Editor,
It is interesting to note the timing of the 36-hour bandh called by the HNLC in the State recently. Although officially mooted as a protest for the President’s visit during the death anniversary of Wycliff Syiem (a particularly weak excuse for a bandh!), it is but obvious that there is something deeper at play here.
This bandh comes at a time when the entire State is preoccupied with the ILP and influx issue. So either the HNLC have lost touch with the people they say they represent or it was a concerted effort (which failed miserably) to divert the public’s attention away from the bigger issue.
It is no secret that the HNLC finds support from the pro-Islamic fundamentalist elements in Bangladesh. These elements (read ISI) have long tried to destablise the North East by sponsoring the insurgent groups. The question to be asked then is ‘Have the HNLC just become a puppet of a foreign sponsored anti-Indian agenda in the NE Region?’ They claim that sovereignty is their main issue, however that is deeply out of sync with current public concerns, which are employment and development. In fact if India were to (magically and unpractically) grant the Hynniewtrep people sovereignty, being a small landlocked nation, it is to Bangladesh that we would have to depend on for greater support. Is this what the HNLC wants? For these hills to be ruled from Dhaka? It is not too far-fetched to assert that the HNLC even assist illegal immigration, since they are regular border crossers and know exactly where the weak points along the border are. A clue to all these above questions is to point out that the HNLC, during their short active lifespan, have always directed their ire and ammunition towards (legal) migrants from the rest of the country, while keeping quiet on the illegal immigrant issue. This reminds of a saying…..the dog never bites the hand that feeds it.
Yours etc., ,
Kyrshan Singh,
Shillong
Bureaucrats losing touch with ground realities
Editor
The call of ICARE to defy the bandh by attending a public rally called by the organisation on the 21st October 2013 at Khyndai Lad was well publicised in all the leading local newspapers prior to the date . The Government would also be well aware of this. As a responsible citizen of Shillong, I also attended the rally and reached the venue in time when a small crowd had already started collecting and members of ICARE such as Bah Toki Blah and Kong Patricia Mukhim besides others were also prominently present there. The venue was just below the steps leading to the old Assembly Building and close to the main road. There were very few plying vehicles which also move slowly because of the gathering crowd . It was then that I saw the a police pilot vehicle passing by with another vehicle following behind with the name plate “Chief Secretary Meghalaya ” prominently displayed in front. I am not sure as to whether the official was inside the vehicle . If he was there, he surely would not have missed seeing the gathering and the members of ICARE present there in front of a huge poster of the organisation . If he did see all these, I wonder as to why he could not afford to stop even for one minute to wish the members of ICARE good luck or to give them a pat in the back for the good work because after all they are initiating a movement which this very same government also wanted the public to do and that is to defy the bandh. Such a gesture on his part though small would surely send the right message and encouragement. I do not see anything officially wrong in that. Merely issuing public announcements on paper which, however, is a routine procedure will not produce the desired effects in any case. The point which I want to bring here is that our bureaucrats particularly the locals should come out from their shells and mingle with the people wherever and whenever necessary when the purpose is for the good of the people and not to restrict themselves to mere government rituals and duties only. They should also keep in mind the people’s best interests always while performing those duties which their political masters ask them to. If our local bureaucrats sincerely love our people and earnestly work for the people’s welfare I am sure the State would not be in a pathetic position as it is now .
Yours etc.,
Kyrchan Dkhar,
Shillong-2