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‘Saptadhara’
During his last Independence Day address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted, among other things, "Saptadhara – the 'seven streams of power' – envisioning the bolstering of the domestic manufacturing sector, agriculture and food processing, the development of new technology and innovation, investment in infrastructure, in defence capability, in the green and blue economies and the promotion of Indian soft power through the spread of yoga, Indian healing systems and the promotion of tourism. The focus now is on India wanting to host the Olympics in 2036 and become a developed economy, 'Viksit Bharat', by 2047. Tomorrow belongs to me, as those young men sang in the movie ‘Cabaret’, a love story set in Hitler's Germany. There is no doubt that as a united and inclusive nation, we can better face external challenges and overcome them by effectively addressing domestic issues. We know that the roots of national power are deeply embedded in domestic soil. Therefore, it is necessary for every individual to nurture these roots at home, investing in domestic capabilities and capacities. That is what a ‘dimaagi Naxal’ would say.
Iqbal Saikia,
Guwahati
Where is NESO?
After a lull for a few months, the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) resorted to extreme vandalism and violence upon Assam’s tourists as well as their vehicles right in front of Meghalaya’s cops. The vandalism and violence unleashed by KSU totally disrupted the vehicular traffic between Assam and Meghalaya, affecting the daily schedule of the state cab drivers, which in turn affected their sole way of livelihood. We understand that there is a strong student organisation named NESO which is supposed to maintain peace, amity, sisterhood and friendship among the seven sister northeastern states. AASU’s chief adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya happens to be the president of NESO. It was surprising to see that NESO was completely blind and mute during that period. Even when there was violence in the Assam and Arunachal Pradesh border, not a single leader from NESO came forward to douse the fire. Their inaction during that unrest has forced us to think and believe that the so-called NESO exists only on paper, not on the ground.
Dr. Ashim Chowdhury,
Guwahati