Nefarious designs out
Many right-thinking people have been from time to time raising concerns about overpopulation explosion among the immigrant Muslims mostly residing in the sar areas. From the time of Hiteswar Saikia, Anuwara Taimur, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, Dr Bhumidhar Barman, and Tarun Gogoi, the unchecked birth rate among those people were going on but all of them remained mute because of vote bank politics. Over these years several MLAs came and went from the minority-dominated constituencies but they too preferred to remain silent. Badruddin Ajmal and his party men during the election rallies of the last Assembly elections encouraged them to reproduce more and more states that Almighty Allah would be happy if they reproduce as much as one wish.
Now, when Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is showing concerns with the uncontrolled high birth rate among the sar dwellers which is threatening to outnumber the indigenous ones, MP Abdul Khalid has immediately reacted by saying that people of sar areas should be exempted from the proposed population regulatory law which is expected to be tabled soon in the floor of the Assembly. The nefarious designs of the lawmakers from AIUDF and Congress are out. The aim of converting the entire Assam into an Islamic land has been going on since independence. For the sake of power, Congress can sell the nation into the hands of their immigrant loyalists and for that reason for so many years, these people have been voting for Congress despite being deprived of good schools, colleges, roads, hospitals, etc. Barpeta which is revered as 'Xatra Nagari' is today having the MLA from AIUDF and the MP from Congress and both belonging to a particular community. The indigenous people have lost the political capacity to elect any of their sons/daughters because they are heavily outnumbered by the immigrants. This is high time Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma passed the population Regulatory Bill in the Assembly and made it a law.
Julie Bhuyan,
Gaurisagar
Dwindling wetlands
Tezpur was and is still a dreamland for the people of Assam. But it is not living up to its name and all because of haphazard growth and encroachments. Tezpur has seen exponential growth in the last 5-6 years. For this growth, nature had to pay as it is seen that large tracts of wetlands are filled up to make space for tall residential buildings. There is also news that a large tract of wetland near Baraholia is to be filled up to make room for more residential buildings. If this becomes a reality it will not only pose a threat to nearby areas but also Tezpur as a whole. I urge the government through your esteemed daily to take stern action against those money-grubbing builders who are involved in environmental violence. The government can also think about beautifying these wetlands so that people think twice before afflicting harm on nature.
Noopur Baruah,
Tezpur
New Zealand crowned
India's defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the ICC World Test Championship is disappointing. In the final match of the ICC World Test Championship which was held in England and ended on June 23, New Zealand defeated India by eight wickets. Overall, India's batting and bowling could not match those of New Zealand. While India's star bowler Jasprit Bumrah could not take a wicket in the entire match, India' star batsman Virat Kohli could not score a big run.
The Indian cricket team has fallen short of our expectation. Unless performed better in both batting and bowling, no cricket team can hope to win in a cricket match. India's batting and pace bowling were never a challenge to the New Zealand players. Particularly, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor two star batsmen of New Zealand could easily tame the spin and pace challenge of Indian bowlers. A great cricket playing nation, India has been, India could have been able to make history by becoming the first world test champion.
Maheswar Deka,
Rangia
Borsing Bey, a role model
Often men in khaki are on the wrong side of the story. Only on the silver screen, the main protagonist portraying the role of a police officer is shown drawing accolades for exposing the corrupt and evil forces of society. In real life, we come across very few men in khaki leading by example of honesty. Recently Borsing Bey, a Home Guard upheld the integrity and honesty in discharging his duty. Borsing Bey detected a huge consignment of drugs worth crores of rupees while checking a passenger bus. Bey was offered a hefty sum by the drug smugglers to release the contraband. Bey refused to fall into the prey and informed the police who swung into the action. He is a real-life hero and a role model for the men in the uniform. Sir, we are proud of you.
