Editor,
Apropos the news item in your esteemed daily (ST jan 11, 2012) where John F Kharshiing terming the sacking of the Syiem of Nongspung by the KHADC as murder of democracy, to my mind and I think all right thinking citizens of the society feel the same, there is nothing to murder since the syiems are not democratically elected by a small section of the elite clans and not openly elected by the people. Moreover they are dynastic in nature since no other clan besides the Syiem clan can become Syiem. With out going into the merits or demerits of the alleged agreement signed between the Syiem of Nongspung and the Government of Assam, one thing that I observed is that the District Council is an elected body therefore it has every right to oversee the activities of the syiems and other traditional chiefs otherwise there will be anarchy in the society. When some traditional heads go crazy then the general public suffer. For example the illegal allotment of land at Mawroh by the present Syiem of Mylliem is disastrous for the environment of the surrounding villages and a plunder of the assets of the Mylliem Syiemship. Even when this illicit allotment of land has been proved beyond doubt, the Syiem could not be removed by the people just because he has the support of those few electorates. Now it is high time to rethink this undemocratic practice and clip the wings of these high handed elements in order to ensure equality in our society.
Therefore, may I enlighten Mr John F Kharshiing with the universally accepted definition of Democracy as ”a system (government) of the people, by the people and for the people” and see whether there is democracy in our traditional system.
Yours etc.,
Dondor FR Lyngdoh
Shillong-8
Facility for senior citizens
Editor,
Through your esteemed daily, we on behalf of the Central Government (Civil) Pensioners’ Association, Meghalaya would like to convey our sincere appreciation and thanks to the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd. (MeECL) for their weighted decision announced in a Press Note in the Shillong Times sometimes back for providing separate facility to senior citizens for payment of electricity bills. We hope that all other organisations, banks, hospitals etc. will adopt the same good gesture (if not already adopted) of MeECL in respect of senior citizens including pensioners in their respective field of activities, which we are sure will go a long way in boosting the morale of the elderly people and make the society a better place to live in peace and dignity.
Yours etc.,
G.C. Bhattacharjee,
Secretary
Central Govt. (Civil) Pensioners’ Association,
Shillong-4