Letters to the Editor: Cheap publicity

Since independence of India followed by partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, we have been passing through a difficult situation owing to communal violence throughout this sub-continent. Partition was made on the basis of religion, but unfortunately, India remained under secular fabrication, resulting in the perennial problem of communal disharmony. Enough has been done for communal harmony in India, but the majority of the Indian Muslims seems to be more or less supporting Pakistan, Bangladesh and other Islamic countries. Issues like wearing of Hijabs by Muslim women in educational institutions are nothing but a conspiracy to disturb communal harmony in India. Perhaps the day is not far away when the Indian Muslims will demand more Independent territories inside India like Kashmir, as their population growth is rising in geometric progression. Hence, it is perhaps high time to declare India as a Hindu country, banning all Muslim fundamentalist activities inside India.

Pradip Ranjan Kar,

Guwahati - 781 005.

Demand for open space

Of late it is observed with alarm that Indian Railways has started leasing out its unused lands to some private agencies at throw-away price for a hundred years without the knowledge of the respective State Government. Very unfortunately, the very same leasing out process has also started in Guwahati, the prime city of Assam. It is reported that 58 bighas of lands in prime locations of the city, namely

Ambari and Paltan Bazar, are already leased out to a private firm without the State Government's knowledge which is very disturbing to the citizens of the city. The 18 bighas of lands near Lakhinath Bezbarua Rotary point in Ambari should be immediately handed over to the State Government. That plot of land can be converted to park named after the likes of Lachit Barphukan or Lakhsminath Bezbarua. The nearby socio-cultural institutions like New Art Players, Suryja Club will add extra charm to the said park.

I, being a senior citizen of Ambari, do strongly believe that our people-friendly Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will not fail us as he knows very well that the city needs more open spaces for fresh air for us to breathe, rather than some high-rise concrete building. Waiting in anticipation.

Dr Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Black January

The Kashmir Files movie has stirred up a hornets' nest. The movie relates the horrifying account of the organized massacre of Kashmiri Hindu Pandits and their mass exodus from the valley in the 1990s. The major incident of massacre of Pandits took place on January 19, 1990. The Kashmiri Pandits were the planned target of the Islamic militants from an earlier date to drive away Hindus from the valley. Hence there were targeted killings. BJP leader Tikka Lal Taploo was murdered in 1989 and in the same year, retired session judge Neel Kanth Ganju, who had sentenced terrorist Maqbul Butt to death, was shot dead. This was followed by the murder of Doordarshan Director Lassa Kaul. The radicalization of Muslim youths and militancy was by then deeply rooted in the valley soil and the then alliance State Government of Congress and National Conference led by Farooq Abdullah (being an outcome of rigged polls) was totally responsible for its dire culmination in a genocide that took place on the black day of January 19, 1990. The actual number of fatalities and exodus of hapless Pandits runs into thousands and lakhs, respectively.

After the release of the movie, the Congress and its peer group are dismissive of the contents and trivialized the genocide, rape and murder of women and exodus of Pandits from their home and hearth by saying that even the Muslims were killed; and that the film will disturb communal harmony. This is an utter lie. What was perpetrated on the Kashmiri Pandits was a planned genocide by militants with the collaboration of Kashmiri Muslims. The Congress cannot disown its responsibility for the rise of Islamic militancy in the valley as it remained indifferent to fast deterioration of internal situation sans serious action plan. The Congress has, therefore, earned the sobriquet of an only Islamist political party in India. The film should be credited to have uncovered the hidden history and exposed 32-year-old lie of the secular cabal.

There is no gainsaying the fact that it was the tragic outcome of mishandling the Kashmir issue from the very beginning by the Congress-led Governments at the Centre, as Pandit Nehru believed that Pakistan would provide a buffer state on the western border against foreign invasions. But, on the contrary, Pakistan became the terror centre and sponsor of Islamic militants to India, for which the country is paying heavy price even today. In the fitness of things, the Centre should institute a judicial commission to enquire into the mass slaughter to identify the culprits and prosecute them in the courts of law.

