Editor,
Of late the Church has been condemned and censured by all so-called and self-styled right thinking people for not joining the bandwagon of political correctness. It seems there is this repressed undercurrent and even sub-conscious angst for the past, in the elites in our society, a hypocritical moralistic tendency to see the Church once again embroiled in the common man’s affairs. No, they cry, it is not enough for church goers to be fed with spiritual food alone. If the Church is to mean anything in the people’s lives it is imperative that it sticks its timid head out to shout against injustice and inhumanity. For that matter, they decry, it does not mean anything for anyone to sympathise with any victim in private anymore. Private sympathy and empathy accompanied by prayer for consolation and for change are of no consequence. What counts is how much you reveal your well-placed humane sentiments in public through newspapers and televisions.
Over the years the Church seems to have learnt the reason of its existence: to work in silence through the means that the world disdains. The Crusades have taught it well; and countless revolutions till date have been scaring it away from kings and secular ministers. It has learnt at its own expense that too much temporal power and political hegemony and interference had helped her only in sliding away from the humble path of Christ. Ironically but interestingly, now in the 21st century when everything seems bad for its progress, the Church is regaining lost ground as an aftermath of its dwindling political involvement.
Let us not push the Church back to its medieval glory. Don’t incite and tempt it anymore to the beauty of having to say the right thing in public as perceived and understood by those who pay no heed to what it says in other spheres of human behaviour. Let it continue doing its work in silence, the task of guiding lost souls who rely faithfully on its perceived encompassing power to counsel, comfort and accommodate, however, primitive or mind-rattling these words may sound. Unknown to many who have chosen to intellectually or morally distance themselves from the Church, churches of all denominations in the State have been campaigning through prayer and fasting and at times through biblical discourses for a positive solution to this present political upheaval, not forgetting the souls that have fallen victims of violence. This is what the Church is meant for. It is not a reactionary institution. Forced to become so, it will corrupt everything and everyone. Let’s learn from history.
Yours etc.,
Banlam K Lyngdoh,
Via email
Abuse of privilege
Editor,
In connection to the article captioned ‘Boy on the wheel creates havoc in the city (ST’ October 9th 2013). It surprises me that the police refused to divulge the identity of the boy. Are the police covering up for those in power? Or is it another story of power suppressing the law? Should not the law be equal for everyone-irrespective of who they are? I drove past the Army School, Shillong Cantonment two days later and I saw the same boy behind the same wheel in the same school uniform. So here we go identity revealed to some extent! The boy is a student of the Army School Shillong- he was in school uniform. I believe the Police should bring the matter to light and a lesson has to be taught to offenders at the right time. This is not the first instance where a civilian has made wrong use of power and in this case ‘public property’ because that car either belongs to a Government office, or if it is a personal car then the VIP light should not be attached to it. The legislator, whoever he/she may be was elected by public not to treat the public like mere objects but to value the support that the public have for him/her. Such misuse of power must be severely condemned and the matter must be brought to light so that such incidents do not recur. Should the media not find out the identity of the boy and shame him for wrongdoing. Or are they too conniving with the powerful?
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request
Rich state, Meghalaya
Editor,
In your editorial “Weak kneed government “(ST 23rd October 2013) you have stated that the only sign of prosperity in the state are the swanky vehicles costing lakhs of rupees which each Minister/Parliamentary Secretary and the top bureaucrats are driving around in. High end SUVs, expensive Sedans and what else, you name them and our public servants have them. In no time they will be driving around in BMWs, Audis or Range Rovers because according to their assessment there is already all round development in Meghalaya and which therefore leads to a high per capita income. Hence people can afford to provide them these swanky vehicles. Moreover, they must be feeling they have served the people well and therefore they deserve as such. What is also amazing is the number of vehicles with red beacons in Shillong. These vehicles belong to these very same public servants. While this is a rare sight in major cities and state capitals in India, the sight of many such vehicles in Shillong would make one think that there are more VIPs here than anywhere else in the country. It seems like every public servant is a VIP who has to assert his or her importance prominently through flashing of these red beacons on their respective vehicle rooftops. We see such vehicles everywhere. We see them during church gatherings , in weddings, during funerals, at the school gates, in Police Bazaar, in Bara Bazar. We see them even during organised fishing competitions where some VIPs also happen to be competitors. Well, these VIPs can afford the leisure as there is nothing more to do. After all, this is already a developed state. Moreover, this is a free country. So all these public servants can do whatever they like. There is no one to control them because the one who is supposed to control them is least bothered. So how about all of us with vehicles also fit a red beacon on them? If people make way for VIPs they must make way for us as well because we are equally important. Furthermore, who cares? We are already living in the most prosperous and developed state. Didn’t the Raghuram Rajan Committee just say so?
Yours etc.,
R Sawkmie
Shillong-4
An inhuman act!
Editor,
I am saddened by the news of the death of Vikash Nandwal, the victim of the arson attack. It is a targeted attack that we, the people of Meghalaya, need to be ashamed of. Another innocent human being is lost just because of an ideology. The perpetrators of violence need to realize that Vikash is not just a subject of their hatred but a son of his parents, a member of the family and a precious human being. How many more lives do we have to sacrifice in order to realize the importance of love for our fellow human beings? Are we to achieve a goal or an ideology by killing each other? I personally condemn this hideous murder!
The spirit of forgiveness in the father, JS Nandwal, is simply admirable. At the very moment of losing his only son, for Mr. Nandwal to say ‘Let God forgive them’ and ‘I hold no grudge against them’ is something godly. We in Meghalaya need to learn from this incident and from the refined attitude of someone like JS Nandwal.
Yours etc,
George Shining Lyngkhoi
Shillong -08