Muhammad Ali, three times heavyweight champion whose fast fists and irrepressible personality transcended sports and captivated the world “Muhammad Ali, boxing great and cultural symbol” (THT, June 5, Page 1).

Ali transcended the boundaries of sports and country and had become the greatest ambassador the United States ever employed. He was a boxer who lived up to his reputation as the greatest ever to don a pair of boxing gloves.

With his dancing feet and quick fists, he could “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee”. He had a show-time personality, dazzling footwork and great hand speed that combined to make him a champion like his sports had never seen.

Besides being a great boxer, he was a gentleman with a great sense of humour. He was not just a champion in the ring but was a champion of civil rights, and a role model for many people.

Lastly, I would like to quote his statement that “Even if you dream of beating me, wake up and apologize”! Who else can say this?

Vinod C. Dixit, Ahmedabad

Dedication

Apropos of the news story “Private sector seeks dedicated railway line” (THT, June 5, Page 16), last week a RPP leader went to great length on national TV making fun of the idea of ‘dedicated expressway’ apparently mooted by the Oli-government.

He told the interviewer he has heard about expressways but not of a dedicated one. He asked the interviewer mockingly, “Have you ever heard of a dedicated expressway?” He further told the interviewer sneeringly that since he has not heard of it and did not know about it, he contacted his lawyers to get the exact meaning of ‘dedicated expressway’.

He also denigrated Oli’s dream of constructing a two-lane road from Muglin to Narayanghat on the opposite bank of the Trisuli River.

In order not to be a butt of joke our private honchos must steer clear of the word ‘dedicated’. It seems they want the Oli-government to construct a dedicated Nepal railway line on Indian soil direct from the Visakhapatnam port to our border town of Birgung subject to India’s approval.

It would be wise to pull out the roots of dedication from our brains. It is also not difficult to imagine where the ship dream has been implanted from.

Manohar Shrestha, Kathmandu

Drug hub

Recently TIA has been reported to be a drug trafficking hub making Nepal a transit point to several countries.

Although the Narcotics Control Bureau of Nepal Police claims to have averted all attempts by international drug traffickers to smuggle cocaine to destination countries, the risks of being arrested and imprisoned don’t seem to have deterred the drug carriers.

The first recorded cocaine smuggling via Nepal dates to January 4, 2012 when a Thai woman was held for possessing one kg of cocaine at the TIA.

Some recent arrests related to drug racketeers have also occurred in our country. Of late, African nationals are becoming highly active when it comes to drugs supply from Nepal to any third country.

Hence time has come for the Nepalese government to be serious about this racket and

to enhance the country’s image as zero tolerant on drug trafficking.

Pratik Shrestha,Kathmandu