Letters to THE EDITOR: Kashmir's Predicament

Kashmir's Predicament

Pakistan is crossing all ethical limits as it tries to destabilize India. While the Indian border is manned by the BSF supported by the Army, Pakistan has incessantly volleyed fire, mortars and rocket launchers killing not only our jawans but also some innocent citizens living in the vicinity of the border. What is more, the agreement of ceasefire during the sacred month of Ramzaan was also violated by the forces/terrorists of Pakistan in a brazen way. The problem encountered by our Army personnel and police is that the terrorists easily get mingled with certain pro-Pakistan citizens who abet in killing certain reputed persons apart from attacking our BSF's/CRPF's/Army's camps taking them by surprise and killing some of them brutally. The killing of Sujaat Bukhari, a 49-year-old editor of an English daily, with his two bodyguards is a case in point.

But how long will the killing spree continue? Whenever our troops retaliate killing some terrorists along with some of their accomplices, most of the Kashmiris raise hue and cry and the electronic media of Pakistan are out there to fabricate the issue by trying to project it as an international one. It is an open secret that Pakistan harbours deadly terrorists like Hafeez Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim and myriad others with the sole objective to destabilize India. A report published in the print and electronic media suggests that Pakistan's economy is at an abysmal low and that the value of a dollar has reached almost 122 of Pakistan's rupees. This deplorable economy is not enough to teach Pakistan a lesson. It is time for peace, not confrontation. Another report in the media says that the first ever report released by the UN on Kashmir alleged human rights violations in Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, to which India strongly protested stating that the report violated India's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Let us wait and watch as to what the outcome would be.

Ashok Bordoloi,

Dibrugarh.

Independent Living

In response to the news item titled "77% men disrespect parents" dated June 17, 2018, we can perhaps say that the problem lies in the way the Indian society is structured. In India, all children are dependent on their parents during the first half of their lives - till they get jobs or become independent. During the next half of the life cycle, these children become independent and their parents become dependent on them.

The western society has a different set-up. During childhood, children are only partially dependent on their parents; they earn their own pocket money by working or doing petty jobs. This is quite unacceptable in the Indian society. It is the responsibility of parents to support their children till they get jobs, or they always remain with their parents with their eyes set on their parental properties. Whereas, in the western society, when a person becomes independent, he/she starts living separately from his/her parents and they visit their parents occasionally. Parents, therefore, are never dependent on their children there.

Therefore, at least to minimize parental abuse, our society too should follow the western way of parent-child relationship where no one is dependent on the other. At least, children should be made as independent as possible and as quickly as possible.

Dayal S. Sandhu,

Jayanagar, Guwahati-22.

Nab the Fakes

This refers to the report of some college teachers faking their PhD degrees in Assam. It is a matter of serious concern that Assam, apart from a whole range of issues, is also faced with another problem - that of teachers in colleges with fake PhD degrees which enables them to get promotion and higher pay scales. This is at the cost of educating students as expected from teachers who are with real PhD degrees earned by virtue of their hard research work.

Here is a request to the Assam Education Minister to go into the core of the issue and bring to book all those teachers who have faked their doctorate degrees at the huge cost of higher education. The issue merits top attention because Assam is in dire need of quality higher education and fake PhD holders in the faculties of our colleges are inflicting deep wounds on the cause of quality higher education.

Moon Saikia,

Jorhat.