Letters to the Editor: Once upon a time

An ancient temple, which is a masterpiece of art and architecture, tells the tale of its glorious past. Can an Indian ever be ashamed of displaying the ancient temple or mosque or gurudwara, the rich cultural heritage of his country to his/her guests? But, India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was so embarrassed and regretful about temples that he asked to cover all the deities and temples in Kashi, when Saudi King Saud Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud was touring India's ancient city, Kashi in December 1955.

Saudi King paid a 17-day-long visit to India at the invitation of PM Nehru. The King was accorded a warm welcome in full royal fashion on 4th December 1955. During the visit, His Majesty King bought a large delegation, including several princes and was touring several Indian cities such as Mumbai, Hyderabad, Mysore, Shimla, Agra, Aligarh and Kashi or Varanasi. When Saudi King reached Kashi, PM ordered to cover all the temples and idols- which came in the way of the King's convoy- with curtains. Not only that, during the King's stay in Kashi/Varanasi, all the government buildings in the city were flagged with the words 'Kalma Tayyiba'. Puja and aartis were stopped in temples.

What kind of mental slavery was PM Nehru suffering from? What was the need to cover temples and deities, which are the root and cultural heritage of India? Kashi is one of the holiest cities of India and is full of ancient and contemporary ones and one of the 12 Jyotirlingas. It is the city that was attacked brutally and destroyed in several foreign Islamic invasions that included Aurangzeb. The worst form of mental slavery was displayed by PM Nehru when he asked Saudi King to tell the world that the fate of Indian Muslims was in safe hands.

What was Nehru's approach to nation-building? By injecting mental slavery, which gives the illusion to defend and glorify the oppressor? A nation must study its past if it wants to define its future. Foreign Islamic invaders, who seized India's 1/3 land, inflicted traumatic wounds on Indian civilization that cannot be healed. British subjugation exploited India to the core. Then Nehruvian Ideology, which taught India to humiliate its root, religion and cultural heritages, carried forward to inject mental subjugation.

Today, India needs to do soul searching.

Julie Bhuyan,

Gaurisagar.

Omicron threat

We can't forget the memory of Covid-19 and it is still fresh along with their devastating effect on lives and livelihoods, the advisory issued by the ICMR to avoid non-essential travel and mass gathering amid the rise in cases of the new variant Omicron can serve as a note of caution, but making it effective on the ground will deal a body blow to various sectors of the economy. The ban on international air travel that was extended after this outbreak was reported has not yet been revoked. With Christmas and New Year approaching, concerns are being voiced over the festivities aiding the possible spread of infection. The push to the vaccination drive along with the testing and tracing protocol followed by states and the advocacy of Covid appropriate behaviour points out the need for adopting strict safeguards to keep the virus at bay amid the celebrations.

Chandan Kumar Nath,

Sorbhog

Dibrugarh to get first tea museum in NE

Dibrugarh in Assam is home to a vast number of tea gardens. Dibrugarh town is surrounded by tea gardens all around date back to the time of the Britishers in India. Set amidst several tea gardens and tea estates, Dibrugarh welcomes tourists to make a tea tour of this wonderful place.

The proposal for constructing a tea museum in Dibrugarh was approved by the Assam Tourism Department and its work began in early 2017. The museum will be dedicated to the public in the first half of 2023. This development was informed by Assam Tourism Development Corporation Limited (AITDC) chairman Rituparna Barua. The museum is expected to be a major tourist attraction for international as well as domestic tourists as it will further boost Assam's tea industry. The visitors will be able to relive the history of tea.

Prerna Baruah

(preronabaruah477@gmail.com)

News portals

The haphazardly growing number of news portals every day is actually devaluing the standard of media. Social media sites that allow anyone to create networks of acquaintances and friends and to share their writings and audiovisual materials with no ethics are harming society in a real sense. Critics also raise broader concerns about the agenda grabbing power of huge media conglomerates. We can find many news portals which are not even authentic. Many news portals or digital news channels try to threaten people and demand money from them. Also, today, we can see that most of the mainstream media channels are biased. They either advocate the ruling party wholeheartedly or they oppose them without any logic. So, individual web portals or news portals have much more responsibility to show the truth to the public. They need to realize this. For the sake of democracy, they should present news sensibly. Last year Assam Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna held a discussion on the rapid increase of news web portals in the State in his office. Commissioner and Secretary of Information and Public Relations Department, Preetom Saikia, and Director Anupam Choudhury were present in the discussion.

