Editor,
It is indeed a very sad day for me as a woman of the State to see an abettor in a rape case being let out on bail and is given a hero’s welcome by the people of Mawryngkneng village. This shows what kind of mindset we have when it comes to the heinous crime of rape. Such a welcome for a person who is accused of shielding the accused who “gangraped” a minor is unimaginable and would only embolden such shameful people in future to further cover up incidents of rape in their villages and perhaps like the ISIS even blame the unfortunate rape victims for the atrocities that befall them.. What a shame Indeed and what a sad day for the people of Meghalaya. We have truly fallen!
Yours etc
S. Warjri.
Shillong-1
Can a banned outfit save us?
Editor,
There is no denying the fact that there is utter lawlessness in the state and impunity on the part of perpetrators of crimes and the utter helplessness of the people in our state and society today. More so when it comes to women and children who fall prey to assault, abuse, rape and even murder. It is also true that victims are denied justice.
The caption; “HNLC vows to punish rapists” takes us back to the days when the HNLC would punish any rapist by making them wear locks in their ears as an identification mark of the crimes they committed. Certainly there was a start somewhere and rapists were punished though not commensurate to the crime they had committed. The mental agonies of the victims were and are such that they will cling on to any ray of hope that may come their way in the form of justice and only to feel and stay safe. After all a girl/ woman who had been raped will have to live with the mental trauma all her life and carry it to her grave. It pains me that in spite of having laws, the legal system and the police; the protector of the people and the state yet we have such crimes rising.
Outrageous as it may sound that the banned militant outfit, HNLC is contemplating to take the law into their hands to tackle crimes as they did in the past it only bears testimony to the fact that our Government has become so crippled that it cannot handle the utter lawlessness and insanity in the state. I fear that it has come to this pass, that to fight the crimes that permeate in our society we have to pin our hopes on an illegal, banned entity because our legitimate authorities have failed and are still failing us? I fear that the safety and security of women and children will now be dependent on a banned outfit! Most importantly, as women, if we want to feel safe and stay safe in the society, can we put our faith on the HNLC whose former core member, is a rapist? Certainly not! After all can they or anyone take the laws into their own hands?
As a lay person, I feel that atrocities against women are on the rise because perpetrators are seldom given the punishment they deserve and criminals are usually allowed to go scot free. The time is ripe that in order to safeguard women and children, speedy trials and conviction of cases of atrocities on women/ children should be the order of the day. This will deter others from committing the same crime. I fervently hope that our government and law makers and protectors take note of this appeal and enforce laws to tackle this issue at the earliest possible time through Fast Track Courts/Special Courts, etc. This is if the government really takes serious note of these heinous crimes. Hope this appeal does not fall on deaf ears of the authorities concerned.
Yours etc.,
Jenniefer Dkhar,
Via email
Recent Assembly Results
Editor,
The Council of Ministers (1957–59) of Legislative Assembly, Kerala state was led by EMS Namboodiripad as Chief Minister from April 5, 1957 to July 31, 1959. Mr Namboodiripad and his cabinet are known for their introduction of the Land Reforms Ordinance and the Education Bill which irked many senior leaders of the then Congress party and ministers particularly sycophants of Nehru. The EMS government was dismissed in 1959 by the Central Government, which invoked the controversial Article 356 of the Indian Constitution. However after EMS got elected for the second time in 1965 with a majority of CPI & CPM members, Jawaharlal Nehru engineered alliance of Congress party with Md. Koya’s Muslim League. Congress party and Kerala Congress started playing the numbers game and encouraged floor-crossing exercise for the first time in the country and succeeded in reducing the EMS Ministry to a minority and the fall of a democratically elected government .
Hence permutations and combinations that are permissible under the Constitutional framework cannot be termed as “horse-trading.” Out of sheer frustration, Mr Digvijay Singh, General Secretary of Congress party is now alleging that BJP is alluring elected representatives in the states of Goa and Manipur with money, ministerial portfolios etc. This is baseless, particularly when two Congress members have already shifted their allegiance to BJP. Mr Digvijay Singh might have made a disclosure in a state of delirium what actually Congress party is to offer as a normal modus operandi while encouraging and enticing elected members from other parties for floor – crossing.
The electorate is now conscious and has exercised its franchise with due emphasis on development issues in all the five states’ where elections were held recently. The election in Uttar Pradesh is a real game-changer and a virtual referendum in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reforms agenda and an expression of his countrywide popularity.
Yours etc.,
Samares Bandyopadhyay
Kolkata-91