Letters to the Editor: Unrest in Manipur

The no-confidence motion against the Centre's NDA government in Manipur fell as expected. The insistence of the opposition to make a statement on Manipur by coming to the Parliament of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was fulfilled, but what did Manipur get from this? Did the Manipur riots stop? Has the wound of Manipur been healed? Has the problem of Manipur been solved? Is there any plan to improve the situation in Manipur? All political parties just played politics. The drama of the opposition, which started with the commencement of Parliament on July 20, ended. But still, the violence continues, and in Manipur, there is unrest.

N Ashraf,

Guwahati.

Lack of proper town planning

Being a resident of Tezpur, I have witnessed a tremendous transition in the city in the past few years. When I was a kid, Tezpur was very calm and peaceful. But today, the old fragrance of the city has gradually vanished. Various malls and other elements of globalization have totally captured the unique beauty of Tezpur. It is inevitably true that we are all slaves to time. We have to accept the rapid changes in our environment as a natural phenomenon to a great extent. But in the name of development, how can we people bear the pain of the de-shaping of the essence of our beloved city?

A lack of proper town planning is probably the root cause behind it. Lack of adequate parking places and lacuna in traffic management has made public life deplorable. The people of the city are having problems bringing their cars to the main town because of annoying traffic jams. The flood of e-rickshaws has also become a prime problem. Fortunately, though the government has taken various development schemes to uplift and conserve Tezpur, the giant pond-like potholes still stand on the road in several places in the town, causing lots of problems in the day-to-day lives of the commuters. All such problems have surely degraded the real beauty of the city. I request the authority concerned to take a proper look at the matter.

Aditya Ankur Nath,

Tezpur.

Smartphone usage

This refers to your editorial, ‘Smartphone usage among children’ (August 10). It is really disturbing to note that students in rural communities of our country largely use their smartphones for entertainment rather than academic purposes, as per a study revealed by The State of Elementary Education in Rural India recently. Upsettingly, its findings say that out of the 49.3 per cent of students who own gadgets, only 34 per cent use them for studies. Smartphones have a lot of disadvantages for students who are too exposed to them. Constant use of smartphones by students easily distracts them from concentrating on their academics and decreases their mental and physical productivity levels. Not all parents monitor their children when they use their gadgets. As smartphones keep children occupied, elders too find it convenient as they get time to complete their chores. It is a significant worrying factor that students are found to have great difficulty managing their study life with the use of smartphones, with the result that their health is compromised. The apps on their phones disrupt their sleeping schedules, which result in late bedtimes and fatigue in the morning. It is the duty of the parents to instill confidence in their children that only libraries, as resources, can strengthen their knowledge, as libraries are synonymous with education.

Ranganathan Sivakumar,

(siva19kumar@gmail.com.)

Indian wolves need to be protected

Like wolves of other species, the Indian wolves live in packs but, unlike their counterparts, not to their full strength. A popular adage says, ‘Throw a person to the wolves, and he will return leading the pack’. Speed, stamina, endurance, loyalty, confidence, and determination are a wolf's assets. The Wildlife Protection Act places the Indian wolf on the endangered species list. Widely found in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh, they number up to around 2500 to 3000, with 10 sanctuaries, in India. The man-wolf conflict is quite rare; it may happen when wolves venture into human settlements in search of goats and sheep.

By the same token, the killing of wolves—for sport and skin, for protecting livestock and human beings—has not abated. Wolves were butchered by the government in many countries to protect livestock. Norway, Scandinavia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Spain were the worst offenders. In the indigenous population of some countries, wolves are hunted for meat and medicine. Keeping the ecosystem intact and following the 3 Rs—reduce, reuse, and recycle—are common strategies to prevent wolves from going extinct, although grey wolves have been removed from the endangered species list in a few states of the United States.

Dr Ganapathi Bhat

(gbhat13@gmail.com.)

Two great and significant events

On August 15 every year, we Indians celebrate two significant and related events. One is the Assumption of Our Blessed Mother Mary, and the other is Independence Day. The reason why these two events are related to each other is because they are both about freedom. Independence Day is celebrated as freedom from foreign rule and domination to self-rule and governance of our country, and the feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Mother Mary may be seen as freedom from this limited and incomplete life to the bliss of eternal and perpetual life. There is indeed a happy coincidence that we celebrate our Independence Day on the feast day of the Assumption of Our Blessed Mother Mary. It is to our Blessed Mother Mary that we dedicate our country, as she is our patron saint.

Jubel D'Cruz,

jubeldcruz@yahoo.com.