Editor,
Apropos the news, “Call for using Pine Mount campus for parking”, (ST, 27 July, 2017), I am totally in unison with the public for parking of vehicles of the parents’ of Pine Mount School students inside the school campus and not on the Pine Mount Ridge Road, which is for the aam admi like me. I don’t have a vehicle and I rely on my two feet and public transport to move around and I can understand very well the difficulties that pedestrians have to endure on this road everyday because the road has been grabbed for parking by the guardians of the students of this school. I found the version of the school principal absurd when she said that the ground behind the school cannot be allowed for parking of vehicles or that if vehicles are parked inside the school campus they would hit the students. If that is the case then what about those students of this school who are encountering the menacing traffic situation and still make their way to the school unhurt every morning on foot. This is not an excuse to prevent parents’ vehicles from parking inside the campus. As it is rightly pointed out by the parents’ themselves in the said news, the school has numerous interior roads and if I may add there are many nook and corners where vehicles can be parked. Apart from these there are two good width roads, one of which has been tarred recently, in the entrance to this school. These roads are always empty and should be allowed by the school authorities for parking of guardian’s vehicles instead of littering the public road.
The school should call a parents’ meeting immediately. Regarding the ground, it is not in a very good shape first of all and has been neglected. Given the size of the ground the periphery can be developed with cemented tiles to put in place a walkway which can also be utilized for car parking. This will not reduce the size of the ground in anyway. This ground can be opened up near the Red Cross junction for the guardians to park their vehicles. In this way the school can also develop the ground. The solution to the traffic mess on this road actually lies inside the school, not outside of it, and with some clear thinking everything can be sorted out.
Yours etc.
A. Lyngdoh
Shillong – 4
I fear terror-rakshaks than ‘gau-rakshaks’
Editor,
Media is rife with news that nothing is as dangerous as gau-rakshaks, “Gau rakshaks — a threat to India’s plurality” by Sujit De (ST, 24th July, 2017). I don’t fully agree with the writer and his types. In my unbiased judgement the alarm has long been sounded by the “terror-rakshaks.” Well, those terror saviours who are in various garbs and disguises are virtually strangling the nation, but screams against such subversive acts are systematically suppressed or ignored. Why is it so? Perhaps a series of books could be written for answers. Some perpetrators are political leaders – a good many from the writer’s own state.
Of course, figuratively speaking, a rat can bite you; some variety could be poisonous too. But you can’t ever compare a rat with a poisonous snake. It’s sad, that a prolific writer friend merrily puts blinders on those varieties of poisonous snakes and cries hoarse that the “rat will take your life, the rat will take your life” as if the ‘rat’ is the only dangerous creature on earth! Frankly speaking, it is for these harmless rats that an army of terror-snakes are crawling around.
Sujit De never uttered a word when West Bengal was rocked by the recent communal clashes in Baduria and Basirhat. He could probably not have kept quiet if the perpetrators of the violence and arson attacks were ones who are often the victims. This I say given his obvious abhorrence towards certain classes of people which are reflected in his endless letters. “Pluralism”, “dalit”, “secularism” communalism”.. are Sujit De’s cliched terms on which he cashes in. The writer also recently pointed out in his letter “Using children as human shields” (ST, 22 July), about the scary rallies in Darjeeling where small children were also made to stand in the front row as a “shield.”I agree. But why Sujid De’s eyes not see how the ruthless Chief Minister of West Bengal is taking the “shield” of the imported folks to strengthen her brutal power in the state and subsequently made others suffer.
Needless to say, the majority of the sons of the Bengal soil are now in the whirlpool of distress as Didi’s “ terror shield” is getting bigger. If Sujit De has doubts I can provide him a few contacts from his own community. They can surely share with him the horrid saga of terror and how it is hurting them and their native land. As a prolific writer, I am certain it will melt De’s heart, and he will get down to “write” for those oppressed, “terrorized” and much ignored indigenous Bengali masses too.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong-2