It has come to the notice of the Government that most of the time, some news web portals have been involved in disseminating fake, false, and fabricated news which has misled the general public. Besides, there is a huge possibility of these having an adverse effect, particularly on the upcoming generation. False information and fake news circulated in news web portals and social media may always cause harm to our society. Chief Secretary directed to keep a strict vigil on such news web portals and social media platforms. People with zero journalism knowledge are just opening news portals as its editor-in-chief. Due to these kinds of practices, the scenario of the media domain is deteriorating. Moreover, news of no sense and false news is dangerous to our community. It makes the world less informed and it erodes our trust. Some basic qualifications with media ethics must be imposed on someone who wants to open a news portal.

Opening a news portal simply, shouldn't be as easy. Media is the fourth pillar of a nation, and we, especially our new generation must be properly aware of the power of media. The standard of media should be maintained necessarily. Therefore, strict laws for news portals are in demand.

Hiyanjalee Rangra,

Gauhati University

Most unbecoming

Very recently while watching an English national TV channel in the evening by sheer misfortune I was appalled by total hysterical outbursts of an SP MP of the Upper House on the floor of the parliament. The said lady MP happened to be the daughter of Taroon Kumar Bhaduri who is the author of ABHISAPTA CHAMBAL, wife of a megastar of Bollywood, mother-in-law of an ex-Miss World Aishwarya Rai who was recently grilled by ED on Panama Paper's leak case. The said lady MP lost her composure as her daughter in law was grilled by ED for gross financial fraud. It was rather an unprecedented scene after the said lady MP started using most unparliamentary words, even started cursing the chair of the House like a street woman breaking all dignities and decorum. Interestingly my 6-year-old granddaughter was also sitting beside me watching this ugly scene. Suddenly she asked me about the identity of that lady and wondered if she was mad.

Before parting, I want to remind the said lady MP from SP that whoever curses an innocent, his or her curses boomerang. The said MP of SP in Upper House is Ms Jaya Bachchan, w/o Amitabh Bachchan who once ruled the BOLLYWOOD without serving the causes of the nation.

Dr Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Is 'lynching' a new law!

Admittedly, the desecration of religious places, in any form, is a highly offensive act; and it is utterly condemnable. In the context of two cases of defiling the sacred insignia that occurred at the Gurudwaras in Punjab: the Sri Guru Granth Sahib at Golden Temple, Amritsar and the Nishan Sahib at a Gurudwara in Kapurthala: the incidents are equally condemnable. The two incidents occurred within a time span of 12 hours very recently in the poll-bound Punjab where the irritated devotees took law in their hands and beat the perpetrators to death at the premises itself. The Congress Chief Minister of Punjab promptly ordered an inquiry into the Golden Temple incident and followed it with an immediate visit to the Temple; but he didn't utter a single word on the killing of the victim, let alone condemn it. In the heightened excitement of coming state polls, the two main political parties viz. the ruling Congress and the state rival Akali Dal started politics on the two incidents. While all the leaders vehemently condemned two sacrileges, none of them spared a word on two killings. Ironically, they are vying over one another to score political points.

It is regretted that the touch of humanity in politics is at the vanishing point. Is lynching the new law? Isn't the lynching of men within the holy precincts of religious places a heinous act? The political parties concerned will let know their views on lynch-killing at the Gurudwaras. Through your august column I demand alongside enquiry of the sacrileges in question, the legal action against the killers at the temple premises must also be initiated and reports made public. The affected families of the victims must also be adequately compensated. Yours etc;

Pannalal Dey,

Guwahati.

First Starbucks coffee chain in Northeast

Globally known coffee chain 'Starbucks' managed by the Tata group in India is set to open its new franchise at GS Road, Guwahati which is also a first in the Northeast. The residents of Guwahati are excited for the premiere of this premium American coffee chain and especially the coffee lovers.

Starbucks is the world's largest coffee house chain which was founded 50 years ago. It is popular among other coffee house chains as it has introduced a wider variety of coffee experiences to coffee lovers. Very soon, the residents of Guwahati will get to experience a new taste of coffee along with a great atmosphere, relaxing music, great aromas and friendly 'baristas'. The people of Guwahati are eager to try out this renowned coffee chain and are in the hope of getting satisfaction rather than being disappointed.

Prerana Baruah,

Dept of Communication and Journalism

Gauhati University

The World Saree Day

December 21 is celebrated as World Saree Day every year. Saree is the all-time favourite female dress in India. It is a traditional, but extremely popular outfit for women from ancient to modern times. A saree of 6 to 9 yards in length, so popular it is, is worn by women, irrespective of class in society. Saree goes well on all occasions, and it is an amazing attire for social events in particular. When a woman wears a saree for an occasion and walks amongst the party, her head is held high. It is her subliminal announcement of being calmy in control of herself, and often the heartstrings of people around. And wearing a saree is a statement of humility and modesty, and importantly it is the symbol of a deity. Needless to say, saree is wonderful craftsmanship of legacy for centuries and is bestowed upon the women of yesteryear, today, and the women of tomorrow.

Ranganathan Sivakumar

Chennai – 600 091.