Editor,
I was shocked and dismayed by the reported raid on the Madanryting Police Station by jawans of the Assam Rifles led by senior officers of the unit on July 6. Has martial law been declared that army jawans can so blatantly take the law into their own hands? We know of a military coup in Egypt but should army highhandedness also be tolerated in the Republic of India? Last heard there was a democratically elected Government both at New Delhi and in Shillong. How can army personnel therefore suddenly go berserk and take over a police station?
Meghalaya is not covered by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). Hence army personnel are subject to the law of the land. When they contravene such laws they are liable to be arrested by the police as any other criminal. Officers of the armed forces must understand this aspect of the law. They are servicemen, selected to serve the people and the Nation. We acknowledge the yeoman service performed by them especially in times of war and disaster. There is, however, growing evidence, especially in the upper echelons of the armed forces, that they see themselves as an occupation force, especially in NE India.
On the incident of July 6, we need to remind the Commanding Officer of the Assam Rifles of the motto of his force “Friends of the Hill People”. Friends don’t break the law or bash up policemen, ransack police stations and behave like delinquents. Unless they can live up to their motto, high sounding and pious phrases sound like hypocritical lamentations. At the very least they should respect their uniform!
Yours etc.,
Toki Blah,
Vie email
NEHU
losing focus
Editor,
Intellectuals, policy makers and genuine educators have withered. In the field of education, we see fake universities coming up. Regarding the CMJU, the Governor raked up the issue at the end of his tenure. Why didn’t he do it earlier? Now, it has led to the unsolved mystery of a missing Vice Chancellor (VC). In the ‘prestigious’ Central University – NEHU, we see only protests and procession but no results! If the funds that NEHU gets are judiciously spent it would have been be one of the best Universities in the country. Alas! There are guest lecturers and casual workers galore. Is the University facing financial crunch? Does NEHU not get sufficient grants from UGC for overall development? Today NEHU does not even have a proper welcome arch at the gate.
In some departments, the faculty is hired as stop-gap arrangement. In the Department of Cultural and Creative Studies, Dr. S.K. Nanda is hired to teach Folklore while his specialty is ‘Rural Development’. Firstly, folklore has nothing to do with rural development. It is a dynamic study of urban culture, folk narratives, epic and legends. Secondly, folklore deals with culture, theories of Freud, Derrida, Michel Foucault, Strauss, Roland Barthes and the more recent ones of Gary Alan Fine, Alan Dundes, Richard Dorson et al. No wonder, his name is missing in the department faculty list of the NEHU website. Students complain of his teaching technique. The Department already has eligible lecturers who have completed or are pursuing their thesis or PhD. Nanda’s appointment is irregular as the post was not advertised. If an RTI is carried out, he may be compelled to leave the Department which has no correlation with his expertise. Recently, the Department advertised for the post of Associate Professor but there were vacancies only for SC and general candidates. There were no vacancies for STs! And to think that the University is located in a State dominated by STs with several eligible individuals who could apply for the post. I wonder if other Departments face a similar fate where the competence of the faculty is being questioned. In the end it is the students that suffer. In the NEHU website we see the names of only Prof. Desmond L. Kharmawphlang and Dr. Lapynshai Syiem and they are the only eligible lecturers in the Department if we go by academic records and contribution to the study of folklore and folk music.
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request