Letters to the Editor: Heartiest congratulations to poet Nilamoni Phukan

It is a matter of great pride for us that the renowned Assamese poet and litterateur Nilamoni Phukan has been chosen for the nation's highest literary award, 'Jnanpith' for the year 2020 in recognition of his lifelong devotion to literature. Born at Dergaon, Golaghat, 1933, Phukan is known for his symbolic representation of the genre of Assamese poetry. He is also a notable art expert and conscious critic of tribal and folk art. Earlier in 1981, he received the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for his book 'Kavita', and in 1997 he received Assam Valley Literary Award. In 1990, he was bestowed upon the 'Padma Shri' by the Government of India. We offer our heartiest congratulations to him for his achievement.

Rupak G Duarah,

Rajahnagar, Guwahati-40

Tigers everywhere

The Indian test team has shed the pungent tag of 'Tigers at home but lambs aboard'. Whoever is following the Indian test team for the last 5-6 years must have noticed that India is a formidable test team in any condition. Every team has the notion that Indian batters have weakness in fast and bouncy pitches and also struggle in seam friendly conditions. As a result, each time the Indian test team tours SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) countries they are greeted with hostile pitches. But the team's performance over the last 5-6 years they have shown that the team has all the ingredients to overcome the hurdles put up by the host nations. The process started with Saurav Ganguly, carried on by MS Dhoni and now Virat Kohli is further extending the golden phase of Indian test cricket. It is two minutes of silence for those who are trolling Virat Kohli and his men.

The team registered two back-to-back test series win in Australia which is like running on burning coal. In England, India first tasted series victory in 1971 under Ajit Wadekar, with strong support from players like Bishen Singh Bedi, BS Chandrasekher, S Venkataraghavan, Dilip Sardesai, Gundappa Vishwanath and stylish Farooque Engineer. It was a 39-year wait since the cricket team attained test status. Again after 15 years of, hiatus the test team under legendary Kapil Dev in 1986 recorded 2-0 wins with sublime performances from Dilip Vengsarkar and Chetan Sharma. Then there was a big gap which was finally broken under the captaincy of Rahul Dravid in 2007 when the nation celebrated in unison for a 1-0 series win due to stunning performances from Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan. Before wins in England, India registered a series win against the then mighty West Indies on their soil but the success of series win had always eluded Team India

It was in 2018-19, under the dynamic and aggressive captaincy of Virat Kohli, India defeated Kangaroos on their home soil by a 2-1 margin. Again, in the second successive tour in 2020-21, team India registered a 2-1 series win and, in that series, the winning Indian team breached the Gabba fortress in the concluding test. Even in the last overseas tour of England Virat Kohli's side is leading the five-match series by 2-1 (final test to be played next year). Over this period, the test side is continuously maintaining its number one ranking position, though unfortunately, in Southampton they failed to clinch the maiden ICC Test championship title after being beaten by New Zealand. Even after the inglorious run in T20 World Cup a few months back the Indian test team is again on a winning mission by trouncing world champions New Zealand in India. Sadly, a few 'cricket pundits' are trying to dismiss the series win by saying it was achieved in 'under-prepared wickets. If Australia and South Africa prepare bouncy tracks for visitors or England and New Zealand prepare sethe aming wickets for touring side, these pitches are dubbed as 'sporting pitch by our 'cricket pundits' but when BCCI prepare spinner friendly pitches back home these same 'cricket pundits' dub them as 'sub-standard' pitches. It has been a tradition over the years that host nations prepare wickets conducive to the strengths of the home side. I would criticize BCCI for preparing spinning tracks for India's home series on that day when Australia or England or New Zealand or South Africa prepare spin-friendly tracks for India or any touring side. There are plenty of armchair cricket experts who are flooding the social media sites by trolling Virat Kohli and his men even after their win over New Zealand.

Pratuljyoti Buragohain,

Guwahati.

A different CM

Among the so many CMs belonging to different political parties who are always in the news due to some right or wrong reasons, there is one gentleman CM who is silently working for the betterment of its disciples from Odisha is Naveen Patnaik. This person is mostly found to be away from any media highlight, but is very much focussed on his job as CM and away from any controversies till now. His exemplary composure as a dignified person as CM should be a role model for the likes of Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Nitish Kumar, Uddhav Thackeray. Apart from running the state of Odisha smoothly, he is the flag bearer of Indian Hockey.

Certainly, Naveen Patnaik is head and shoulder above the rest and worthy son of great Biju Patnaik. I wish him all the best.

Dr Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Dangerous gameplan

Sometime back controversial comedian Munawar Faruqui made fun of Hindu deities Ram and Sita and also made jokes on the 59 Godhra victims who were burnt alive in a train by the radicals. That particular video went viral but the stubborn Munuwar Faruqui refused to seek an apology or air any clarifications. His fans, the secular liberals whitewashed his acts to use religious victim cards. The said comedian of course did not have the guts to crack the same kind of jokes on his religion and community. He must have been aware of the Charlie Hebdo incident in France. The fact is that people are not angry with Faruqui because of his religion but over his act. The supporters of Faruqui are also big fans of another comedian Zakir Naik because he too loves hurting the sentiments of people of other religions and making fun of dead victims.

