A big blow: Letters to The Editor

A big blow

Rupjyoti Kurmi's resignation is a big blow to the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) as he was not only the MLA of Mariani but a four-time MLA, besides being the face of the Tea Tribe support of the Congress. Lt. Debeswar Sarma once said Ali and Kuli are with the Congress, so it is invincible. During that period the votes of other indigenous people didn't matter from them to win elections as Alis and Kulis voted en masse for them. Over the years the situation has changed. Kuli (tea tribes) have become educated and they know how over the years they were deceived by the Congress. Alis (minorities) have remained loyalist with the Congress due to appeasement and vote bank policies of the Congress. Also, illegal infiltrators received a warm welcome from Congress as they were helped by the then government in gaining voting rights. Though in recent years after the birth of the AIUDF the Congress had to lose a sustainable amount of Miya people's votes, yet the minorities form the backbone of the Congress, and it has been reflected in the last Assembly elections. Congress won maximum seats in minority-dominated areas where the role of indigenous people is almost zero. The seed sown by Sadullah, Hiteswar Saikia, Torun Gogoi have become trees and today those trees are bearing fruits for the party. Lastly, Congress has become a party of minorities.

Dhiman Senchowa,

North Lakhimpur.

True Sentinel

I am a regular subscriber of your esteemed daily for over a decade. The editorial section is truly worth reading and educates the reader about various topics. Apart from that, the quality of English is far above the many English dailies. I was particularly impressed by your editorial column published on June 14 where you have highlighted the greatness of Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi, his contribution in thwarting the design of Nehru and Jinnah to merge Assam with East Pakistan. Lokapriya was the only CM of the Congress regime who had the guts to oppose Delhi's diktat. After Lokapriya, the succeeding CMs were mere parrots of the Congress high command. They helped the infiltrators to settle in various PGR and VGR lands. The recent report of original inhabitants being reduced to minority status in the next 15/20 years is very alarming. The vote bank politics of Congress even at the cost of the nation's security and integrity is an act of treason. The thundering dialogue of Tarun Gogoi 'Who is Badruddin' is still in our mind but in later years for the sake of power and his blind love for his son the same Tarun Gogoi sealed the deal with AIUDF. The famous Hiteswar Saikia took a U-turn in just 48 hours after he admitted the presence of 30 lakh Bangladeshis. He immediately had to retract his statement after the high command showed him the red-eye. This development was almost forgotten by many including myself which you have boldly recalled. The Sentinel paper is the true sentinel of Assam in particular and the northeast in general.

Joel Goyari,

Tangla.

Investment in shares

Retail investors in India invest in shares through stockbrokers. The stockbrokers collect mandatory KYC data which includes the basic details of the shareholder, bank account details, and also a Power of Attorney. The Power of Attorney is executed by share brokers on behalf of shareholders to debit the shares from the trading account of the respective shareholders.

The Securities and Exchanges Board of India or SEBI suggested doing away with executing the physical Power of Attorney, though it is a voluntary option for the shareholders. SEBI is otherwise suggested to enable the execution of share transfers through the online mode by enabling the facility of electronic delivery instruction slip or E-DIS slips. The online transfer of shares otherwise doesn't require the execution of a Physical POA. The same will ensure a seamless transition and hassle-free share transfer process through the online mode.

Varun Dambal,

Bangalore

Digital teaching

During the pandemic, students are confined to their homes. They are completely devoid of all physical activities. The only resource available to them is online gaming, social media gossips, etc. Radio and TV shows do not attract the newer generation. Listening to stories by parents and grandparents is old fashioned. Hence, limited time on teaching, learning is prone to more misuse of technology resulting in greater health hazards. Policymakers have failed to differentiate between ground reality and false idealism.

Chandan Kumar Nath,

Sorbhog.

The Flying Sikh

The legendary athlete 91-year-old Milkha Singh had contracted COVID-19 on May 19, and the shocking news of his death was received on June 19. The legendary athlete is a four-time Asian Games gold medalist and 1958 Commonwealth Games champion. But the 1956 and 1964 Olympics participant Milkha Singh's greatest performance remains when he lost the race of his life in the Rome Olympics, finishing the 400 meters final in 45.6 seconds, 0.1 seconds short of the bronze medal mark. Later, he conceded that looking back at the midway stage had cost him precious time, but 'YouTube' videos have shown that Milkha Singh never looked back. Mother India's one of the brightest jewel Milkha set his career record at 77 wins out of 80 races. Even that Milkha's life and career story is incomplete without Pakistan's Abdul Khaliq (to Milkha as his shadow), who was considered the fastest man in Asia at that time.

The life of Milkha Singh is not like the self-made 'chai-wala' story, but after witnessing a bloodbath that claimed his parents and three brothers during the partition, worked as a boot polish boy, a shop cleaner in the Delhi and in between, stole goods from trains to make ends meet, went to jail for those and failed three attempts at joining the Army. He joined the army in his fourth attempt in 1952. Milkha quit the Indian Army, and in 1961 he took up the job of deputy director of sports in the Punjab government and introduced a compulsory games period in schools and also set up sports wings in schools in the districts to tap talent at the grassroots level.

It's a pity that the Flying Sikh was such a great athlete but he failed to inspire any male athletes to date, who made a mark in competitive games or even in national meets. Whereas, another women legendary athlete PT Usha, inspired a whole crop of future female athletes in the form of Shiny Wilson, Ashwini Nachappa and KM Beenamol. It's heartbreaking to note that to India's sports lover's 'Dil Ka Ratna' not yet crowned with 'Bharat Ratna' (Who knows this is the election year of Punjab, hence Prime Minister Narendra Modi to please Punjab's voter posthumously crown him with India's top civilian award).

Even in Milkha's last lap of life, five days ago, his wife, Nirmal Kaur, a former Indian volleyball captain, had lost her battle with the virus at the same Mohali hospital where the legendary runner breathed his last. But Milkha was always grateful for whatever he achieved, rather than staying sullen over what he missed. That's how the legend behaves. They don't let their past haunt them towards their future. He taught his country how to take all that life threw at him, in what was his legendary stride. RIP...May his soul rest in peace, always was and will be an inspiration for generations to come.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,

Faridabad.

New flyover at Birubari

The construction of the new flyover at Birubari, connecting Nepali Mandir, Paltan Bazar to B Borooah Cancer Institute is in full progress. But it is creating trouble for the passersby as the road is originally not very broad and now because of the construction, the road is divided into two parts which are causing a lot of difficulty for the vehicles as well as walkers. Besides, there is a college and an institute on that road. If the COVID scenario becomes normal and the educational institutions are ordered to reopen, then it will cause great difficulty for the students. Moreover, the pavements of the road are not well developed. There are big holes which are very dangerous for small children and aged people. Also due to the rains, the road is very muddy which is a new problem is for the pedestrians. So through the columns of your esteemed daily, I would like to draw the kind attention of the PWD and the authorities concerned to look into the matter and make it convenient for the people.

Aranyani Borah,

Guwahati.

Time for introspection

One after another senior and popular Congress leaders are matching out from the party. Before the elections, Ajanta Neog and Dulu Ahmed resigned and post-election Rupjyoti Kurmi has quit the party. Congress is now left with some rudderless leaders whose only objective is to fulfil their personal goals and these people are the one who is a staunch supporter of the Nehru-Gandhi clan. When Congress confirmed the alliance with AIUDF many Congress leaders opposed vehemently but the leaders like Rakibul Hussain, Ripun Bora, Gaurav Gogoi and Pradyut Bordoloi projected a different picture to the high command. The high command is also of the same wavelength as most of the core committee members are blind followers of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. They didn't bother to talk with the grieving leaders. Ripun Bora was made a fool by Rakibul Hussain and Pradyut Bordoloi by saying that if Congress has an alliance with Badruddin Ajmal's party the entire minority votes would be transferred to them. It did happen but on the flip side, they lost the trust and confidence of the Asomiya people. Even in the APCC, the ones who can butter Gandhis are ruling the roost. If the present slide is unchecked the minority community soon will change the loyalty to the AIUDF. The Bengali-speaking Muslims from erstwhile East Pakistan and East Bengal are politically mature voters. They would never be the passengers of a sinking ship. If AIUDF becomes the alternative to BJP, AGP, UPPL then it will be the doomsday for Assam. Congress must stop lobbying for only minority votes and stand against the nefarious designs of Bangladesh origin Muslims. The question is: will they or do they have the numbers (bhumiputras)

within the party to counter the swelling influence of minority people?

