Editor,
When the PM inaugurated the rail connectivity to Mendipathar my mind strayed back to the time when aboard the Rajdhani, about a two months ago, I came across an article on the railway magazine there on how ‘the abode of the clouds’ will be connected by the railways as a part of the government project to uplift infrastructure in the landlocked north-east. I was in for a surprise when I discovered in the very same article that Meghalaya did boast of a rail line from Sohra to Companyganj in present day Bangladesh in the late 1800s! The great earthquake of 1897 had absorbed every detail of what would have been a world Heritage site this day and history seems to have been unfair to this chapter as well. The topographical change that was unpleasantly brought about by the seismic jolt has layered the memories with boulders. About 128 years later when the railways have slowly chugged into my State, I am filled with a sense of pride but a plethora of doubts and questions have rushed in as well. The PM has promised that the Mendipathar would be the most secure, the cleanest and greenest railway station in the country. Although the question about cleanliness very much depends upon the commuters it is not a difficult realization for a state that boasts of the cleanest village in the whole of Asia. The north-east has always been in the radar for insurgency and the tumultuous extremism that has been on the rise in the Garo Hills implies an impeccable security. Not that I have a premonition of something unpleasant happening, but security lapses do not come invited. However, brushing aside any foreboding that seems to preoccupy my mind, it sure is a matter of great significance and I am hopeful that history will now not be unfair to this chapter and as denizens of this State I hope we are successful in upholding the tag of the greenest, cleanest and most secure railway station in the nation.
Yours etc.,
Parikhit Dutta,
Via email
KSU responsible for state’s backwardness
Editor
KSU President Daniel Khyriem’s statement offering “conditional support” to railways in Shillong is laughably ironic. It took almost half a century for a single railway track of hardly 15km to become functional in Garo Hills. The applause for laying a 15km line to put Meghalaya on the railway map is overshadowed by the realization that we allowed an ignominious student’s body like KSU to turn back the clock and keep us in a backward state for so many decades. The KSU and its offshoots have reaped the benefits of keeping out the railways by collecting “HAFTA” from trucks, making them rich and untouchable. The police are hand in glove with KSU in this method of extortion. The illegal migration issue is whipped up by KSU only for the purpose of collecting “fees” from contractors and companies to use outside labour. Once the money is paid, there is no more problem. Everybody knows this, including the police who are involved in this racket. As someone remarked, our pressure groups are nothing more than the Mafia using threats, blackmail and terrorist tactics to extort money. Its high time the NIA and CBI started investigating them seriously, with or without State Govt cooperation! The State police will not act against them because of common interest in extorting money.
Yours etc.,
Bennet Suchiang
Jowai
The case for Khasi language
Editor,
On Nov 28 the intellectual community of Shillong attended the National Writers’meet organised by the Sahitya Academy and other local collaborators at St. Edmund’s College. What struck me was a point in the keynote address of the Principal, St. Edmund’s College where he stated that the local people should be proud of their own literature. He said that if people are ashamed about their literature or ignore it, a day will come when that language will be dead.
In the present context, when the Khasi language has been relegated to an optional subject by its own State Education Board, i.e. MBOSE., it is more than a wake- up call for the local indigenous community to reflect on what is happening. The Khasi language has no pride of place even in day to day dealings. Our young ones prefer to speak Hindi or English instead of Khasi because of this perceived sense of inferiority of their own language. This is a trend I have noticed only in our State. It is time we changed this attitude and our mindsets. Only in Shillong and other parts of Khasi and Jaintia hills do local people prefer to use other languages than their own. If we go down to Guwahati ,Tura or elsewhere in India, people are proud of their language and use it even to talk to others who are not locals and people from outside take pleasure to learn the local language and customs of these areas because they see the beauty of the tribe/people of the area. Can we not project the beauty of our language and culture by returning to our roots?
I would therefore urge our young people to take out their jainsems, tapmohkhliehs, dharas and mukas to adorn themselves with the dresses of our ancestors. Let us hear more of Khasi language in our streets and markets. Let us hear more of Khasi songs, Khasi poetry, Khasi tunes and see more Khasi etiquette in our streets and homes. Let us not forget how beautiful our heritage and customs are. Pardon me if I have hurt the feelings of anyone as this letter is not intended to belittle or criticize anyone.
Yours etc.,
E.W. Shadap,
Shillong-1