rohingya. It finally settled on merely observing that a balance should be struck between humanitarian concern for the community and the country's national security and economic interests. The court was hearing a bunch of petitions, one filed by persons within the Rohingya community, against a proposed move to deport over 40,000 Rohingya refugees. A three-judge Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, began by orally indicating that the government should not deport Rohingya “now”, but the government prevailed on the court to not pass any formal order, citing “international ramifications”. With this, the status quo continues even though the court gave the community liberty to approach i...