Letters to The Editor: True Lachit

True Lachit

Once again, The Sentinel, the true sentinel of the sons of the soil of Assam, proved its mettle by publishing in detail on the front page on February 2, 2022 regarding the taking over charge of GOC Eastern Command by yet another able son of Assam, namely Lt. General Rana Pratap Kalita. We all know that Eastern Command of the Indian army is very vital and prestigious command which was once graced by Field Marshal Cariappa, Sam Bahadur Manekshaw as GOC. We feel that Lt. General Rana Pratap Kalita, as the true descendant of our Veer Lachit Borphukan, unlike those who call themselves as Veer Lachit Sena but thrive on sanda and dhanda culture, mostly seen in parts of upper Assam. They are all paper tigers as evidenced by their roles in protecting the Asomiyas residing in the border areas of Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram from the intruding miscreants.

We are proud of Lt. General Rana Pratap Kalita and ashamed of these so-called Veer Lachit Sena(s), who exist only on paper.

Lanu Dutt Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Mutual respect needed

Day in and day out we hear different views of the Chief Minister of West Bengal and the Governor of the State, whereas both are holding the constitutional posts and should maintain the sanctity of their posts, as mutual respect is the key to Governor-CM relations. Recently Mamata Banerjee's decision to block Jagdeep Shankar on the social media platform Twitter marks a new low in CM-Governor relations. She is within her rights not to follow the Governor's tweets as the Constitution does not bind her to do so. The Constitution mandates her to listen to the Governor, take him into confidence and follow his advice for better governance. The Governor is also constitutionally obliged to follow the advice of the elected Government. He also enjoys certain discretionary powers he can exercise in a free and fair manner. In other words, the Chief Minister and the Governor must respect each other and work in tandem in the best interest of the people. Also, both have been behaving as if they are born rivals who should never miss an opportunity to settle scores with each other. In the past, too, in some cases, his masters in the Home Ministry expect him to behave in strange and inexplicable ways. The Governor has a right to advise the Government, but that does not mean that he should call for details on every sundry subject. It is the Chief Minister and her Council of Ministers who are answerable to the Assembly and, through it, to the people. His job is to ensure that constitutional norms are followed in letter and spirit. Since there is total breakdown of communication between them, the Centre should not ignore the four letters that Mamata claims to have written to the Prime Minister to recall the Governor. If all the persons concerned realise that they are merely servants of the people, then they would not do anything that would harm the interests of the State. Alas, this realization is yet to dawn on them! Let us hope for the best and expect good wisdom to prevail for development of State.

Yash Pal Ralhan,

Jalandhar-144003.

The untold stories

On February 1, 2022, while browsing through the Facebook, I came across an old interview of Lt. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Bharat Ratna, conducted by the BBC in 1955. After going through the interview which lasted for more than half an hour, I was simply shell-shocked to know about some untold facts about the Great Man Gandhiji. Even if 50% version of what Ambedkar said is taken as true from the said interview, then I strongly feel that there are lots of distortions of facts regarding the nation's Independence movement where some greats like Veer Sarvakar, Sardar Patel, Netaji Subhash Bose, Gopinath Bordoloi, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Deendayal Upadhyay, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev etc., to name a few were totally sidelined by few selfish so-called secularists to project a single family.

More startling facts in this regard are likely to emerge in the near future which should enlighten the next generation about the roles played by a few self-seekers in history. History will never forgive them. JAI HIND.

Dr Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Why demands a ban?

The question of whether Nathuram Godse is right or wrong is irrelevant. The question is why we demand a ban on the movie 'Why I killed Gandhi', a movie based on Nathuram Godse's assassination of Mahatma Gandhi starring Amol Kolhe, current MP in Lok Sabha from NCP. Has Bollywood not made heroic biopics on terrorist Dawood Ibrahim repeatedly, played by some top Bollywood actors? Have Bollywood not made a biopic on terrorist sympathiser cum friend Sanjay Dutt to give clean chit to him? Bollywood has made movies on communal Tipu Sultan, Manya Surve, Alauddin Khilji, sandalwood smuggler Verrappan and many criminals but at that time nobody demanded a ban on these movies. In fact, our Bollywood directors glorified people like Tipu Sultan, Haji Mastan and Dawood Ibrahim to present a larger-than-life image of the barbarians and gangsters. Then why a select group wants a ban on the movie? At least, we can listen to what Godse has to say. Mahabharat or Ramayan will not become inauspicious if we listen to what Nathuram Godse has to say about his act.

Julie Bhuyan,

Gaurisagar.

Kudos to Kiyan Nassiri

Kudos to Kiyan Nassiri who fired a hat-trick on Derby and ISL debut for ATK Mohun Bagan (ATKMB). In a cricket fanatic country like India, once favourite football still gives some sensational moment in it like when 21 year-year-old Kiyan Nassiri, an alumnus of St James' School and the son of East Bengal's former Iranian striker Jamshid Nassiri, (Kiyan is of Iranian descent but he was born and brought up in Kolkata) announced his arrival for ATKMB with the equalizer in the 64th minute against arch-rivals SC East Bengal. After Williams blew over a penalty in the 66th minute, it came on the young Kiyan to find the lead. The young ATKMB substitute justified his inclusion as he found the back of the East Bengal net twice in a space of two minutes in the added time to realize an incredible win for ATKMB. Kiyan's hat-trick was only the third in a Derby since Independence. Bhaichung Bhutia (East Bengal, Federation Cup, 1997) and Chidi Edeh (Mohun Bagan, I-League, 2009) scored the previous ones. It was a simply stunning performance from the 21-year-old, whose technique, skill and execution were fantastic for all three goals. Kiyan became the youngest hat-trick scorer in the history of ISL but it couldn't have been more poetic for Kiyan to emerge as a hero for green and maroons in a Kolkata derby. It's said that the Kolkata Derby makes or breaks the career of a player. Naturally, after his unbelievable performance football lovers hope, that Kiyan's these thirty minutes will be given him a permanent place in the ATKMB and Indian football. Once again Kudos to Kiyan for his unbelievable thirty-minute spell, starting with the opener coming off his first touch, will continue till further.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,

Faridabad 121005