Editor,
Nearly a year has passed since the rape and brutal killing of a little girl studying in grade IV of Gokol English School. She was going to attend Sunday school and was passing through a shortcut which villagers going to Chisimapal were still using even after the main road bridge had been reconstructed. The girl never reached home. Two days later her naked body was found in a corner of a field amidst the thick bush just few meters away from the footpath she was going through. There was a small but deep cut on her throat, obviously of which she might have died or it might have been inflicted after she became unconscious after the rape had been committed. There were signs of a deep struggle between the girl and her predators. From the crime scene it was evident that there was more than one predator. The NGOs, church leaders, village leaders and the people of the area condemned the barbaric crime. A silent peace march was organized by the said leaders of the area. Hundreds of people took part in the peace march. The matter went to police; it was a clear indication of rape and brutal murder but the case remained unsolved till date. Soon it will be a forgotten case. Neither the people who condemned it nor the police will remember it. This is not the first crime off such kind in the area. Later too, there were a series of similar crimes against women committed in the area. A few suspects were picked up by the police but they were released after giving little Bible sermons. Now Bible sermon do not sound good from the police. Criminals speak a different language and their mind is a hard nut to crack. This area has become a breeding ground of all sorts of criminals. On 19 July, 2014, a retired driver who has a small tyre repairing shop was abducted and released on payment of a fat ransom. Soon after this there has been another kidnapping of a Primary school teacher and he too was released on payment of a hefty ransom. An Upper Primary School Teacher who owned a second hand car had to sell it to pay the second demand note served to him. What is surprising is that in spite of such unparalleled crimes committed in and around the area the Good Samaritan behaviors of the mahari system practiced in the area is helping criminals to take advantage. If any one of the maharis is in such trouble the whole clan contributes to get the victim out of trouble. A lady, the sole bread earner of a family whose husband had recently become jobless and runs a Zerox and passport photo counter has been slapped with a demand note of fifteen lakhs. The extortionists have threatened to kill her husband if they failed to pay the amount in three days. On 3rd August, 2014, a petty businessman was kidnapped from a village market. His whereabouts are not known. A labourer from Anogri construction site has been kidnapped and kept somewhere on the way to the District Headquarter but managed to escape while the guard was drunk. Later, from the same place a young boy was kidnapped and released sometime back on payment of a pretty sum. Recently another business man has been served with six lakh demand note. He was told to bring the money to a place on the way to Guwahati just near a police station. The latest demand note of rupees thirty lakhs was served at 8.32 am on 25th August, 2014, to a petty clerk. His fate is yet to be known. All these are happening in a corner of Garo Hills just around Gokol. Police can do nothing! Many more crimes that are worse than these are happening around Garo Hills. We have not seen any of the paramilitary forces brought from centre deployed here. Perhaps they are meant for something else. It’s a political game for the gain of few at the cost of entire Garo Hills. Do not use Garo Hills as a sacrificial goat. Garo Hills is indeed in flames.
Yours etc
Paul Young Momin.
Gokol,
Garo Hills
PM Modi with human virtues
Editor,
One’s inner character is revealed in his day to day conduct. What we are today is the result of the impressions we nurtured in the past and how we conducted ourselves. One person is kind, humble, patient and bold while another is hard, cruel, self-important and unforgiving. Well, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi has lots of those pleasantly humane streaks that cross the barriers of caste, creed and nationality. His simplicity, humility, boldness and non-ostentation have not failed to inspire the millions of Indians now.
PM Modi humbly kneeling down and touching the forehead on the ground before entering parliament house raised the eye-brows of skeptics while many drew from it the message that humility leads towards godliness. Incidentally, a lonely boy of about 9/10 years old instead of catching a Gorakhpur train back-to-home (Nepal) mistakenly boarded a train to Ahmedabad. This unknown and weary journey was to unfold an amazingly covetable destiny for him. The saga of the boy will one day be spread like a wildfire and mesmerize the world population.
It must be divine intervention that this chinky poverty-stricken boy, Jeet Bahadur from a remote village of Nepal was to meet the future Prime Minister of India, a rare persona with a rare ability to feel the heart-beat of the poor and downtrodden.
However much noise the biased media make we have long been seeing the unmatched qualities in Narendra Modi by the kind of life he lived and the ordeals he surmounted. Heart-warming anecdotes of Modi abound in his biographies written by eminent scholars. Narendra Modi could have just ignored the poor and scruffy Jeet Bahadur from a foreign land after providing food for a couple of days. Or, he could have handed him over to any responsible hotel owner or a household. There are countless households that pounce upon the poor and young boys/girls. They are much sought after for menial jobs. Again, Mr Modi could have used this boy as a servant who do chores like washing his clothes and dishes and run errands with a few hundred rupees per month as a salary. That would itself amount to great help for Jeet. Further, Narendra Modi was alone then, without the family and already entrenched deeply into politics. So, taking care of another strange boy would be a huge burden. But the sad and innocent looks of the boy must have stirred Modi’s compassionate heart. The feeling of humanity outpaced the pangs of responsibilities.
Narendra Modi arranged for his studies and bore entire other expenditures till the date. PM Modi did not use this boy for his personal work though he badly needed a bunch of subordinates for odd jobs.
Mr Jeet is a very well groomed joyful hunk now. He is pursuing BBA from one of the institutes of Gujarat. He is also an ace boxer, horse-rider, footballer and swimmer. Observing very closely, one becomes quite convinced that every gesture, every speech and every wave and demeanor makes PM Modi more endearing to the masses. Apart from his unmatched political shrewdness and boldness it so appears he is now quite doggedly determined see all 1.25 billion Indians as happy as Jeet Bahadur — ace boxers, horse-riders, footballers in the respective fields of development.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali
Shillong-2