Letters to the Editor: CBI toothless?

We understand that CBI is the supreme autonomous investigating agency of the nation which usually pursues and solve the crimes of the highest degree committed in the nation when the respective state crime investigating authorities fail and seek help. But very surprisingly at present, it seems as if CBI's jurisdiction is very limited in states like West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan etc all under a non-BJP government who openly refuse to cooperate with CBI to in their investigation procedure. This is very alarming. Honourable Supreme court inaction in this regard is also very questionable as we have seen in many cases the local investigating authority finds it difficult to pursue the cases because of political interference like in West Bengal and Maharashtra when the big guns are involved in numerous scandals and forgery. I being a citizen of the nation fail to understand why the CBI has to seek permission from the concerned state government to conduct their investigating procedures.

Is CBI toothless?

Dr. Ashim chowdhury.

Guwahati.

Two memorable speeches

It was a bright sunny early spring February morning in 1959. I can't remember the exact date. Then I as a student of Sibsagar College had been lucky enough to hear the inaugural speech of Dr Sarvapally Radhakrishnan, the then Vice President of India on the occasion of the inaugural function of Hironya Prabha Memorial Library building of Sibsagar College. It was such a scholarly and illuminating speech covering the entire gamut of the evolution of civilization with profuse illustration from, and reference to history, philosophy, ancient education system and contemporary issues to highlight the relevance of education in resolving the challenges facing mankind with his usual oratorical power that everyone among the audience heard his speech spell-bound.

Since then much water has flowed down the river Dikhow. Then on November 6, 2021, i.e. sixty-two years after I had the opportunity of hearing the inaugural speech of Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Bishwa Sarma on the occasion of the Platinum Jubilee celebration of Sibsagar College. I heard his speech earlier but his speech on this occasion was extraordinarily different from his general speeches. Hearing his speech on this occasion I felt that November 6, 2021, was no different from that of the February day about 62 years earlier.

From every sentence of Dr Sarma's speech dropped sparkling gems of wise advice to address the current ills of our social and academic domains. In emphasizing the role of knowledge he said human quest after knowledge had been at the root of foundations of various civilizations like Greek civilization, Roman civilization and our Sanatan civilization. He said that as the body is useless without the soul so is education without soul. Explaining the soul of education he said that it inspires and motivates us from within us to attain excellence in life.

His ringing words that that soul-less education can't benefit human society and education with a soul can alone facilitate the creation of human assets in the true sense of the term has a great message to the teaching community.

Referring to the failure of our students to crack various competitive examinations he said our objective is noble but it is time to identify the points where our pursuits after academic excellence derailed from the trajectory of our objectives and unless and until it is done we will never succeed in addressing our academic fault-lines.

His entire speech eloquently revealed his versatility, depth of knowledge and grasp over contemporary situations. His oratorical power was enriched by his profuse illustrations and references to our ancient scriptures, Vedas, Vedantas and epics the Mahabharata and the Ramayana had a flavour of the speeches of the great British orator and parliamentarian Edmund Burke.

His speech quite befitting a higher educational institution made me feel that we have a philosopher Chief Minister echoing the spirit of the concept of 'philosopher king' of the Greek philosopher Plato. Whoever missed this speech of Dr Sarma has missed a great moment in life.

Jyoti Prasad Chaliha

Near Journalist Colony

Janakakpur

Kahilipara Guwahati 19

Social harmony

is important

There is tension in some districts of Maharashtra over the alleged communal riots in Tripura. Spreading unrest in the society by raising issues like allegedly hurting religious sentiments, as well as saying that injustice is always happening with one community only. In such cases, vandalism of public property, arson in shops, pelting of stones, use of weapons etc., are rampant. Chaos creates an atmosphere of fear in society. There is no point in inventing your anger on each other. What you are angry about? There should be a positive interaction with him. Efforts should be made for this. If this is done then the caste-religion-cult conflicts in India can be controlled. But no interest is shown in communicating.

Society will never tolerate any misdeed that disturbs social peace. Society on the other hand likes those who work hard for social peace and ethnic harmony. When chaos is created on any subject and those who are hurt by it have the same question, what is our fault in this? Why do they step on the belly of another by adopting a crooked path without accepting the path of democracy for protest? People have to work hard to make up for the loss. Jobs in Lockdown - Business conditions were very fragile. This Diwali, crowds of people flocked to all the markets of the country for shopping. On the occasion of this festival, all the shopkeepers, big and small, got financial relief. Now that the situation has returned to normal, shops have to close due to chaos. This is especially worrisome for the business community. An incident will not affect another district or state. Be careful about this. This is what happens in India. How can peace be maintained elsewhere by taking timely measures? It must be seen. Chaos is not the solution to any problem. This creates social division.

Jayesh Rane,

Mumbai

My heart bled

On 14th November morning, while going through your esteemed daily, my heart bled when I saw a beautiful kid along with his father all smiling who were killed by militants in an ambush in Churachandpur district of Manipur, close to the Indo-Myanmar border. Initially, I thought that the picture was taken after the kid had achieved a feat but what I learnt after going through the details simply bled my heart profusely. The kid along with his father and mother was killed by some insurgent outfits.

May I ask the so-called insurgents, the liberators of common people responsible for that macabre and cowardly killing one very simple question, 'WHAT HAVE THEY ACHIEVED BY KILLING AN INNOCENT KID ALONG WITH HIS PARENT?"

My heart is still bleeding profusely. Om Shanti Om Shanti!

Lanu Dutt Chowdhury,

Guwahati