Julie Bhuyan,

Gaurisagar.

Thanking a letter writer

Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I would like to offer profuse thanks to Mr Jayanta Topadar of Dhemaji for showcasing and elucidating some of the salient features that make 'The Sentinel' a sought-after, illuminating English daily disseminating news and views in a free, candid, and honest manner without compromising on the ethics of journalism. Mr Topadar's well-reasoned views in the letter titled 'A purposeful reading experience' dated 15th June is indeed an objective unbiased assessment on the English daily echoing the sentiment and feelings of most of the rational people of the state.

Personally, being a subscriber since 1987, I relish the wide coverage given by 'The Sentinel' on relevant issues and topics concerning the world with high-quality reading materials ranging from international politics, global financial decline, Corona pandemic, vaccination shortage, etc to vital local issues like threatening the demography of the state of Assam etc. Due importance of international sports, thought-provoking, editorials are indeed other worth mentioning features that distinguish this daily.

Letters to the editorial column, they say, reflect the quality of the readers, besides reflecting the thought process of the residents of the state. The Sentinel's letters to the editor column are rich with an abundance of quality write-ups. It is always fascinating to read the letters penned by Dr Ashim Choudhury, Prafulla Dowarah, Mr Deka from Rangiya and many more erudite writers.

I wish the best and greater success to The Sentinel.

Gautam Ganguly,

Guwahati.

APDCL's dilemma

Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I would like to address that the loss of state government's revenue has been accounted for almost 300 crore per month in the electricity and energy sector.

The big cement companies have especially received a lot of scrutinies recently as far the allegations have been made on the grounds of evasion of taxes and collection of GST.

As such the burden has to be faced by the general public while the APDCL faces a lot of uncertainty in its furthermore distribution and facilitating the services on a more adequate level.

APDCL also adds more to the dilemma of its contribution to the State's revenue and might be well on the road of the private sector rather than being a performing asset in the public sphere.

Jugyajyoti Sonowal,

Guwahati.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Israel and Palestine are located in the Middle East, the last part of Asia. The area is in the centre of many Muslim countries. From the beginning, the country in that region was Palestine although Jewish people have also been there they didn't have the concept of a country, a very less number of Jewish people were residing in that region. Israel is the only Jewish nation in the world that didn't officially exist until 1948. Both Jews and Muslims have strong religious and cultural ties to the region. After the First World War, Great Britain took control over modern-day Israel and Palestine. In 1922, the League of Nations approved the British thought of a national home for Jewish people in Palestine. In the Middle East where there was Palestine in 1948, through the UN partition England divided it into two countries; the Jews state of Israeli and the Arab state of Palestinians. Israel agreed to the partition but many Arab residents thought that this unfairly favours the Jewish population. Violence broke out from then onwards. The tension between Jews and Arab Muslims in the region would continue for decades. England during the Second World War formed the United Nations Organization. The UNO declared that according to the Balfour Declaration, Israel will be formed and then it was established on 14th May 1948. Then 48% of the area was given to Palestine and 44% to Israel and the capital Jerusalem with 8% of the area would neither be under Palestine nor Israel but would be under the control of the UNO, and when this was declared the Arab countries didn't agree. Israel fought and won wars with the six Arab countries, they won because they fought for their identity as they knew if they lose the war they're losing their existence in this world. The reason for which the UNO-captured Jerusalem is that it is the holy land of three religions. The Christian believes that Jesus was born in Bethlehem which is in Jerusalem, Jewish residing in Israel believes that their existence started from Jerusalem and the third holy place of Muslim, Al-Aqsa Mosque is in Jerusalem. After the division in 1948, Palestine had 48% of its area, between 1948 and 967 Palestine was left with 22% on which Israel started its domination and at last, Palestine left with only 12% till 2011.

