Editor,
The protest rally by the East Garo Hills District Congress Committee against the Centre’s notification on cow slaughter in Williamnagar, which appeared on Page 7 of your paper (ST, June 15, 2017) along with a photograph is a piece of laughing stock. The front banner in the rally, with the likes of local MLA Deborah Marak, Congress legislator Cherak Momin and Sengman Marak participating right behind, reads “We Condemn the NDA led BJP NPP Govt. who are against anti-people, anti-tribal and anti-farmers”. What kind of a banner is this? The meaning that one gets from reading this banner is that the BJP- NPP led Govt. are pro-people, pro-tribal and pro-farmers because of the use of the word “against”. Is it not something like the Congress party here in the state actually telling us the people that the Union Government led by the BJP NPP are not against the people, tribals and farmers in this part of the country? This is a nice piece of publicity that the BJP, who are waiting to grab the throne of Meghalaya in the coming year, will take without any complaint. Is this banner an intentional blunder by the Congress party here, to indicate that many Congressmen and leaders are set to enter the BJP before the assembly elections, as claimed by the Meghalaya BJP President, Shibun Lyngdoh? After the decimation of the Congress party post 2014 and repeated slaughter of this grand old party in the state assembly elections, all over the country thereafter, it seems that the axe had fallen on the heads of the Congressmen that we are fed with such foolish banners to read. Whatever be the reason, the writing on the wall is clear.
Yours etc.
A Lyngdoh
Shillong- 4
Farmer’s plight
Editor,
It is indeed very sad to see that farmers in India have to commit suicide in utter desperation every now and again. One fails to understand why the Govt. is not able to mitigate the plight of the farmers who form an important backbone of our economy and render the most important service to the society i,e feeding the people. It is quite baffling that at a time when we are spending billions of rupees on space exploration the Govt should find it difficult to remove the long standing penury and suffering of our farmers.
Yours etc.,
Sadiq Hussain Laskar,
Via email
What absurd ideas!
Editor,
Apropos the letter of Omarlin Kyndiah (ST June 12, 2017) titled, “In 2018 CM should be from Jaintia Hills,” it is learnt that the letter is a stinging criticism over HS Shylla’s call for the next CM to be from Shillong. Kyndiah has called HS Shylla’s proposal ‘absurd.’ If so, the statement is oxymoronic as it supports what it basically opposes. For the ordinary citizen it is immaterial from where and which party and what ethnic back ground the Chief Minister or for that matter any minister comes from. What is needed is a representative who will serve the interest of the state and all its people. It is stupidity of the highest order to opine that the next CM should be expected to serve only his respective constituency. Only juveniles can give utterances to such outlandish immature understanding of our democracy. We are talking of elected representatives of the state not about petty local contractors of some small petty undertaking. Or are we? If a PhD holder carries such narrow thoughts then I pity the students he teaches. With the advent of the 2018 elections more and more absurd ideas are being touted by the so-called intelligentsia of Shillong.
Yours etc.,
SN Lyngdoh,
Shillong- 3