Pannalal Dey,

Guwahati.

The world of letters

As a mode of writing that sits ambiguously between public and private worlds, letters offer an enticing glimpse into other people's thoughts and feelings. Letters to editors of newspapers can be instrumental suggestions for social change, provided they are actually read by people in power. Letters as a form of literature is comparatively new, but looking at its hunched existence now with the coming in of social media, the future of letter writing is bleak. But there are newspapers which are trying their bit to keep this tradition alive by awarding the best letter of the week with five hundred rupees. This writer has won it twice. I think other newspapers are also able enough to arrange for such an award, so that the tradition of letter writing is not lost in the sands of time. There are also many newspapers which do not have a section for letters, which is disappointing, I hope they make space for it, if this letter reaches them.

Noopur Baruah,

Tezpur.

Recruitment for permanent residents of Assam

The new gazette notification for grade III and IV posts was published recently and it is a welcome step that a centralized examination will be held for all grade III and IV posts except few departments like DHS, Forest and Environment, SLPRB etc.

But in page 18, it can be seen that there are instances where a candidate can loose his/her eligibility if some of the conditions are not met. But surprisingly, the need to be a 'permanent resident of Assam or registered in the employment exchange of Assam or both' is not mentioned.

With around 30 lakhs unemployed youths in Assam and also a large number of jobs in private sector being filled by migrants due to absence of any reservation, like 75% reservation for locals in Haryana, which was also upheld by the SC; the chronic problem of unemployment will remain unsolved as without strict measures like PRC, employment registeration and strict scrutiny, a large of youths of other states will fill up the government jobs too.

As seen in neighbouring states like Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh and also in Railways, migrant candidates often put proxy personnel in their place and move to their native state after few years. Thus, the unemployment problem remains.

Necessary curbs of PRC and mandatory Employment Exchange registration should be put in place. Also, as Grade I and II posts cannot have state reservation unless done by Parliament (Article 16(3), so a necessary condition like 'qualifying Language paper' is mandatory in the current scenario as a large number of candidates from other states who can't even understand Assamese language at all are seen appearing for APSC CCE (Mains), 2020 in almost all examination centres. So the provision of a qualifying language paper as in other states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Punjab and Gujarat is necessary.

Robin Bora

borarobin20@gmail.com

Kudos to Lakshya Sen

The 20-year-old Lakshya Sen's dream run at the All England Championships did not have a fairy-tale finish as the Indian suffered a straight-games 10-21, 15-21 loss to world No.1 and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen. Interestingly, Axelsen had headed into Sunday's final at the world oldest badminton tournament on the back of a defeat to Lakshya at the German Open earlier this month, but he avenged the defeat with a spotless display in the final. The newly-crowned champion of badminton's Wimbledon heaped praise on Lakshya Sen, saying that the young Indian shutter is an "amazing talent" and he will only grow from here. Why not? After the world championship bronze medal last year, Lakshya had begun the new season with his maiden Super 500 title at the Indian Open. He had beaten Olympic champion Axelsen (German Open), Olympic bronze medallist Anthony Ginting (All England), world champion Loh Kean Yew (Indian Open), world bronze medallist Anders Antonsen (All England) and last year's winner Lee (All England). It is not about winning always (Sen had become only the fifth Indian after Prakash Nath in 1947, Prakash Padukone in1980 & 1981, Pullela Gopichand in 2001 and Saina Nehwal in 2015 to reach the final of the prestigious tournament). Even winning second place in the high-profile tournament is a great achievement. Remember, Prakash Padukone was 25 when he won the All England, Pullela Gopichand 27, so Sen at 20+ will believe his time will come. I am sure his Lakshya (goal) in the next Swiss Open and Korea Open will be fulfilled. Lakshya, you are the inspiration for the coming generation, so keep it up. The whole badminton world will follow you. The day is not too far when you are the champion of champions. You have made India proud with your achievements and will continue to do so. Once again, Kudos to Lakshya!

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,

Faridabad – 121005