Palestinians began protesting and rioting in Jerusalem over an anticipated decision of the Supreme Court of Israel regarding the eviction of Palestinian residents in Sheikh Jarrah, a neighbourhood of East Jerusalem. Long before 250 years ago, the Israeli bought land of Sheikh Jarrah at a very high price from the Arabs. As Israel has proper proof of those land so they claim it as there's and want it back so the Supreme Court declare that the place belongs to Israel. Therefore, more than 500 buildings built by Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah were ordered to break. So the main reason behind the conflict was Sheikh Jarrah. When Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah were forced to leave, a conflict took place in Al-Aqsa Masjid. Israel population is less than 1 crore in which 16-17 lakh were Muslims and those Muslims started to protest against Israel as the matter of Al-Aqsa became religious rather than being political. So Israel started facing inner conflict but being powerful with arms and weapons Israel always won wars, they knowingly start fights to take over the areas as every time they fought, the Palestinians were the ones who keep losing. Since the establishment of Israel in 1948, the State of Israel has fought eight recognized wars, two Palestinian intifadas, and a series of armed conflicts. Now leftover Palestine has two parts; Gaza Strip and Western bank. The Western Bank is supported by Arab states who protest peacefully in a democratic way but Gaza protest through missiles and rockets. West Bank has Sheikh Jarrah and Jerusalem with Arabs support but Gaza has Iran's support. The attacks that are happening are from Gaza Patti by Hamas. Hamas according to Israel is a terrorist organization in Gaza that protests against Israel and keep attacking with a rocket named Qassam. Israel has a missile defence system called Iron dome which could be used in defence against the rockets from Hamas. At first, the rockets from Hamas have led to destruction and killed 7 people. Israelis response to it killed 67 people, including children in Palestine. Israel is a country with a very less population but with high technology and development because of the government being internally strong. Israel is now in a position that no one can defeat them; the country has become self-dependent. Israel captured Palestine and now plans for greater Israel by capturing areas from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Turkey and Syria.

Sanjana Begum,

CSJMC, Dibrugarh University.

Father deserves acceptance as
a person

Painting is something that my four-year-old daughter enjoys doing. Due to the second wave of coronavirus, my city was put on lockdown for two months. As a result, she was unable to paint with watercolour. The marketplaces have now reopened once everything has returned to normal. I bought a packet of watercolours for my kid on my way home from work in the evening. I gave the girl some paint and blank papers and told her to create whatever she wanted.

She began drawing on her initiative. She created three distinct images. The images included a girl, a house, and ice cream. Yes, she is an ice cream fanatic. I spent an hour with my daughter during this time. I was thinking about how vital it is for a father to spend time with his kids. Children will remember the special moments spent with their father. This is a moment in life that will never be repeated.

The significance of a father in one's life cannot be overstated. A father must strike a balance between his professional and familial obligations. Every father's top priority is to provide better care and facilities for his children. In the midst of it all, a father who is also a guy feels alone or isolated. Men's lives are made more difficult and confusing by our male-dominated culture.

The majority of fathers strive to conceal their emotions and feelings. Even men find it difficult to cry openly and were often obliged to hold back their tears. Fathers' contributions to shaping lives are acknowledged by all successful sons and daughters. The image of a man as a strong person who must not make mistakes is shaped by his responsibilities to his family. A parent is considered irresponsible if he is unable to meet the requirements of his children.

These expectations make fathers appear to be guys with a lot of emotional turmoil, and they are unable to display the true men. To begin with, fathers are human beings with equal rights to live life on their terms and make mistakes unintentionally.

Father's Day is a day dedicated to honouring fathers and recognizing fatherhood, paternal bonds, and fathers' influence in society. It will be held on June 20 this year. We must accept fathers as individuals with broader viewpoints. They must live honestly, with no boundaries in terms of relationships or social ideas. This is a wonderful Father's Day present for all fathers.

Amit Singh Kushwaha,

Satna (M.P.)