Dr Ashim Chowdhury,
Guwahati
Boost Indian toys industry
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a boost in the Indian toys industry and emphasizing the importance of toys in children's early development. India's portion of the world toy market is only approximately 1.5 billion dollars, and we import about 80 per cent of toys, thus rupee carols are in these. Many gaming concepts promote violence or induce psychological stress, and many online or digital games present on the market are not currently Indian concepts. According to the Prime Minister, if a child's first school is a family, the first book and friends are these toys. Toys are the initial means of communication between children and society. There is another important part of toys that everyone should be aware of and take steps to recognize Indian toys worldwide. It would also be a good move towards India being self-sufficient.
Amit Singh Kushwaha,
Satna (M.P.)
Word Test Champions
Two years after their heartbreak boundary countback in the World Cup final at Lord's, New Zealand returned to English soil and emerged triumphant, an eight-wicket victory over India meaning Kane Williamson's men were crowned the inaugural World Test Champions (WTC) at the end of a dramatic sixth day that stirred the senses. Anyway, today the Kiwis have just beaten India… a couple of weeks after beating England in a series for the first time since 99. It's called quality by the Black Caps, who first bossed England and then bulldozed India. In the first-ever World Test Championship final, if the 6ft 8-inch right-armer Jamieson who sent a match seemingly destined for a draw and a shared title hurtling towards its memorable victory won the Man-of-the-final, then it also a fitting farewell to Kiwis wicketkeeper BJ Watling, who retires from all forms of cricket, dislocated his finger early in the day but continued keeping. But for Virat Kohli, the much-hyped paper tiger India captain, this is the third failure in big ICC events after the 2017 Champions Trophy and the 2019 World Cup. He becomes a jinx for India and might just have one more shot, which is the T20 World Cup this year, and failing to win could warrant some changes in the team hierarchy.
In the second innings when Ravichandran Ashwin expectedly took out the left-handed openers relatively early in the chase, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor showed how to soak up pressure. In reality, this is neither an overnight triumph. Kiwis demonstrate one can be a winner of the first-ever WTC final. This is the result for those who have been involved with New Zealand cricket, it's the culmination of hard toil for over two decades. Any kind of tournament second place specialist the Indian cricket team here also did fail to bag the elusive WTC title but they weren't completely left empty-handed.
Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,
Faridabad
SBI turning down shareholders' demand
There was a sharp decline in property tax dues when the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) put names of defaulters on hoardings put at road crossings. Likewise, the menace of big defaulters of public money in banks says Rs 100 crore and above can and should be largely cut down if their names with other details like company name and city name etc are put in the public domain on websites of banks. Rather occasionally such details should be advertised in newspapers. It is a modus-operandi of big loan defaulters to siphon out some portion of money in the purchase of properties in name of family members. Many of such big defaulters even purchase properties in foreign countries and ran away from the country when somehow are exposed in media with authorities, maybe unwillingly, forced to initiate action against them.
India is a country where still social image of individuals matters a lot especially in fixing marriage matches. Making names of big defaulters will tend to drastically reduce defaults of big bank loans. It is noteworthy that while banks (and NBFCs) take goon like harsh and inhuman measures for the recovery of small loans, there is hardly any such harsh action against big defaulters because they can manage the recovery process through money and influence which is a very little portion of defaulted big loans. It is for the Department of Financial Services (Banking) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to order banks to adopt the policy of Name-and-Shame for big defaulters by putting their names and other details in the public domain and media.
Also, there should be a ban on bank loans on existing residential properties to avoid the possibility of making families of loan defaulters roofless. However, home loans may be permitted for the purchase of new homes. Loans to NNBFCs by banks should be altogether banned to avoid unnecessary profit to NBFCs for becoming a middle body between financing banks and loan takers.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal,
Delhi
WhatsApp forwarding disease
WhatsApp has become a popular way for people to communicate with their friends and family. People are constantly engaged because of the low cost of a monthly data pack. In recent years, the number of WhatsApp users has increased. Young people aren't the only ones who utilize it; middle-aged and older individuals do as well. WhatsApp is user-friendly, thus illiterate people may use it with a good network. WhatsApp can also be used for video chat. It was well-liked by a large number of users.
