Editor,
As a Pnar, I am really proud of the fact that we had a hero, a patriot and a man of exemplary courage who fought for the land and its people so that we live a life free from bondage. Yes, every year on the 30th of December we commemorate and celebrate the death anniversary of our freedom fighter, U Woh Kiang Nangbah. On this day we are reminded of his feats and are taken back to the times when his principles and ethics were on display. However, today when we look around at the situation in our country in general and our state in particular, I am disturbed to see the crumbling of values and institutions. We are are getting from bad to worse be it in the political, social or educational sphere; in health care, environment, violence against women and children and so on and so forth. You name it we have it. In fact the list is never ending. The state is full of scams in every field possible. There are no sincere and honest politicians and bureaucrats left. Everyone is working only for the good and benefit of the self or for their kith and kin. Even the self styled NGOs which are growing like mushrooms are as they say in Khasi the “seng bamlang” not really “seng bhalang”.
In this era, we will not find any true patriot who really works for the “jaitbynriew,” let alone die for it. The usage of the word is very common and frequent but sadly with intentions focused only on the welfare of the self and the individual. The trend now is that the elites get better opportunities even if they lack eligibility and expertise while the downtrodden and common man is trampled upon.
Therefore while celebrating the death anniversary of U Woh Kiang Nangbah, we remember his valour, his heroism and courage but all of this will have no meaning if we fail to emulate the actions of the great hero. In fact all of these tributes and accolades fail to have a true bearing and an impact on any one of us especially our leaders because till date not a single leader has had the valour to take a vow and pledge to emulate this true son of the soil who gave away his life for us. A sad state of affairs indeed!
Yours etc.,
Jennifer Dkhar,
Via email
Giving children a better future!
Editor,
Noble laureate Mr. Kailash Satyarthi must be the applauded for the global recognition of his selfless, dedicated efforts in securing safe childhood for millions of unfortunate, helpless and defenseless children in India. His work may have been easier and better organized now with international funding, political and administrative support. But, I can well imagine what he had to endure at the earlier times when he started this movement. People safeguarding the exploitative slave trade on kids are politically powerful and are acutely obnoxious, politically and economically powerful and dangerous to deal with. It is amazing to think how he survived their pressures and attacks to carry this humanitarian work forward so successfully. Hats off to him for the hardship he endured personally to make life better for millions of helpless children. India being a huge country with a large human population represents an important global stake in any social movement that is undertaken. I am sure that through Mr Satyarthi’s monumental struggle in India he will continue to address this serious question of preventing child abuses and for securing a better future for them. However, I also think about countless other helpless children from the Indian subcontinent or the SAARC neighborhood nations such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka; and adjoining SE Asian, ASEAN nations such as Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia and Indonesia.
While I extend my prayers and best wishes for his continual success in working towards improving the life of millions of kids in India; I also humbly beg Mr. Satyarthi to extend some of his service and/or training, guidance and consultancies to dedicated individuals, governments, non-government organizations and allied agencies in these neighboring countries too. Hence my humble request to him is to kindly advocate to the SAARC and ASEAN platforms to extend cooperation and collaboration to save millions of deprived, exploited and unfortunate children for a better future; and for their education and security. I sincerely believe that a socio-economically empowered neighborhood will contribute to the further development and progress of India too. Mr Satyarthi’s support and attention could change the lot of underprivileged children in the SAARC and ASEAN neighborhood.
Yours etc.,
Saikat Kumar Basu
Lethbridge AB Canada T1J 4B3