Letters to the EDITOR: Majuli as Heritage Site

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Majuli as Heritage Site

After the declaration of Charaideo Maidam as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, the Xatradhikars of Majuli's Xatras feel left out for the same honour. According to them, on so many past occasions, they submitted relevant documents in support of their claim to the government, but they have yet to receive any response. We all know that Majuli is one of the epicentres of Sankari culture, like Bardowa and Barpeta. In support of their claim for a World Heritage Site tag, I beg to ask a few questions to the Xatradhikars. They are as follows:

1) Do they have any idea about the number of churches on the riverine island?

2) Have they any idea about the number of locals getting converted to Christianity?

3) Did they ever visit those remote areas to preach Sankari culture to the locals?

4) If they ever tried to mingle with the locals of the riverine areas on occasions like Holi, Bihu, etc.

Merely singing Kirtans, Namghopa, in the comfort of the Xatras, without the involvement of the locals, has so far failed miserably to attract the gullible locals to Sankari culture.

Before claiming a Heritage Site, they ought to do their homework properly.

Lanu Dutt Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Twist of fate for Vinesh Phogat

India's star wrestler, champion among champions Vinesh Phogat, was disqualified ahead of the gold-medal match on Wednesday. In a devastating turn of events, Phogat, despite reaching the 50 kg freestyle wrestling final, could not meet the weight requirements on the morning of the gold medal match. The stringent weight regulations in wrestling stipulate that athletes must maintain their weight category for both days of competition. As a result of her disqualification, Phogat missed out on the opportunity to win gold and was ineligible for the silver medal. Though, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi offered words of support to Vinesh, who was at the forefront of a lengthy protest alleging government inaction against former Wrestling Federation of India head Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was accused of sexual harassment by women wrestlers. Even then PM Modi spoke to Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President PT Usha about the incident, and he has asked her to explore the full range of options to help Vinesh’s case. He also urged PT Usha to file a strong protest regarding her disqualification if that helps Vinesh. But Modi must know that according to UWW (United World Wrestling) rules, wrestlers have the right, each in turn, to get on the scale as many times as they wish throughout the weigh-in period. International rules stipulate that any grappler found overweight at the time of weigh-in ends up at the bottom of the final standings.

Interestingly, Phogat had successfully made weight the previous day, when she had blazed her way to the final, but was reportedly around two kilograms overweight the following night. Desperate to compete, she spent the entire night attempting to shed the excess weight through rigorous exercise. However, her efforts fell short as she was found to be a few grams over the limit on the day of the final. As a result, Vinesh Phogat will now return medal-less after the agonizing twist of fate. As a son of Mother India I strongly believe if she wasn’t disqualified – she was a strong contender for Gold, maybe it would have been first gold in this game for India, and the anthem would have been Indian / flag would be Indian - don’t forget that. Though, sheer of fate she is medal-less, but well fought.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,

(bkchatterjee9@gmail.com)

Church Mission and Education

Recently, I read a commendable article, ‘Educational Institutions and Society’ by Rashmirekha Hazarika. She observed that education has a large bearing on the overall health of society. When an individual is made strong and powerful through education, the family, society, and nation in turn become strong automatically.

I think that it is in tune with the mission of the Church.  Missionaries have played a great role in educating and building societies all over the world. In Assam too, the missionaries have made a big contribution to educating the Assamese society. The Christian missionaries rendered unique service towards the promotion of Assamese vernacular and for the uplift of the tribal areas of Assam. In 1836, the American Baptist Missionaries under Reverend Nathan Brown and Oliver Cutter came to Assam and set up nearly 14 schools in Sivasagar. They ventured into the interior areas of Darang, Nowgaon, Guwahati, and many other places and set up schools.

Later in 1922, the Salesian missionaries of Don Bosco arrived in Assam, and their first venture was education. In 1924, they opened St. Mary’s School, Guwahati. Some years later, in 1948, Don Bosco School, Guwahati was founded, and in 1952 and 1960, Little Flower and Don Bosco, Dibrugarh were established, respectively. All of these premier educational institutions were built only to emancipate society from the evils of ignorance and related evils. Though, of late, the missionaries have been accused of converting people through education, as Hazarika writes in the articles, education is not merely acquiring degrees but transforming or converting an individual into a sensible, responsible member of society with a higher degree of consciousness, possessing the ability to understand the environment, and having common sense to deal with basic situations. In this sense, the missionaries are truly converting the masses through their several educational institutions and making them conscious citizens of the country.

Fr. William Horo.

Don Bosco School, Tinsukia.