WhatsApp, like everything else, can have bad consequences. With so many users, a deadly sickness of transmitting fraudulent emails has emerged. Forwarding bogus messages may not appear to be damaging if one considers "what will happen," but recent incidents have shown that one message can devastate or even kill someone's life. One such instance occurred in June 2018 in KarbiAnglong, when Abhijit Nath and Nilotpal Das were killed by a crowd after being misidentified for child-lifters. Nilotpal's attempts to show his identity, his begging and attempts to prove that he was an Assamese can still be remembered. The mob mistook them for child-lifters, according to the investigation, because a message was circulated claiming that a few child-lifters had entered Assam to kidnap children. Nilotpal's dreadlock hair set him apart from the crowd, and he was misunderstood as a child lifter. Due to the rumour, a news channel went into a remote area in North Lakhimpur and made a news storey where it was seen that the residents were carrying heavy weapons. This is an example of how forwarding texts without fact-checking can result in someone losing their life. The cries of Nilotpal Das, who was attempting to prove his Assamese identity, can still be heard by every Assamese citizen. This is an example of how people who are less literate or live in rural places may believe a message that is not true.
Not only the illiterate but also the educated, have put their faith in it without scrutinizing the facts. Many messages were circulating through WhatsApp during the tumultuous times, and it was evident that many of them were fraudulent. After PM Narendra Modi requested all Indian citizens to clap for the front-line fighters combating the infection through his Mann Ki Batt "TaaliBajao" a famous bogus message about sound vibrating lessening the effect of the coronavirus surfaced. Everyone assumed that was Modi's way of expressing that the virus' effect would be reduced by the sound vibrations of clapping hands. Everyone was able to see how it turned out. Modi emphasized unequivocally that around 5 p.m., everyone should clap on their balcony or residence. But, because everyone thought they were scientist, they began rallying, exploding crackers, and so on. Many memes depicted many people reacting in various ways. It was because of the message that someone was willing to go to such lengths. Even people who had spent their entire lives studying science thought it to be real. The folks demonstrated the adage "educated fools". After Modiji urged everyone to turn down their lights and light a Diya at 9 pm, another incident occurred. There were far too many texts forwarded at the time. Various forms of forwarded messages were seen during the Covid period. Doctors' prescriptions for fighting the virus are circulated, and so on. The majority of people believed it and followed it. This is an example of educated individuals blindly accepting all forwarded messages without even checking them.
WhatsApp has undergone numerous adjustments as a result of which one may feel compelled to fact-check it. Previously, the word "forwarded" did not appear above the message. However, it is now visible. It is now even seen as having been "forwarded many times", indicating that people should at least check it before passing it to someone else. The most common victims of this advancing disease are middle-aged and senior citizens. At the very least, the youths are curious to see if it is real or not. The elderly are so agitated and active on social media that they lose sight of their responsibilities. Even if WhatsApp upgrades its app, many would be too lazy to double-check the information. It's crucial to know whether or not it's true. This forwarding message is similar to grapevine communication, in which rumours circulate quickly but have no basis. It might be classified as a disease, a phenomenon, or anything else. One will not stop until he or she is confronted with some situations as a result of forwarded emails. It is necessary to be cautious and responsible. A single message has the power to kill or destroy someone.
Recently, the government issued a notice to all social media platforms, instructing them to monitor everything transmitted or forwarded to track out the source of the fraudulent message and put an end to the forwarding culture. It does violate an individual's privacy policy, but given our people's unwillingness to correct themselves it is the only method to prevent them from sending anything without double-checking. It is for the benefit of everyone to comply with these rules.
Himadri Kalita,
Jalukbari, Guwahati
A daily with a variety
Recently I switched back to reading The Sentinel after a gap of a few years when the contents were not captivating. It used to appear a boring paper in circulation. But, now it has so much to read that one finds it extremely interesting, educative, and filled with news from all over the world. The Editorials are in plenty, the letters to Editor are free and frank exchanges, the composure of materials is precise and professional, making it a paper of excellence. I regret having continued with the other English daily for a long which lacks varieties.
Col PM Goswami (Retired),
Guwahati