Act before it’s too late

Sir — The editorial, “Gory locks” (Dec 23), brilliantly analyses the sorry state of affairs in West Bengal. Over three decades of misrule by the Left Front have made the police and the babus ineffective. They are now mere puppets in the hands of political parties. The fact that the chief minister himself admitted in the assembly that the law- and-order situation in the state has deteriorated, speaks volumes. To stop the situation from getting worse, he must immediately take steps to improve the State machinery.

Yours faithfully,
A.S. Mehta, Calcutta

Equal partners

Sir — I am an Assamese studying in Calcutta. While I agree with Ashok Mitra that the people of Assam are wrong in supporting the United Liberation Front of Asom, I do not think that his views on ‘national integrity’ are justified (“Alien corn”, Dec 21). The comment that people from the Northeast were not as enthused as the rest of India about the success of the Indian cricket team is totally unacceptable. In reality, the people there are as crazy about cricket as those in the rest of India.

Again, only a handful of people had gathered in the court premises to show their support for the arrested Ulfa leader, Arabinda Rajkhowa. Most people, including myself, do not share the views of the extremists. Moreover, ethnic violence in the Northeast is the result of underdevelopment. There has been improvement in infrastructure, but it is not uniform throughout the states.

Mitra’s immature assessment of the region reflects the reason as to why the rest of India is ignorant about the Northeast and its problems. Whether the Northeast will remain an “outsider” or not depends on the rest of the country as much as on the people of this region. Eminent columnists can also play a role in shaping our views on this particular matter.

Yours faithfully,
B. Nath, Calcutta

Sir — Ashok Mitra’s opinions about Assam and the Northeast are misplaced. The people of Assam do not think that they are ‘aliens’; instead, they feel ‘alienated’ from the other states.There is no mention of the Northeast on Indian news channels unless there is a blast or insurgency. Nobody talks of the rich cultural heritage, or the mahila samitis that are some of the most well-organized women’s organizations in the country. A major development that has taken place in the region during the last decade is that the majority of the youth here are now well-versed in Hindi.

The people of this area are trying to integrate with the nation. Indians in other states will have to come forward and give them a helping hand. They must remember that the people of Assam are peace-loving. The recent violence is mainly due to the Centre’s inability to find proper solutions to the state’s problems. Civil society organizations should unite with those in the Northeast to asses the situation and offer solutions for the future.

Yours faithfully,
Debashis Banerji, Guwahati

Sir — Ashok Mitra has no right to say that the Northeast is an “outsider”. Does he think that the crowd outside the Guwahati court represent the whole of Assam? Is interest in cricket the sole factor that decides whether the people of the Northeast are Indians? And if the rest of India cannot tell the difference between a person from that region and a person from Myanmar or Vietnam, then whose ignorance is to be blamed?

Also, on the question of development, Mitra has not compared the Northeast with other states but has only measured how much it has developed by itself, which cannot be the right parameter for judging development in this particular context.

Yours faithfully,
Munmun, Calcutta