Editor,
It is with a sense of disgust rooted in sadness that I write my first letter to your newspaper.
This is with reference to the news article regarding the tragic drowning of a budding life called Trisha. In the recent weeks I have been following the story of a local girl being exploited and trafficked and understandably strong sentiments were evoked in every reader and person effected by this deplorable act which was strongly condemned by one and all.
Coming back to Trisha, is her drowning a lesser tragedy than the girl who was trafficked? She at least is still alive and breathing this air of this earth today. Trisha’s death came across as routine made headlines in the front page and the usual circumstances were quoted. An obituary followed the next day and in the next few days life would move on and the incident will be neatly tucked away carved in the ink of newsprint and fading memory.
Perhaps a young tribal student drowning outside the northeast would have evoked a far stronger response but let me not get into the psyche of caste and colour; let me focus on the incident itself.
Is it not the responsibility of the Tourism Department and the Meghalaya Tourism Development Corporation ( MTDC) to regulate and codify rules and regulations regarding outdoor /water related activities? Or is it simply a conduit for channelising funds to sponsor rock concerts and festivals ? What about the District Administration? Shrugging off responsibility there as well? Has the head of the Organisation running the tourist spot and which is responsible for this tragic incident been arrested? Or has a sense of tribal brotherhood overridden the situation?
Are not life jackets mandatory? How about qualified life guards? Who looks into this aspect?
Has passing the great white buck of responsibility become our daily game as well?
Trisha’s life will be a wasted one if no responsibility is placed on the erring parties!
My condolences to the parents and a prayer for the little light. May her sacrifice not be in vain.
Yours etc.,
Zephyria,
Via email
Transparency please!
Editor,
As unemployed youth who are trying to crack various examinations being conducted by the MPSC, we find it heartening that the Commission has declared its commitment to be fair and transparent in the conduct of its examinations and interviews. However, the results declared for the posts of Assistant Inspectors of Excise did not indicate the marks obtained by the candidates which has muddied the transparency, if any, of these results. Therefore, we request the MPSC to kindly ensure that the results of the ongoing interviews for various posts like LDA, etc., should also include the marks obtained by candidates so that the Commission’s declared commitment to fair play and transparency could be seen as being truthful.
Yours etc.,
Benjamin A. Rymbai
Shillong – 2
More democracy please!
Editor,
President Pranab Mukherjee aptly remarked, in his Republic Day eve speech, that ‘we are a noisy democracy, yet we need more, not less’. It reminds us that in a democratic country there is always enough space for broad and diverse thinking and for different kinds of opinions. It also reminds us that in a democracy no people should be compelled to think in a particular way; individuals are free and encouraged to form their own conceptions of the good. That is, in democracy, citizens are free to doubt and to disagree. They have the freedom to raise their voice against any wrong happening in the country and even to criticize the democratic institutions and traditions.
It is said that the thoughts and ideas that are evolving have their own life cycle wherein they are sometimes accepted in the society and in other times create a negative ambience. The free flow of these thoughts and ideas should always be encouraged when as a nation we are aspiring towards a more progressive and more mature society and culture. That being said, public discourse should be viewed as an essential pillar of democracy for not only does it lead to gradual assimilation of ideas; it also prevents the compulsion or enforcement of thoughts and ideas on individuals. If thoughts are compelled or enforced they may lead to a culture of deviancy and rebelliousness especially among the youth, and people may become more vulnerable to radicalization. The ‘cow protection and beef ban’, for example, seems to assuage the feeling of only a particular sect with a particular opinion and the attempt to enforce on others led to chaos.
Worryingly, in recent times we are witnessing examples of public discourses turning ugly when it is doped by chauvinistic and jingoistic sub-texts. For example the idea of remaining standing when ‘national anthem’ is played before the screening of a movie in cinema halls is noble but trying to impose it without so much as a healthy conclusive debate has created a negative ambience and low acceptability among the masses. What’s sadder is that it has led to violence and even to the death of a 59 year old man in Mumbai who was assaulted for not standing up when the national anthem was being played during the screening of the movie Dangal.
Another dangerous trend is seen in the rise of ‘self-anointed vigilantes’ who are imposing their views on the masses and when the masses are sufficiently agitated to the point of criticality, they would carry those views forward like self perpetuating machines as seen in the ‘JalliKattu case’ and the ‘cow protection case’. The ‘Jallikattu episode’ in Tamil Nadu stems from a conflict between the promotion of tradition and the pursuit of animal protection. It is a testimony to the fact that Indian society has always been swift to take umbrage at any idea that seems perceptibly hostile to our social and cultural institutions. In this back drop, The President Pranab Mukherjee’s call to us to be the ‘argumentative Indian’ in his Republic Day eve speech this year is valid and timely. The JalliKattu case is also another recent example of how ideas that were hurriedly enforced with neither a conclusive public debate nor an atmosphere of acceptability have led to chaos.
And much more worrisome is the trend that criticism of the government or of people higher up the food chain in the government is now equated with anti-nationalism and has resulted in ‘sedition cases’ as seen in the ‘JNU sedition case’, or the ‘cartoonist Aseem Trivedi sedition case’.
Yours etc.,
T Fightingstar L Mawlong
Shillong-14