Human Geography: Nature and scope: Letters to The Editor

Human geography is very important because it helps us to understand about the relationship between the human society and the earth surface. As we know that the definition of human geography as given by different geographers are different but ultimately in a sense it means the same. Different definitions of human geography according to different geographers are as follows:-

Human geography is the synthetic study of relationship between the human society and the earth surface (Freidreich Ratzel).

Human geography is the relationship between the unresting man and unstable earth (Ellen C Semple).

Apart from all these there also certain approaches to human geography they are determinism, possibilism and neo determinism.

Determinism: It is an earliest approach to human geography. This approach emphasizes the naturalization of human and says that man and environment interaction where nature is a dominant factor. The human is in a condition to help his self in according to the conditions of nature.

Possibilism: It is an approach to human geography which opposes environmental determinism and says that human immense possibilities with the virtue of his knowledge and skills to alter his environment and can mould it according to his necessity.

Human is not equal to other species who follow their nature only.

Neo-determinism: It is a middle path which was first given by Griffith Taylor and says that it is modifiable in possible reasons.

Here it says that humans are neither in a condition of absolute necessity (determinism) nor in a condition of absolute freedom ( possibilism).

Apart from all these the human geography has also the relationship with the sister disciplinary and with the other social sciences and in order to understand and to explain all the elements of human life and space they occour. As here it is mentioned about sister disciplinary it means social geography, urban geography etc.

Manish Kashyap,

Tezpur .

Parakram Diwas

All the people of the country respect Netaji's contribution-values-ideology and that is why the Central Government has decided to celebrate Netaji's 125th birth anniversary (January 23, 2021) at the national and international level. According to the Union Ministry of Culture, the government has decided to celebrate his birthday every year as Parakram Diwas with respect for Netaji's indomitable spirit and selfless service. The decision was taken to promote Netaji's ideology among the youth of the country. This positive and noble decision of the Modi government will surely be appreciated by every citizen of the country. Netaji will be a role model for every Indian for his loyalty to the motherland, boundless reverence and selfless service, and will be forever remembered in the minds of every Indian. On his birthday, we wished that the youth of India would be inspired with patriotism.

Heramba Nath,

Kamrup.

Modern youth

It's a bitter truth that in the present times, glitter and glamour of cities are ruling the minds of youth. Today's population of adolescents hardly appears to be mature and responsible. Their guidance is not from Socrates, Plato or Augustine. It's from Josh down the street on Twitter. Very often, their world view is shaped more by Kanye West or Lady Gaga than it's from Aristotle or Moses. Needless to say that today's teens are highly susceptible to unethical and unproductive activities like substance or drug abuse. It's a worrying fact that even the best parents have children who don't follow their example. Sometimes, kids can grow up in a relatively healthy environment and still go astray. Parents of a wayward teenager, no doubt, suffer the biggest heartache. So, it is imperative that local social groups be formed to guide those youths who go astray. Those should enlist some teachers from schools and colleges, preferably the retired ones, psychologists and the officers-in-charge of the local police stations as members. Needless to say it's the responsibility of the older generation to insulate today's youths by providing them with a mature perspective and worldview.

Dipen Gogoi,

Teok, Jorhat

Solution needed

The steps taken by the Supreme Court to ensure early end to the agitation do not seem to bear any fruit, at least for the time being. The farmers unions have rejected the formation of the committee by the Court and have raised questions on the fairness of its members. The stir has already upset the whole economic structure. The prices of many items required in the construction of homes have skyrocketed, an admirable solution of the problem is the crying need for the hour.

Chandan Kumar Nath,

Sorbhog.

Protect election warriors

An association of the government employees in Andhra Pradesh has requested to postpone the Panchayat elections in the state for some time in view of the COVID-19. The association highlighted that their lives are more significant than the elections amid the pandemic and these are unlike the Parliamentary elections. Every voter has to be touched, political parties contact all their voters with striving for 100 per cent voting. They are demanding that they should all first receive the Covid vaccine then have elections. Many government employees are already busy distributing and vaccinating the frontline warriors. The State government should seriously consider this matter and discuss it with all stakeholders. It will be appropriate to conduct the elections only after ensuring the safety of all.

Amit Singh Kushwaha,

Satna (M.P.)

Communal politics begins

The communal forces are taking centre stage as Badruddin Ajmal has started spitting venom against the Central government. Addressing a rally in Dhubri he said if the NDA returns to power in the State masjids will be demolished, Muslims have to embrace Hindu religion, calling azaan in the loudspeakers will be banned, Islamic people would be pushed back to Pakistan and Bangladesh. The rally was called as part of election campaign. His speech was greeted with thunderous applause from the public. In a rather shocking development, Ajit Bhuyan, who is an ardent supporter of Ajmal, immediately condemned the statements of AIUDF boss in a press conference though the blind bhakts of Badruddin Ajmal like Sikha Sarma, Meera Barthakur and Ripun Bora continued to be mum. In fact Ajmal's trusted fan Sikha Sarma wrote in her social media account supporting Badruddin Ajmal's speech. She said that Ajmal's speech was not communal and went ahead to condemn former CJI Ranjan Gogoi for giving judgement in favour of Ram Janmabhoomi trust in the Ram Mandir and Barbi Masjid case. She threw harsh words against Lal Krishna Advani for demolishing Babri Masjid. These kind of people in lust for money and power can go to any extent as in the concluding line Sikha Sarma claimed Badruddin Ajmal as an original son of Assam.

