Thursday, November 14, 2024
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Is this Khasi tradition?

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Editor,

I am a frequent visitor to your beautiful city. I have been coming to Shillong every year for the past 5 years and I have had nothing but good things to say about the place and the people. But today I was utterly shocked by the sight of Khasi boys in traditional dress breaking shops and assaulting people in Laitumkhrah in the early evening. They were part of a procession waving blue banners which was moving through Laitumkhrah towards Fire Brigade part of the city. I happened to be coming out of a fruit stall when without warning, hordes of boys descended on the shops and started smashing up everything in sight and hitting people indiscriminately. This was a frightful experience as I barely managed to run out and escape getting injured. I was not sure what the reason was at the time. But some of the local people later told me that it was their way of protesting against non-Khasi people. I guess this includes me so I am resolving with much regret never to return to your beautiful city. I hope the problems whatever they are will be sorted out in a peaceful manner without violence. One other thing I want to point out is that the tradition of the Khasis has been lowered today because the perpetrators were all dressed in local Khasi costume. What a bad message to send out to the rest of the country!

Yours etc.

Robert Tuli

Dehradun,

Camp: Shillong

Attack on Laitumkhrah

Editor,

Hooligans in Khasi traditional attire were seen ransacking shops and breaking window panes of shop belonging to the non-tribal community in Laitumkhrah at 6pm today. It was a pre-planned attack on the non-tribal community, which started from the Laitumkhrah Taxi Stand and continued towards Fire Brigade. Shop owners and pedestrians too were assaulted by these “Pillars of Khasi Culture”. The policemen were notoriously absent even though the carnage started barely hundred metres from the Laitumkhrah Taxi Stand. I am sure all non-tribals of India will now truly appreciate the real meaning of Khasi culture through this attack.

As a person who has lived more than fifty years in Shillong, this seems to be a return to the ‘glory days’ of the eighties. It is not enough to merely condemn these acts or try to portray them as isolated incidents. People are tired of the same lackadaisical approach of policemen to security of non-tribals. We need to see the leaders arrested and thrown into jail. We need the Home Minister to explain the complete lack of intelligence and preparedness for this attack. Why did the police allow this procession to take place through the heart of the city without adequate preparation and security arrangements? Who are the leaders? Have they been arrested yet or is this going to be another of those famous Meghalaya Police cover-ups? Is the Meghalaya Police really so useless that the best they can manage is “no parking” zones and nothing more than that? I urge the Chief Minister and his colleagues to wake up to the issue of citizens’ security in Shillong before the whole thing spirals out of hand. We already have a rape record in the north-east. And now to add to it, we have Khasi boys in traditional attire indulging in wholesale destruction and carnage in the heart of the city. Do they know that they are showcasing the “BEST OF KHASI CULTURE” with such shameful attacks? They have shamed the Khasi tribe before the whole world by their deeds today! But is anyone going to be held accountable in racist Meghalaya? Let the Home Minister answer through her actions instead of mere speeches!

Yours etc.,

Ajay Sharma

Shillong-3

Of being equal

Editor,

The Supreme Court has given the Centre and the states time until the second week of July to take remedial measures to reduce the use of red beacons and sirens on vehicles, failing which it will pass appropriate orders. It has also ordered changes in the motor vehicles act and rules which would go a long way in saving the common man from egoistic mortals and foul mouthed escorts. It has also noted that escort vehicles of other states should not resort to ill- mannered attitude like waving their guns, sticks or foul mouthing the public when passing through another state. Hope this exercise brings some humility and bursts the egos of these less important people behaving like feudal lords.

Yours etc.,

Dominic S Wankhar

Shillong-3

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