Editor,
Transgendered people in India are the most secluded, excluded, and marginalised section in
society…unfortunately, they are most ridiculed in media too…they made to live in separate communities or locations, they had to resort to petty crimes for survival…there is always a self other hierarchy when from people with defined gender…on and off they suffer from mental and
physical violence but to no respite. References of transgender are present in our epics and their contribution to society can also be accessed from various accounts of Mughal era..but still they are suffering from social exclusion. Very less has been done to uplift and bring them to mainstream life without fear or prejudice. Even today there is no reservation for transgenders in educational institutions and public offices. We still have a long way to go in order to become an inclusive society. We talk about gender and development but neglect the transgendered who actually possess none of the weaknesses either of men or women. We need to think about the transgendered with greater empathy.
Yours etc.,
Priyanka Chakrabarty,
Via email
How long this discrimination?
Editor,
I have noticed from time to time, that people from my community (Nepali/Gorkhali) are always targeted and issued Quit notice for no fault of ours. The K.S.U and H.N.L.C have always been vociferous against this community. I honestly want to ask them, if there is trouble in Langpih or elsewhere why are we troubled here in Shillong for no fault of ours? I sincerely don’t know, when and why my grandparents settled in Meghalaya. But I do know that my parents and I were born and brought up here in Shillong and from my heart I have felt this city and its people to be my own. Yet my community continues to be targeted all the time and it really pains me. I ask my parents why we are living here, when we are always considered outsiders ( Illegal immigrants) and they have no answer. I wish to ask the indigenous people of Meghalaya, especially the K.S.U and H.N.L.C why they have so much aversion towards people from my community. No one speaks against this injustice meted towards us. Not the political bosses; not the NGOs.
Yours etc.,
Sunil Khanal,
Shillong – 2
Orphaned citizens of Meghalaya
Editor,
It is indeed shameful that our representatives and our governments in the past and the present lack the will to solve the border dispute with Assam, once and for all. Time and again we hear of the terror, the fear and the hardships that our Khasi brethren are made to face every day in their lives yet there has been no earnest effort on the part of the governments then and now to work towards finding a concrete solution to the border dispute. All that we have been hearing are the talks that the governments of Meghalaya and Assam are engaged in but to no effect. Now that the entire country is exercising its franchise for the Lok Sabha elections the news that our own brethrens are made to exercise their franchise twice reveal the apathy of our Government and a loss of identity and uncertainty for these people. Despite being citizens of Meghalaya they are orphaned because no one cares for them. The lethargy and nonchalance of both governments towards these people have resulted in their pitiable condition. What is sad and regrettable is that our brethrens will continue to live a life of uncertainty and fear because our government continues to be complacent about the issue is and insensitive and negligent towards its people.
Yours etc.,
Jenniefer Dkhar,
Via email