Letters to the Editor: Keep faith personal and society secular

Keep faith personal and society secular

Religion, when practiced sincerely and privately, enriches individual lives and promotes values like compassion and humility. However, the increasing public exhibition and politicisation of religion threaten the fabric of our diverse society. In a country like India, where multiple faiths coexist, excessive religious proactivity often leads to division rather than unity. Faith should guide personal growth, not be wielded as a political tool or a marker of superiority. Upholding secularism in public life is essential to ensure equal respect for all religions and to preserve harmony. Let us honour our Constitution by making religion a matter of personal belief, not public competition.

Mowsam Hazarika

Kumarpara, Guwahati

Mou Bihu

Recently, a song, Mou Bihu, has garnered all the attention because it has maligned the image of our dear festival, the lifeline of the Assamese community, Bihu. The maker of the song is trying hard to establish that creative freedom allows one to tweak ideas to showcase a different angle, but she has to understand that creative freedom does not allow one to be distasteful, especially with one's culture. No one has given the maker of the song or anyone the reins of our culture so that they can drag our culture through filthy landscapes. I would like the Chief Minister of Assam and the Department of Culture to take necessary action and request the deletion of the video from YouTube, since we do not want the world to have a wrong impression of our dear festival.

Noopur Baruah,

Tezpur

Dastardly and cowardly

Indian forces in the Kashmir Valley have tasted a great deal of success over the years. Both homespun militancy and the external terrorism appeared to be on the wane. The much-acclaimed "Operation Jackboot", conceptualised by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, had claimed its scalps in quick succession in the valley. Elimination of dreaded terrorists: Lashkar-e-Taiba's Burhan Wani, Abu Dujana, Hizb-ul-Mujahiddin's Sabzar Bhat, former Hizbul commander Zakir Musa, South Kashmir Lashkar Commander and the mastermind of the 2017 Amarnath Yatra attack, Abu Ismail, and the dreaded Hizbul militant Riyaz Naikoo had dumbfounded the local terror groups and their Pakistani handlers.

And, of course, abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A had infused comfort and confidence into peace-loving locals and tourists who throng the valley all year. Therefore, the deadly terror strike that targeted tourists in the picturesque meadows of Baisaran near Pahalgam has numbed the people of the state and the country. As Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah put it, the savage attack was "beyond belief". It is amply clear that the devilish and sick Pakistani-based terror minds operating across the LoC were shocked by the peace that was prevalent across the valley. Tourism footfall was at its peak, and locals were reaping rich dividends through the profitable tourism and hospitality industry. How will the Centre react to the tense situation ?

Dr Ganapathi  Bhat

(gbhat13@gmail.com)

Taking a lead in planting trees

BCCI has taken a great move in planting trees, fulfilling the dream of late President Dr Abdul Kalam in planting trees all over India. In the IPL every dot ball during the entire IPL 18 period, 500 trees are planted, and that is a great initiative taking place for quite some time. Every dot ball plants the seeds of a greener, healthier planet. As part of the joint initiative between the BCCI and Tata Group, trees are planted across the country for every dot ball bowled at the TATA IPL and the TATA WPL. A great initiative. However, we see forests disappearing to make way for concrete jungles at the initiative of the governments. It’s so disheartening and painful to see green forests being converted to barren land overnight, putting all the efforts of people who care and plant trees to waste and being destroyed.

Jayanthy Subramaniam

(jayantck1@hotmail.com)

Guwahati flooding: Our own creation

At a time when Assam and other states in the Northeast region are on the cusp of a new infrastructure and industrial development, Guwahati, the gateway to the region, is grappling with urban floods. Every year, during rainy days, Guwahati reels under water, with some foothill areas facing landslide hazards. Many low-lying areas of the city bear the brunt of artificial flooding. These are recurring events, coming to the news every rainy season, causing untold misery to the people with heavy damage to property and often loss of life. It is a great source of mental agony to the city dwellers in the affected areas brought in by the uncertainties, with no solution coming in even after decades of various high-level initiatives, which present a negative image of inefficiency of city administration and poor awareness among residents. The most timely editorial, 'The cost of tampering with Guwahati's natural topography', published in your esteemed daily on April 23, has rightly highlighted Guwahati's landscape of isolated hills interspersed with narrow valleys and a number of wetlands. Subsequently, the availability of plain land is limited to cater to the needs of a burgeoning population, resulting in the obvious settlement expansion uphill. Over the years the city's hillslopes have lost their natural stability from these settlements, besides losing the green safety cover that inhibits percolation of water into the loose soil, triggering slope failure with the consequences of pulverisation and soil mass generation, which moves down the slope with the surface runoff. Following even a moderate amount of rainfall, there is quick filling of the natural drainage and sewerage system, and the resulting spillover inundates their adjoining areas. It is therefore apparent that the issues of landslides, flash floods and shrinking wetlands in Guwahati vis-à-vis changing land use patterns are all interlinked. Therefore, any attempt to destroy the natural topography of the city's wetlands to convert low-lying areas into residential colonies needs to be checked with an iron hand. The authority's imposition of a heavy penalty on people dumping plastic waste and garbage into Bharalu and other wetlands is praiseworthy, and it needs to be pursued in a sustained manner. The city urgently needs a lasting flood-free solution involving a multi-pronged approach, which can be a combination of structural and non-structural measures without harming the topography of Guwahati.

Iqbal Saikia,

Guwahati.