Gender discrimination
Recently, I started reading your e-paper and like it, very much. Especially I focus on the Letters to the Editor Column.
'Discrimination of female students at University Hostel' is a letter by a Gauhati university student in yesterday's Sentinel newspaper. She is right in expressing her point of view. I really appreciate her. If the other students in the same hostel express their inconvenience and discrimination to their warden, by this time the timing would have been changed, as suited to the convenience of the students, of the Ladies Hostel.
It is wrong to discriminate against female students in the 21st Century.
But it is happening in our country. Why hostels, even at home, parents always go on telling daughters dos and don'ts, but it is not the case with sons.
I suggest all the hostel wardens (parents too) not discriminate against female students in any way.
The wardens can fix a time for students to come back to the hostel by a certain time, say 9 pm in summer and 8 pm in winter for both guys and girls.
Girls and boys should be treated equally at home or at the hostel.
My Best Wishes for a healthy and happy New Year to the editorial team, support staff and all the readers of The Sentinel Newspaper, Assam.
K Lakshman Rao
(Women Rights Defender,
International Member, Amnesty International (London)
Camp - Vatika City, Gurgaon, Delhi NCR
Modern Dhronacharya
Of late India has emerged as one of the leading Badminton playing nations of the world. The man behind this epic feat is Pullela Gopichand, former All England Open Badminton champion. After retiring from competitive badminton, Gopichand dedicatedly himself to coaching and he started his Badminton Academy at his effort which started producing world-beaters like PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Sai Praneeth, Parupalli Kashyap, Srikanth Kidambi, Guru Sai Dutt and others, to name a few. Total dedication and discipline are his main mantras which he displayed when he expelled Saina Nehwal, an Olympic bronze medallist from the Academy for appearing in the commercial advertisement at the cost of her regular practice, thus violating his principles.
He is modern-day Dronacharya, the then guru of the Pandavas which produced archers like Arjun, second to none in archery. The government of India duly conferred him with the prestigious Dronacharya Award in 2009. He maintains a low profile from any publicity, unlike the others. I wish him well.
Lanu Dutta Chowdhury,
Guwahati
ECI: Show must go on
After the conclusion of the Uttar Pradesh visit the Chief Election Commissioner has declared that Assembly elections in five states will be held as scheduled as the first dose of corona vaccine will be hundred per cent completed in all the five states and all the protocols of COVID will be followed meticulously. The ECI has issued such a statement as the Allahabad High Court suggested postponing the elections for one or two months due to the fresh spreading of the Omicron variant. In the recently concluded Assembly elections, various courts had passed the strictures against the Election Commissioner for the conduct of elections without following the protocols properly and even one high court had gone to the extent of holding the Election Commission responsible for the deaths of Corona patients, and verbally ordered to register an FIR against officials of Election Commission under Section 302. The observations of court may be based on the mismanagement in respect of the supply of oxygen, shortage of beds in hospitals as well as a shortage of medicines, disposal of bodies etc. The intensity of spreading of Omicron is very fast but the death rate is very less so to defer the poll due to this reason does not hold good. Other protocols such as bearing of masks, to maintain the distance, use of sanitiser, measurement of body temperature, separate arrangements for Corona infected persons etc., will remain in force. Voters lists will be released up to January 05 and all persons who complete eighteen years can get enrol as new voters and can cast votes during the Assembly elections. Opposition parties had demanded a separate list of disabled as well as persons above 80 years who will cast their votes through postal ballots. In all polling stations, there shall be available wheelchairs for the help of needy persons, and the maximum number of voters in one polling station shall be 1250. There shall be a separate app for complaints and within a short time action will be taken. So, based on the above various arrangements made by the Election Commission it is a good and well-conceived decision not to defer the elections in the five states.
Yash Pal Ralhan,
Jalandhar 14400
A controversial figure
Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah often lands in trouble for passing controversial remarks in the public domain. There are enough instances in the past when this controversial figure has stirred controversies, starting from his remarks against legendary Rajesh Khanna, to supporting the terrorists operating in Kashmir under the remote control of Pakistan's ISI. He was the guy who felt unsecured living in India, though he and his family never faced any threats on Indian soil. His real motive was to create an environment amongst the Muslim brethren that they are unsafe under PM Modi. Recently, Naseeruddin Shah again landed himself in a controversy, when in an interview he called Mughals as 'Refugees'. In the clip of the interview which is doing rounds of the internet, the Bollywood actor claimed that Mughals came to India to make it their homeland. He further claimed that Mughals are the ones who have left lasting monuments in the country. In the Interview with Karan Thapar of The Wire, the actor's full quote was - "The so-called atrocities of the Mughals are being highlighted all the time. We forget that Mughals are the people who have contributed to the country. They are people who have left lasting monuments in the country, who have left the tradition of dancing, music, painting, literature. Mughals came here to make this their homeland. You can call them refugees if you like..."
His remarks have been severely criticized on various social media platforms. My question is how come invaders (Mughals) can be called refugees? Is it a deliberate plan to vouch for Rohingyas entry into India as 'refugees' by left-liberal forces that also include Congress? Why is this relentless obsession with the invaders? Let me clear that Mughals were invaders or can be described as armed raiders, who came to India not to seek asylum, but to loot, plunder and rule. They were successful due to disunity among the kingdoms of the Indian Peninsula. They tried to destroy the Sanatani culture, tradition by establishing Islamic beliefs. There are thousands of examples of Mughals atrocities on the indigenous people like demolition to Ayodhya, Kashi Vishwanath temple, etc.
With the Uttar Pradesh election in particular around the corner and also elections to Punjab and three other states, we may see many 'super-secularists' working on a hidden plan to destabilize India.
Julie Bhuyan,
Gaurisagar.