Back in our state, a few 'communal comedians' have emerged who also give lectures on history based on their fact-finding. Dhing MLA Aminul Islam is one such kind of neo-historian who recently dared to speak on the history of Maa Kamakhya Temple. His audacity to state that Mughal Empire Aurangzeb donated land to Maa Kamakhya is worrisome. Just a few months back, another controversial politician Sherman Ali insulted the martyrs of Assam Agitation by labelling them as "mass murderers". Candidly speaking, both these people are of East Pakistan origin, and their respective parties are the biggest minority appeasers. To my astonishment, all the jatiya dol sangathans are keeping stoic silent. It is time the leaders of regional organizations came forward and launch a stir against people like Aminul Islam and all, after all, Maa Kamakhya Mandir is our faith, custom and pride. If we keep mum who knows by tomorrow another Aminul Islam would emerge who would try to distort the history of the Battle of Saraighat. In the meantime, the left secular brigade has created an imaginary character named Bagh Hazarika in the context of the Battle of Saraighat.

Julie Bhuyan,

Gaurisagar.Heartiest congratulations

to poet Nilamoni Phukan

It is a matter of great pride for us that the renowned Assamese poet and litterateur Nilamoni Phukan has been chosen for the nation's highest literary award, 'Jnanpith' for the year 2020 in recognition of his lifelong devotion to literature. Born at Dergaon, Golaghat, 1933, Phukan is known for his symbolic representation of the genre of Assamese poetry. He is also a notable art expert and conscious critic of tribal and folk art. Earlier in 1981, he received the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for his book 'Kavita', and in 1997 he received Assam Valley Literary Award. In 1990, he was bestowed upon the 'Padma Shri' by the Government of India. We offer our heartiest congratulations to him for his achievement.

Rupak G Duarah,

Rajahnagar, Guwahati-40

Tigers everywhere

The Indian test team has shed the pungent tag of 'Tigers at home but lambs aboard'. Whoever is following the Indian test team for the last 5-6 years must have noticed that India is a formidable test team in any condition. Every team has the notion that Indian batters have weakness in fast and bouncy pitches and also struggle in seam friendly conditions. As a result, each time the Indian test team tours SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) countries they are greeted with hostile pitches. But the team's performance over the last 5-6 years they have shown that the team has all the ingredients to overcome the hurdles put up by the host nations. The process started with Saurav Ganguly, carried on by MS Dhoni and now Virat Kohli is further extending the golden phase of Indian test cricket. It is two minutes of silence for those who are trolling Virat Kohli and his men.

The team registered two back-to-back test series win in Australia which is like running on burning coal. In England, India first tasted series victory in 1971 under Ajit Wadekar, with strong support from players like Bishen Singh Bedi, BS Chandrasekher, S Venkataraghavan, Dilip Sardesai, Gundappa Vishwanath and stylish Farooque Engineer. It was a 39-year wait since the cricket team attained test status. Again after 15 years of, hiatus the test team under legendary Kapil Dev in 1986 recorded 2-0 wins with sublime performances from Dilip Vengsarkar and Chetan Sharma. Then there was a big gap which was finally broken under the captaincy of Rahul Dravid in 2007 when the nation celebrated in unison for a 1-0 series win due to stunning performances from Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan. Before wins in England, India registered a series win against the then mighty West Indies on their soil but the success of series win had always eluded Team India

It was in 2018-19, under the dynamic and aggressive captaincy of Virat Kohli, India defeated Kangaroos on their home soil by a 2-1 margin. Again, in the second successive tour in 2020-21, team India registered a 2-1 series win and, in that series, the winning Indian team breached the Gabba fortress in the concluding test. Even in the last overseas tour of England Virat Kohli's side is leading the five-match series by 2-1 (final test to be played next year). Over this period, the test side is continuously maintaining its number one ranking position, though unfortunately, in Southampton they failed to clinch the maiden ICC Test championship title after being beaten by New Zealand. Even after the inglorious run in T20 World Cup a few months back the Indian test team is again on a winning mission by trouncing world champions New Zealand in India. Sadly, a few 'cricket pundits' are trying to dismiss the series win by saying it was achieved in 'under-prepared wickets. If Australia and South Africa prepare bouncy tracks for visitors or England and New Zealand prepare sethe aming wickets for touring side, these pitches are dubbed as 'sporting pitch by our 'cricket pundits' but when BCCI prepare spinner friendly pitches back home these same 'cricket pundits' dub them as 'sub-standard' pitches. It has been a tradition over the years that host nations prepare wickets conducive to the strengths of the home side. I would criticize BCCI for preparing spinning tracks for India's home series on that day when Australia or England or New Zealand or South Africa prepare spin-friendly tracks for India or any touring side. There are plenty of armchair cricket experts who are flooding the social media sites by trolling Virat Kohli and his men even after their win over New Zealand.

