By Our Reporter
Shillong: People of the State on Tuesday paid rich tributes to freedom fighter U Tirot Singh Syiem on his 177th Death Anniversary.
Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma laid a wreath at the memorial monument of U Tirot Singh at Mairang in West Khasi Hills district.
The Khasi Students’ Union, the Hynniewtrep National Youth Front and other NGOs also paid rich tributes to the Khasi freedom fighter who had fought against the might of the British Empire.
Former KSU leader Paul Lyngdoh, at a function on Tuesday, stated that love for a community cannot be derived from a one-day movement or a short-lived revolution but depends on the constancy and firmness in what one believes.
Lyngdoh was addressing a gathering at an album releasing function of the KSU South West Khasi Hills as part of the 177th Death Anniversary of Tirot Singh Syiem at the Jaiaw Community Hall.
Stating that many organisations have sprung up in the name of ‘protecting the indigenous tribes’, Lyngdoh said that these organisations would probably fight and compete amongst themselves rather than focusing on their main goal.
Terming Meghalaya as a small Hill State, Lyngdoh said in terms of quantity, Meghalaya has already lost but one can cover up this disadvantage through its qualitative possessions stating that ‘Quality matters at the end of the day no matter how big or small a community or region is’.
One the same note, former KSU president and present convener of the Mait Shaphrang Movement, Michael Syiem, said that it is high time for the people of the State to stop being paper tillers but start becoming intellectual militants.
“The youth should refrain from copying the western lifestyle but stick and uplift their own way of life to ensure that our community develops in all spheres via its good reputation,” he said.
The fourth music album of the KSU Ka Nakra ka Sangot was also released on the occasion. This music album consists of 15 songs and five videos. The KSU also presented the Heroes Award to mountaineer Gary Jarman Lamare and CNN-IBN Real Heroes awardee Bertha Dkhar, the Headmistress of Jyoti Sroat School for the visually impaired.
In another function, eminent journalist of the State, Sumar Sing Sawian observed that the State observes the Death Anniversary of Tirot Sing Syiem every year, but in reality the indigenous tribes are losing their land and their identity to big firms and multi-national companies.
Sawian was speaking at a panel discussion organised by the Riti Academy and Friends Connection.
Sawian also stressed on the need to revive the patriotic spirit of freedom fighters like Tirot Sing Syiem and Kiang Nangbah.
Others speakers including former Rajya Sabha MP BR Kharlukhi, NEHU Professor Desmond L Kharmawphlang and UDP legislator Paul Lyngdoh spoke at length about the life and struggle of U Tirot Singh.
Poetries were read out by Kharmawphlang and Lyngdoh on the subject of love for one’s own community and identity. A vernacular extempore speech was also held on the occasion.