Deconstructing the President’s visit
Many wonder who briefed the President of India about the face-off between the Government and NGOs here and how the President was spot on in his remarks that the doors of the government should always be open to civil society.
It is no rocket science that the President would have been briefed of the political situation obtaining in the state of Meghalaya.
But whether the briefing was nuanced enough for the President to understand that the 36 –hour bandh was called by a militant group – the HNLC – to protest the President’s visit on a day that coincided with the 25th death anniversary of their hero – Wycliffe Syiem who died at Dhaka, Bangladesh. Whether the President was suggesting that the Government talk to the HNLC is unclear.
It is the duty of the Governor of any state to brief Rashtrapati Bhavan about the absence of normalcy in the state, more so when the President is visiting the state.
In this case, the President’s Secretary is also the wife of the Governor of Meghalaya, hence Dr Pranab Mukherjee should have an even clearer picture of the state of affairs here.
And the picture is the demand by certain groups for an Inner Line Permit.
Besides, in all fairness the President of the country is a figurehead having nothing to do with partisan politics and is therefore not expected to take the side of the Government of Meghalaya merely because it is Congress-led.
The public in general were happy with the President’s speech in the Assembly because.
It is the public which is caught between the devil and the deep sea in this war of nerves between the government and the Pro-ILP groups.
The public is suffering bandhs and road blockades; they are the scapegoat in the present crisis.
DDK Shillong has lost it
On 26th October thousands gathered at the Rotary at Khyndailad for the candle-light vigil to mourn the death of 34 year old Vikash Nandwal, a local businessmen who was set on fire on October 9th last. Doordarshan Kendra Shillong never covered the event.
The channel is so blatantly pro-UPA and pro-Congress that it decided to focus instead on Rahul Gandhi’s speech in a Congress election rally held at Delhi praising Sheila Dikshit.
Is this why DDK Shillong was created so that we are fed a daily diet of Delhi news?
As if we don’t have enough of the silly rhetoric of politicians! Is there not enough news generated from Meghalaya?
Or is it that DDK has no foot soldiers to generate news for it? Something ought to be done to make DDK Shillong sit up and take notice.
What’s your BBM pin?
The tech savvy youth of Shillong are moving at the same pace as the rest of the world and the introduction of BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) Service on Android platform has already gripped everyone because today you don’t have to own a BlackBerry to use the famed messaging platform.
A well-received ad campaign never defines the success of a product. Similarly, the arrival of BBM on Android and iPhone may have pulled in a large number of users, but the humongous 10 million downloads in 24 hours are not necessarily an indicator that users are content and would continue using the app, that was once a BlackBerry device exclusive.
The ongoing frenzy of sharing BBM PINs is what keeps the youth busy as of now.
From Facebook updates of their BBM pin to Whatsapp status, the level not explored remains getting a tattoo of the pin on the forehead!
Today the frenzy is such that BBM pins are tweeted as well and this seems like a new virus.
The penetration of other cross messaging IM platforms like Whatsapp and We Chat are too deep to be unearthed.
Validity of the statement comes to light with people saying, “Please Whatsapp your BBM pin!”
A new lingo of the tech savvy types!
Next even bandh messages need not come through conventional media.
It spreads faster through Whatsapp. As it is, today people are just waiting for the next bandh to happen!