Pratuljyoti Buragohain,

Guwahati.

A different CM

Among the so many CMs belonging to different political parties who are always in the news due to some right or wrong reasons, there is one gentleman CM who is silently working for the betterment of its disciples from Odisha is Naveen Patnaik. This person is mostly found to be away from any media highlight, but is very much focussed on his job as CM and away from any controversies till now. His exemplary composure as a dignified person as CM should be a role model for the likes of Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Nitish Kumar, Uddhav Thackeray. Apart from running the state of Odisha smoothly, he is the flag bearer of Indian Hockey.

Certainly, Naveen Patnaik is head and shoulder above the rest and worthy son of great Biju Patnaik. I wish him all the best.

Dr Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Dangerous gameplan

Sometime back controversial comedian Munawar Faruqui made fun of Hindu deities Ram and Sita and also made jokes on the 59 Godhra victims who were burnt alive in a train by the radicals. That particular video went viral but the stubborn Munuwar Faruqui refused to seek an apology or air any clarifications. His fans, the secular liberals whitewashed his acts to use religious victim cards. The said comedian of course did not have the guts to crack the same kind of jokes on his religion and community. He must have been aware of the Charlie Hebdo incident in France. The fact is that people are not angry with Faruqui because of his religion but over his act. The supporters of Faruqui are also big fans of another comedian Zakir Naik because he too loves hurting the sentiments of people of other religions and making fun of dead victims.

Back in our state, a few 'communal comedians' have emerged who also give lectures on history based on their fact-finding. Dhing MLA Aminul Islam is one such kind of neo-historian who recently dared to speak on the history of Maa Kamakhya Temple. His audacity to state that Mughal Empire Aurangzeb donated land to Maa Kamakhya is worrisome. Just a few months back, another controversial politician Sherman Ali insulted the martyrs of Assam Agitation by labelling them as "mass murderers". Candidly speaking, both these people are of East Pakistan origin, and their respective parties are the biggest minority appeasers. To my astonishment, all the jatiya dol sangathans are keeping stoic silent. It is time the leaders of regional organizations came forward and launch a stir against people like Aminul Islam and all, after all, Maa Kamakhya Mandir is our faith, custom and pride. If we keep mum who knows by tomorrow another Aminul Islam would emerge who would try to distort the history of the Battle of Saraighat. In the meantime, the left secular brigade has created an imaginary character named Bagh Hazarika in the context of the Battle of Saraighat.

Julie Bhuyan,

Gaurisagar.

Overambitious Mamata Banerjee

Merciless Mamata Banerjee, also fondly known as DIDI is no doubt the undisputed political leader of West Bengal. Her recent triumph in Assembly election in the state of West Bengal has propelled her to be chief of opposition alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Seeing her propulsion into the national politics Mamata Banerjee has become overambitious. From West Bengal's state politics, she is now trying to form a united front against ruling BJP-led NDA, minus the Congress at the Centre. In this process, she has already started visiting non-BJP ruled states like Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan etc., in recent time. She minces no words to attack her bête noire Narendra Modi in any issue fair or foul. For her information I want to remind her that an exact similar type of attempt was made by one Chandra Babu Naidu, ex-CM of Andhra Pradesh, (son in law of Lt. NT Rama Rao) the then blue-eyed boy of the oppositions to topple the then government with the support of the opposition, which later on came down crashing into the ground. In present date Chandra Babu Naidu is a non-entity in state as well as nation's politics, in simple words he has become history. To be ambitious is good, but to be over ambitious it can boomerang badly.

I wish DIDI all the best.

Lanu Dutt Chowdhury,

Ambari, Guwahati

Nagaland incident: Look at another side also

Why did the soldiers have to open fire in the Nagaland incident? Without a thought, only the jawans are being targeted. When looking at what has happened, it is important to think not only on one side but also on the other. Otherwise, the direction of the investigation may go astray. Innocent victims are tragic. The security forces have to face a very difficult situation while guarding the country's borders. Sometimes things get in their way. Both soldiers and dead civilians are ours. So how is this delicate matter being investigated?

The vehicle did not stop despite being notified by the security forces. What should the soldiers have done about it? Nobody says that. The jawans stood directly in the accused's cage. The security forces have a privilege in that area. It would be wrong to say that no one knows. The demand for revocation of AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Protection Act) is gaining momentum. From that, it was underlined. If the vehicle had been stopped as per the instructions of the jawans, the next incident would not have happened. It is important to maintain the privilege of protecting the country and the soldiers. Was the information about the insurgents true? It is the true origin.

The insurgents will keep a close watch on the current incident. Do the roots of the Nagaland incident go to them? This should be taken into consideration.

Er Jayesh Rane,

Mumbai