Letters to the EDITOR: UNESCO World Heritage Sites

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UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Charaideo Maidams is slated to be Assam’s third UNESCO World Heritage Site, after Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park got the coveted tag almost 40 years ago, in 1985. The Charaideo Maidams are just the tip of the iceberg in a culture-rich Assam, where every corner speaks of history. Assam’s rich history has always been out in the cold, but now it is receiving all the fanfare and attention of the larger national populace. The Ahoms were invaders, but instead of ravaging the cultural landscape or imposing their culture, they enriched the Assamese culture, which was in its nascent stage. Assam exists because of the Ahoms, and we are forever grateful that they chose Assam to be their kingdom. I humbly urge the government of Assam and the Union Ministry of Culture to nominate many such worthy sites like Majuli, Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, Dehing Patkai National Park, Rock-cut Cave in Bongaigaon, Bamuni Hills in Tezpur, and many others for the UNESCO World Heritage site tag so that Assam gets its due importance that it has been long denied. 

Noopur Baruah,

Tezpur 

Kargil Salute

The salute delivered by the new test captain of Team India, Dhruv Jurel, after completing his maiden half century against England has very rightly gone viral, and netizens termed it a ‘Kargil Salute.’ Incidentally, Jurel happens to be the son of a Kargil braveheart. Like his braveheart father, Jurel too showed his true grit and mental toughness as a cricketer when he, along with Gill, guided India to victory when India was tottering at 120/5, facing the rather uphill task of scoring another 92 runs for victory in the fourth inning, which, at one point, looked very unlikely.

It simply proves that our bravehearts have descendants who are equal to the task. Can we expect the same from our politicians—to stand unitedly for the interests of the nation?

We salute you, JUREL.

Dr Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati