Letters to The EDITOR: Repeat of Pearl Harbour

Repeat of Pearl Harbour

Pearl Harbour was once a big naval base for the USA in their Far East zone. The Japanese launched a sudden aerial attack on Pearl Harbour, forcing the USA to declare war against Japan, the result of which is history now. The 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers in New York by Al-Qaida is still fresh in our minds, along with the 26/11 Mumbai and December 13, 2001 Parliament attacks by Islamic terrorists. On October 7, 2023, the Hamas, the dreaded Islamic terrorist group based in Palestine, launched a sudden and brutal attack on Israel from air, land, and sea, causing a mayhem unseen in recent history. On seeing the ghastly sight of the barbarism committed by the Hamas upon innocent civilians, the whole world is shell-shocked, barring a few nations like Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon, North Korea, and China. We vividly remember Heinrich Himmler, the Gestapo chief during WW2, who tried to wipe out the entire Jewish community with his Final Solution theory, which is one of the darkest chapters of civilized human history. In the meantime, India too has officially condemned the barbaric act of the Hamas. Sadly, our secular opposition, the Congress in particular, thinks otherwise because of its appeasement policy. Are they sleeper cells of Hamas in India?

Lanu Dutt Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

‘High voltage match but low voltage game’

At the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad, in front of more than one lakh fans, India put up a comprehensive performance to beat Pakistan by seven wickets in the ODI World Cup match on Saturday. No doubt, an India-Pakistan cricket match is always considered a high-voltage match since the sour history of the two countries makes the game more exciting and the players more driven. The crowd enthusiasm, expectation, and hype around it make any India-Pakistan cricket match always thrilling and enjoyable. But last Saturday’s match was not an exciting game for the fans. Millions of people were glued to their TV sets to watch the thrilling action between arch rivals India and Pakistan.

The score below 200 runs by Pakistan made the game an utterly one-sided match for India, and the men in blue easily cruised to a seven wicket victory. In other group matches of the current World Cup, some teams like South Africa, Australia, Sri Lanka, etc. easily scored above 300 runs and made the games enjoyable. But surprisingly, the Pakistan team failed to cross the limit of at least 200 runs, losing 8 wickets for just 36 runs in 13 overs in a shocking batting implosion, and no batter was able to hit a six or over boundary. Though the match was considered high-voltage, for which more than ten thousand security personnel were deployed in the stadium, it turned out to be a one-sided, low voltage game. Fans and viewers did not get to experience the real thrill, action, or excitement from the match as expected.

Rupak G. Duarah,

Rajahnagar, Guwahati