Letters to The EDITOR: Public facility gone to waste

sentinelgroup@gmail.com

Public facility gone to waste

Right at the heart of Amingaon, near the PWD Inspection Bungalow, there is an AC passenger waiting hall built for the comfort of people. It has spacious seating, central AC, and separate toilets for men and women. The idea was simple — anyone waiting for a bus or needing rest could use it. But today, this hall tells a sad story. The smell inside is so bad that most people cannot stay even for a minute. The steel chairs are broken and bent, not because of age, but because people have damaged them. The toilets are in a filthy condition, with stains from pan masala and betel nut all over the walls. People have thrown garbage around despite having dustbins.

The government gave us a good facility, but instead of using it properly, we have destroyed it with our careless behaviour. This is not just damage to a building — it is damage to something that belongs to all of us. I strongly request the government and district administration to repair the hall and post security guards to stop further damage. But beyond that, we, the people, need to change our habits. Public property is our property. If we don’t respect it, we will lose such facilities forever. The blame will then be on us, not the government.

Sanjeeb Deka

Gauhati University

SC and Stray Dogs

The Supreme Court’s order to remove stray dogs from the streets of Delhi-NCR has caused strong reactions across the country. On the other side, the increase of dog attack cases and transmission of rabies has made it certain that public safety cannot be taken lightly anymore. Streets need to be safe for school-going children walking to school, for senior citizens out for their evening walks, and for all those who use public spaces without fear.

But while we agree something must be done. I believe it must be done sensibly and humanely. Stray dogs are living beings who did not themselves decide to call the streets home, and they are most often victims of abandonment, neglect, and unsuccessful spay/neuter programmes. To take them off the streets does not necessarily have to involve condemning them to crowded shelters or worse, death. Instead, it should involve creating safe, well-run shelters with great food, medical attention, and adoption programmes to give them a second chance at a better life.

This is an opportunity for leadership by the powers that be to fulfil two urgent demands simultaneously: to protect the public and protect the animals. Enforcement of the court order should therefore be driven by compassion, openness, and accountability. Only then can we ensure that the streets are safer for human beings and the dogs are accorded the dignity every life possesses.

Pragyan Rajmohan,

Charaideo.

Shoot at Sight

With the increase in the activities of criminal activities, like cattle lifting, dacoity, murder, rape, drug smuggling, and illegal trespassing of people to India through the unfenced Indo-Bangladesh border, the Indian people living in the border areas are passing sleepless nights. Our BSF jawans are no doubt patrolling these areas with utmost restraint, which is taken as a weakness by the Bangladeshi criminals and emboldens them to commit the above-mentioned crimes at will.

Hence, a Shoot at Sight order should be issued to our BSF jawans at any illegal intruder trying to cross the border. This will send a strong message to the Bangladeshi criminals across the border that if they try to commit any mischief, they will face the bullets of our frontier guards. The message will be loud and clear.

Dr. Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

All roads lead to North Guwahati

The convergence of multiple major institutions in a single area often leads to congestion—both infrastructural and developmental. This analogy seems increasingly relevant to the current planning approach in Assam.

We are pleased that the Government of India has recently sanctioned an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) for Assam, a welcome step towards strengthening the state's higher education landscape. However, it is disheartening to learn that the proposed location for the IIM is Palasbari, near North Guwahati.

North Guwahati is already home to prestigious institutions like IIT-Guwahati and the upcoming AIIMS. Moreover, there are plans to shift the Gauhati High Court to this area. Concentrating so many key institutions in one region risks overburdening the local infrastructure and ignores the broader developmental needs of the state.

Why not establish the new IIM in other deserving regions such as Dibrugarh, Jorhat, or Sivasagar—places that are equally rich in history, resources, and potential? Distributing premier institutions across various districts would not only ease the pressure on a single region but also promote balanced and inclusive growth throughout Assam. For true all-round development, decentralization is essential. Strategic planning must take into account the long-term benefits of equitable regional development, rather than convenience or centralization alone.

