Editor,
The Public Interest Litigation filed by Michael Syiem President of Mait Shaphrang Movement for abolition of District Councils can be termed as a move in the right direction. Syiem has questioned the political and social logic of having multiple organs of governance and administration. I recollect an event organized before the MDC elections where the subject pertaining to the need of having district councils came up for debate. Amongst the panel members were Bindo Lanong, Ardent Basawiamoit, Michael Syiem, Adelbert Nongrum and few others. What I and maybe other readers would understand and agree is that for the past so many years all those MDCs’ who trotted around in two uniforms even as MLAs’ went to a deep slumber without doing anything worthwhile for the community they talk off, only to be awoken by a pro-active High Court and then we see all the political tamasha out in the open. Dubious firms have exploited this so called ‘Jaidbynriew ba Kyrpang’ or unique race to the extent that forests, mineral resources have been plundered and water systems being poisoned. Many cases affecting people in the border areas or far flung villages have remained unattended. There has been not a single conclusive solution that the district councils have achieved. They have only become a centre where an MDC graduates to a Master’s Degree of becoming an MLA.
Yours etc…
Dominic S. Wankhar
Shillong-3
Police misdemeanour
Editor,
On the September 28 last at about 2:15 pm at Don Bosco Square I was picking up my daughter and her friends from school and waiting for my driver who was coming from Dhankheti Point to pick us up. Immediately on his arrival while we were getting inside our car that hardly took us 30 seconds ,one of the traffic police by the name D.K.Shullai all of a sudden started using abusive language at me in front of my daughter and her friends. When I protested against his behaviour he snatched away my car keys and driving license without giving any reason for his action. When I asked him the reason for his harsh behaviour he didn’t bother to reply but made us wait for an hour. The kids had to bear the punishment
which he had given to me. On the same date I had also filed a complaint to the Superintendent of Police(
Traffic) for action to be taken against his misdeeds. My question here is whether the police is here to help us or to harass us. I have seen many of them behaving rudely with senior citizens and kids. However, there are some policeman who do their duties diligently and really help the citizens in every possible manner .But because of some of their ill mannered colleagues they also have to face the wrath of the public.
Yours etc.,
Tapash Gupta,
Via email
Golf course or garbage dump?
Editor,
“Shillong is gradually turning into a garbage city” is a statement that is becoming more true as days go by. I am sure readers may be tired of listening to my jargon on cleanliness but I am coerced to do it because no tangible actions have been taken in this regard. As a concerned citizen and as a Shillongite, I feel deeply sad to witness the scarred face of our beloved city. This morning I passed through the Golf Links and what shocked me was the sight of massive littering there. What a shame for our citizens to desecrate such hallowed grounds. For the Catholics it is a place where Pope John Paul II set his foot in 1986. I do not know whom to blame for such callousness. May be all are to blame. First of all, the Golf Club is responsible to a great extent because it fails to provide dustbins where the people could throw the waste. Shockingly after all these years of complaint I have not seen a single dustbin in Golf Links. If those members of the Club could purchase golf bats and balls costing thousands of rupees, why can’t they spend a few hundred rupees to buy even a few Khasi khoh (baskets) to place as dustbins in and around the ground. Secondly, the government is to be blamed because no disciplinary actions have been implemented. There has been a suggestion from me and others to put in place a disciplinary squad (call it “the Green Police”) who will oversee the cleanliness of the city and would have the power to impose fines on any transgressors.
Let us not forget that people in India (due to a defective up-bringing) are not spontaneous in observing some basic etiquettes of life but they still need a disciplinary hand behind them. The fact that people could dump huge amount of garbage on the roadsides along our national highways, is a clear manifestation of a total absence of civic sense which needs to be tackled by the hand of the law. In failing to address this issue the government has displayed a lack of political will and a short-sightedness in administration. We have just one big city in the State and our inability to maintain it speaks volume of the administration’s inefficiency. Lastly, all citizens are to blame because we do not display enough civic sense. The fact that “we are scrupulous about our home’s cleanliness but callous about our city” is a sheer lack of a sense of belonging. I hope that more concerned citizens will join my voice in this regard and perhaps when our whisper would have become a vociferation, then the authorities would be compelled to act.
Yours etc.,
Barnes Mawrie sdb
Via email
Well done Nepal!
Editor,
No words of praise are enough for Nepal for the secular federal elements that have been enshrined in the Constitution. With each passing day, the society of the world (barring few civilized countries of Europe (Switzerland, Norway and New Zealand) are increasingly getting Talibanised. Even countries which officially swear by secularism and federalism are rapidly showing deadly fangs of communalism. Racism is rearing its ugly head and federalism is getting ruthlessly assaulted in the name of “unity” and “integrity”. In this very pathetic scenario awarding due respect to all regions, races, languages and religions are the need of the hour to prevent the society from disintegration and an enlightened Nepal has rightly shown the path of harmony and the spirit of respect to all through its Constitution. However, an individual or a nation gets recognized by its deeds, not mere words. As I have written, many officially secular countries are also displaying their vulgar aspects of communalism. Nepal should ensure that the secular and federal spirit gets practically implemented and I am sure that my Nepali cousins will translate all written noble words into reality as well.
Yours etc.,
Kajal Chatterjee
Kolkata -114. .