Letters to the Editor: Take strict action

A 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her neighbour after holding her hostage in his house in the Pataudi area with the help of his mother on November 29. But the horrific incident came to light only on Friday when the victim's mother lodged a complaint at the women's police station, Manesar. According to the complaint filed by the mother, her 15-year-old married daughter is living with her. On November 29, the girl was passing by the house of the accused when he called her inside his house, the mother said. "After this, the accused's mother locked the main gate and he raped my daughter at night. Meanwhile, I kept searching for her the whole night. My daughter managed to escape from captivity on the morning of November 30, when the accused was sleeping. She reached home and told me about her ordeal. Then I approached the police with her.” These sorts of incidents occur from time to time, somewhere or the other. Therefore, the police must strictly look into this kind of incident and provide such exemplary punishment so that other people can get a lesson.

Jahangir Ali,

Guwahati

Protection of privacy

Law enforcement agencies seize digital devices like laptops, mobiles, pendrives from the houses of the accused and even journalists in the name of investigation. These agencies even snatch away their financial, personal and professional privacy. The Supreme Court told the government that the nine-member constitution bench of the court had considered the right to privacy as a part of Article 21 (life and personal liberty) under the fundamental rights in the year 2017. The Supreme Court has asked the government to make guidelines regarding confiscation of personal digital devices and also stressed that the professional interests of journalists should be kept in mind. On the other hand, due to the use of AI, our privacy is being destroyed within minutes and crime is also being encouraged. Recently, a picture of an actress created with Deepfake went viral. AI is going to make a big contribution in public welfare, especially in education, health, agriculture and other production efforts, but ways will have to be found to avoid the destructive effects of its misuse. Anyway, every new technology is a double-edged sword. A conscious society avoids its ill effects and accepts it. The government will also have to keep privacy in mind while confiscating such devices.

Nawaz Ashraf

Guwahati

Overcrowded City Buses

Sir, I am writing to draw attention to a pressing issue that affects countless travelers in our city: the chronic overcrowding of our public buses. I urge the relevant authorities to take immediate action to alleviate this problem. As our city continues to grow, the cramped conditions not only compromise passengers' comfort, but also pose serious safety concerns. Increasing the frequency of bus services during peak hours, optimizing routes, and exploring innovative solutions should be considered. Solving this problem is crucial for the well-being of our community, so that we can create a more pleasant and efficient public transportation experience for everyone.

Lakhya Pratim Bharadwaj,

Gauhati University

Closure of Paper Mills: Shrouded in Mystery

I know for sure that there is no point talking about the two paper mills of Assam. Despite the fact, I feel it imperative to state a few things about the paper industries as a whole for public consumption. Now, the two paper mills have become a dead issue for the Assamese people. Obviously, it has become a fact of history. However, a few of us couldn't take things lightly. It is still haunting us badly, since we had deep involvement during the construction of the mills. We, on behalf of Engineers India Limited, a principal consultant to the client HPCL, gave our prime time and energy to build the mills in early 1980s from scratch in the trying times of Assam, when the Assam Movement was at its peak. We (myself and my ex-colleagues, mostly from outside of Assam) still lament the sad demise of two paper mills of Assam.

Nagoan Paper Mill was running at a profit and produced the best quality of paper. Raw material (bamboo) was no problem. It is abundantly produced in Assam. It is given to understand, bamboo is the best raw material for the production of best quality paper. Unfortunately, an order from the top forced the running mill to come to grinding halt. And therein lies the mystery!

In the above context, I would like to highlight a few statistics. Assam's two mills were considerably quite young compared to many private paper mills running in the country. From records it is evident that “there have been around 32 running paper mills in West Bengal alone, producing approximately 21 lakh tonnes of paper per annum. Out of the total, there are five large paper mills in West Bengal, and these are as follows: Titagarh Paper Mills Limited, Indian Paper and Pulp Company Limited, WIMCO Paper Mills Limited, Tribeni Tissues Limited and Bengal Paper Mills Limited. The salient point here is that in the last 3 years, the paper export has grown from 6,60,000 tonnes to 15,00,000 tonnes from India. It is envisaged that Indian paper industry is likely to grow at the rate of 12% per annum for the next 5 years and overall paper consumption is projected to increase to 24 million tonnes in 2024–25, from 15 million tons currently. Hence, it is wrong to suggest that paper industries have no future.

As such, there have been no valid reasons for not taking the initiative to revive the two paper mills of Assam. Revival of two mills would have helped at least two lakh families to get employed directly or indirectly. In fact, the state government should have owned the plants. At the end of the day, we must admit that the government of the day has missed the opportunity.

Prafulla Dowarah

Guwahati