Julie Bhuyan,

Gaurisagar.

The Coronavirus has been transmitted to humans from the bat. This suspicion is now being confirmed. Scientists at the bacterial laboratory in Wuhan, China, have admitted that a scientist was bitten by a bat while collecting samples. Most recently, this confession has been revisited. According to reliable sources, the group of scientists went to Wuhan's laboratory to collect samples of bacteria from a bat in a nearby mountain cave. At that time, one of the scientists of this group was bitten by a bat. However, the world will never be completely free from Coronavirus. Such fears are currently being expressed by the WHO. A recent WHO seminar has raised concerns about the potential for mass transmission of new strains of the Coronavirus. Entirely, in the last one year, Coronavirus has always been changing its form, and scientists have been found to be worried and anxious.

In the days to come, it is impossible to say whether human life is safe or not. It may not be an exaggeration to say that our future is entirely in God's hands. Sill we're hoping for better days. We are all waiting for that.

Heramba Nath,

Kamrup.

Nervous Congress

The nervousness and panicking has started amongst the Congress leadership. Once the Raijor Dol has refused to join the grand alliance nervousness was very much visible in the faces of senior leaders. MP Pradyut Bordoloi was heard criticizing the think-tank of Raijor Dol for not joining the Congress and AIUDF-led alliance. The strength of the Congress and the AIUDF is the minority voters in the minority-dominated constituencies. Now, Akhil Gogoi too has a goodwill among the Bengali-speaking Muslim community as he has always stood behind them even if they are uprooted from the illegally occupied government, forest, xatra lands. Who will forget the scene when Akhil Gogoi protested against the government when the suspected Bangladeshis were evicted from the Kaziranga National Park. Congress leaders are worried about the vote division of their loyalists. They are also feeling ashamed to go to polls with the AIUDF as their only partner. Meanwhile, the Raijor Dol and the AJP have started to woo the minority voters in minority-dominated constituencies by organizing public meeting.

Pratap Dutta,

Tezpur.

GI for Bokakhat pera

The unique pera of Bokakhat is famous throughout the State for its distinct taste and soft texture. Though not aromatic, this mouth watering sweet of Assam, is still now traditionally handmade. Not much is known about its origin or history, but the humble sweet still evokes nostalgic memories for many. It has been able to retain its glory amongst all and sundry, especially the foodies. In spite of the advent of online commerce, I am not able to find the sweet online.

Therefore, there is an urgent need to protect this unique sweet, especially the skill in preparation, from being highjacked from our State. The Government should swiftly swing into action for acquiring Geographical Indication (GI) for Bokakhat pera, if not already done.

Apart from that, it should also work for financially supporting the workers and families engaged in preparation of the unique sweetmeat. The Government should incentivize commercial production to make the sweet widely available.

The way Bengal and Odisha governments fought tooth and nail for GI tag for the Roosgoola, the Assam government should also similarly leave no stone unturned in not only in protecting this Assam sweet, but even document its history for posterity.

Rajib Sarma,

Guwahati

Unearth the mystery of Netaji's death

It is high time we took to task whether there have been any serious attempts to unearth the mystery of the disappearance of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

It is very easy to declare that nothing has come out of the investigations, but the bigger question which needs to be asked is whether there have been any sincere attempts to get to the bottom of the case! If the authorities concerned had been so 'sincere', then why was the Justice Manoj Kumar Mukherjee Commission not allowed free access to Netaji-related files which are kept within the safe custody at Red Fort? Some files concerning Netaji had been released with much fanfare a year ago. But the information released through such files is hardly relevant as far as Netaji's disappearance saga is concerned. Yes, there lies every reason to believe that Netaji's disappearance and conspiracy are synonymous terms. Some 'nationalists' also came up with the theory that 'international relations' will be 'harmed' if all Netaji files are disclosed. This hush-hush matter directly proves that there lies something fishy related to Netaji's disappearance. Now which is the bigger issue — 'international relationship' or the fate of that epitome of patriotism named Netaji who had sacrificed his career and devoted his entire life for the sake of independence of the motherland from imperialist force? If the answer is 'international relationship', the sincerity of solving the mystery stands blatantly exposed!

When Netaji was organizing the Indian National Army in South-East Asia for its forward march to Delhi, a close associate of him advised that instead of having separate prayer meetings for the Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian soldiers; a common prayer meeting can be arranged by incorporating the educative and exemplary traits of all religions so as to forge absolute unity among the Indian fighters.

Netaji praised his associate for his well-intention, but also warned that if religion gets used to bind all Indian soldiers together by heart; then this very religion itself can also be exploited by the evil forces to create discord and disunity among the soldiers. So not the thread of religion, which should ideally remain confined to one's personal/private domain only; but one and only the chord of patriotism and undiluted love for the motherland need to be nurtured and nourished so as to bind all Indian soldiers psychologically and work towards common goal.

What a contrast to the present state of affairs when religion has been allowed to infiltrate even the social life and political sphere also in this heterogeneous Constitutionally secular nation leading to violence and supreme intolerance towards the food habits, dignity, human rights and safety of our very own fellow Indian brothers and sisters.

Instead of merely garlanding his statue or portrait on 23rd of January, it is high time India woke up to the secular values, ethics and humanity propagated by Netaji so as to unite the country in psychic terms and thereby award due honour to this Patriot of Patriots through practical deed, not mere words or rhetoric.

Kajal Chatterjee,

Kolkata