Editor,
While the security forces speak of desisting from human rights abuses they continue to indulge in torture, disappearance and fake encounters. One such alleged killing in the name of counter -insurgency occurred on January 26, 2011 in the outskirts of Williamnagar town in which the security forces led by the Williamnagar Circle Inspector, T C Chacko killed one Washington N Marak in a fake encounter on suspicion that he was a militant. Marak was first detained and then shot from point blank range. He happened to be a simple labourer employed by the Nokma of Chachatgre. It is wrong of the district administration to describe the incident as an exceptional encounter and that cross-firing had taken place.
Many NGOs and people from all walks of life condemned this ‘extra judicial killing.’ But what is appalling is that more than a year has elapsed and despite much hue and cry from various quarters the State Government has done nothing for the bereaved family of late Washington N Marak. Nor has the involved police personnel been booked. I urge upon the State Government to act on this matter before people take to the streets as this may cause major law and order problems.
Zintu N Marak
President
Federation For Achik Freedom(FAF)
East Zone Williamnagar
An apology
Editor,
This is an apology to the Government of Meghalaya that the earlier letter written by me about the official visit to Belgium to attend the World Bamboo Congress (WBC) from 15th to 19th April was never intended to embarrass the government but to let people know that we have so much talent in the state in the area of bamboo which we have never given much importance to. We need to revive this and government should play a leading role. I am happy to note that the state government has taken steps to see it come up as a renewed activity in the near future.
Yours etc.,
Ghani Zaman
Via email
Edufest – a genuine brand
Editor,
Mr. N Lyngdoh’s letter (ST April 24) contained a couple of good points, but he also made a few generalizations and was misdirected in his rant. Edufest is a brand owned by Lynchpin exhibitions, based out of Guwahati. Since Edufest has become such a popular brand over the last 10 years, today all education exhibitions are referred by the generic name of Edufest.
We only allow accredited institutes to participate directly at our exhibitions after checking their antecedents and only then allow them to participate. In today’s world a students want information about educational options anywhere in the world. Our education exhibitions were launched to provide genuine, correct information to students directly. Students from the North East have been going to different places of India and abroad because of (a) lack of seats in good quality institutions in the region (b) lack of enough professional courses (c) lack of post study work opportunities (d) desire for better exposure not only in their studies but also in life (f) desire for studying in some of the best institutes available. The idea is also to create a platform which enables students and parents to have access to good information and make informed decisions, while earlier they relied on third party information.
Over the last 10 years Lynchpin’s exhibitions have grown because students and parents have found it useful. Parents did not have to leave or spend huge amounts of money to hunt for good institutions. Students could come to our exhibitions and ask questions about the claims made by colleges, verify their claims, analyze their options against local options. This has become the only platform for students to interact directly with institutions which would not have been possible unless the student travels to all these colleges. Thus our exhibitions provide a snapshot of the options open to a student right here in Shillong!
Lynchpin has also brought renowned organizations like the British Council and USEIF ( American Centre) to Shillong through Edufest and also a host of renowned Indian Institutions every year. Edufest has brought in India’s most well known counselor Usha Albuquerque to Shillong to offer free counseling to students. Lynchpin has been organizing exhibitions across North East capitals for a decade and their fairs have been well received and are supported by various government departments.
Undoubtedly Shillong boasts of high quality institutions. Interestingly, this year Shillong-based institutions, including one of the oldest colleges has expressed a desire to participate in our exhibitions this year, for they see it as a good opportunity to interact with students. We also agree that the success we have spawned has also brought in unethical competition. They have tried to copy our exhibitions with similar sounding names and have brought some dubious institutions here which have left students stranded. Students and parents must be careful of these kinds of exhibitions.
But please do not tar us with the same brush. We are open to criticism and healthy debate, I would like to invite N Lyngdoh to our exhibition and take him around personally for him to make a more realistic assessment.
Yours etc.,
Kaushik Barua
Managing Director
Lynchpin