Homer Sometimes Nods

The sharp reactions triggered due to the recent appeal by a host of Assam’s intellectuals not to vote for the BJP is not without reason. Why was it designed to be at the fag end of the statutorily allowed time for the campaign for the first phase of the election? If Akhil Gogoi is one of the signatories, I would seek a vital clarification. He prescribed us to vote for the BJP during the last Lok Sabha elections. How come he had not known about the communal colour of the party then and has realized it now? Will they say that only fools and lunatics do not change opinion? The intellectuals whose mes are associated with the call are revered by alert and sensitive people too. Their call is not barred by any statute, nor tainted by any sort of personal motive, but their appeal reflects a bit of haste and quandary.

Dipak Kumar Goswami ACS (Retd),

9, BR Mazumdar Road, Bagharbori,

Punjabari, Guwahati 781037.

April fool joke

Of late, it has become very interesting to note that most of the heavyweight Congress leaders, instead of attending public rallies, are holding press conferences at Rajiv Bhawan in Guwahati. It makes me wonder why they are taking the pain to come down all the way from Delhi just for a press meet. This job can be easily done sitting there in Delhi at the party headquarters. In one of the regular press meets of Congress on 1st April, a senior former cabinet minister of erstwhile UPA regime Jairam Ramesh termed Modi as 'Murder of Democracy in India'. While doing so, the ex-environment minister had perhaps forgotten about the Emergency era. Readers of this esteemed daily are very much aware about those dark days. At the same time, such leaders should remember that rendra Modi is not the chief of BJP but the democratically elected Prime Minister of the tion and one should maintain certain decency in criticizing the person holding that chair. I think it is an April fool joke by Jairam Ramesh.

Dr. Ashim Chowdhury,

Ambari, Guwahati-1.