Prafulla Dowarah,

Guwahati

Quit India Movement - Beginning of Independence

Whatever was said and done by Gandhi really helped India to attain independence from British rule finally. 1930 - The Dandi March to the 1942 Quit Movement Gandhi was all the way dictating terms to the English. Mahatma Gandhi did us proud by getting us freedom from British rule, and we enjoy the freedom of an Independent India, thanks to the efforts of the Father of the Nation and other illustrious leaders, who took an active part in the freedom movement.The struggle, the trials, tribulations and sufferings undertaken by them gave us the much-needed impetus to go all alone and achieve our goals. On this day 80 years ago—on August 9, 1942—the people of India launched the decisive final phase of the struggle for independence. It was a mass upsurge against colonial rule on a scale not seen earlier, and it sent out the unmistakable message that the sun was about to set on the British Empire in India. Mahatma Gandhi, who had told the Raj to “Quit India” on the previous day (August 8), was already in jail along with the entire Congress leadership, so when August 9 dawned, the people were on their own—out on the street, driven by the Mahatma’s call of the do-or-die movement, which proved to be a catalyst in the endgame.

Jayanthy Subramaniam

(jayantck1@hotmail.com)

Mahatma Gandhi as a Cricketer

Whatever was said and done by Gandhiji really helped India to attain independence from British rule finally. 1930 - The Dandi March to the 1942 Quit Movement: Gandhiji was dictating terms to the English. However, he was a member of the MCC side touring India. Mahatma Gandhi, when requested for an autograph, "played with a straight bat", quite forgetting that he was engaged in a mighty and bloodless revolution with the British – and thereby became a member of an official England team. How he was chosen could probably not have been explained even by the MCC selectors. Requesting for his autograph, Gandhiji turned over the pages and put his signature as the 17th player of the MCC team led by Douglas Jardine in 1933-34. The autograph book is one of the treasured possessions of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord's. Not only did Gandhiji sign an autograph book but also played for the team composed of Indians of British origin. Mahatma Gandhi played for a team of British origin against a team of Indian origin in London and scored 21 runs with 3 boundaries. He took one wicket also. He was wearing pants and a shirt while playing. Gandhiji was not only a cricket enthusiast, but he also wielded the willow. R.G. Mehta, a boyhood friend and schoolmate, wrote, "It is not commonly known that Gandhiji was a dashing cricketer and evinced keen interest in the game. Once we were watching a cricket match together. In those days there were ding-dong battles between Rajkot city and Rajkot Sardar (camp area). At a crucial moment, as if by intuition, Gandhiji said that a particular player would be out, and hey presto, the batsman was really out." The freedom spirit of Gandhiji came from the cricketing field.

C.K. Subramaniam

(cksumpire@gmail.com)

Time is of essence

India cannot afford a very protracted trade negotiation with Donald Trump. Time is of the essence. The Indian economy cannot face continuing uncertainty in the face of slowing consumption and investments, both domestic and foreign. After five rounds of talks spread over four months, India couldn’t even get an interim agreement and instead got a 50% tariff slapped on all its exports. There is now a desperate attempt to find new interlocutors who can figure out what it is that might work with Trump. India has to take a political call, one way or another. One option is for India to dilute its firm position taken during the five rounds of negotiations, especially on opening up the agriculture and dairy sector. Modi cannot obfuscate matters anymore. Trump, in a way, has him somewhat cornered. If Modi dilutes India’s position in some areas, then he will have to communicate it to his domestic constituency transparently. Even if India decided to shift from buying Russian oil to US energy, it will have to be done openly. There is no place to hide anymore. The other option is to steadfastly stick to one’s position and take the nation into confidence that there will be a lot of short-term pain which Indians will have to collectively endure. A different set of policy measures will be needed to deal with that sort of pain. Modi’s instinct so far has been to not cross red lines already set in the negotiations. His public statement that he is willing to ‘pay a personal price’ to protect the farmers is an indication that he is under a lot of pressure. The fact is India’s poor and lower middle class are already paying the real price of economic mismanagement so far. The Trump tariff, even if it is only 25%, is only likely to make things worse. Therefore, it is important that the people of India – workers, traders, producers and consumers – know soon enough where exactly they stand so that they can adjust their expectations. The economy cannot wait too long for the hide-and-seek games being played between Modi and Trump.

If Modi agrees to open up the agriculture and dairy sectors, then there will be a different kind of backlash. So Trump has really put his friend Modi between a rock and a hard place. Worse, all this is coming at a time when the economy is struggling to get back to a 7% GDP growth path. After the Union budget this year, hopes were raised that government spending and private consumption backed by income tax cuts would lift growth to 7% plus all over again. But that expectation stands belied. The harsh Trump tariffs and the ongoing negotiations have come to this vulnerable juncture for India.

Bhagwan Thadani

(bhagwan_thadani@yahoo.co.in)