Editor,
Through your esteemed newspaper I would like to bring to public notice the pathetic condition of State Bank of India Laban Branch. Though we are in the new age banking systems most of the customers specially the youth and middle aged groups perform their banking through various online systems but the majority of us and senior citizens still continue with the manual procedures. Hence we need to visit the branch frequently, but performance of the branch at present is less than average. When this branch was opened it was possibly the first ladies’ branch in Shillong, and one of the best maintained branches in the city but in course of time it shifted from its founding place to a bigger location which generated more customers comprising of both male and female customers. However, the efficiency which was prevalent in the past gradually disappeared. The sole reason for the inefficiency is manpower shortage. Presently this financial institution is running with just three to four staff. Hence I request the higher authorities of the State Bank of India to generate more staff for smooth day-to-day running of the branch and most importantly so that customers are not harassed by the internal issues of the bank.
Yours etc.,
Anthony Warjiri
Shillong -4
Why online abuse shouldn’t be encouraged
Editor,
Online abuse is becoming a disturbing trend in the country. This time it is none other than foreign minister Sushma Swaraj who became the victim of the online bad mouthing. For almost a week, she received trolls full in the most scurrilous of language. This trend is really upsetting. The issue started when a passport officer named Vikas Mishra allegedly harassed Tanvi Seth, for marrying a Muslim husband and not changing her name. As a result, the passport officer was transferred and the couple too speedily got the transaction done. However, this issue was viewed as a policy of Muslim appeasement from Sushma Swaraj by the hardline Hindutva brigade and they trolled her viciously. Though later, it emerged that Tanvi Seth’s marriage certificate bore a different name – Sadis Anas. The recent reports citing Foreign Ministry sources say that the “marriage certificate is not required for passport application” and the passport official Vikas Mishra overstepped “bounds of duty”.
Whatever be the case hate trolls targeting Sushma Swaraj or any other person is highly condemnable. This is a very serious case because if the country’s foreign minister faces such insulting comments then one can easily imagine what a journalist, blogger, writer, social activist or a common man will face. If that was not enough, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Congress spokesperson’s case is even more dangerous. A user attributing a fake tweet to her didn’t even hesitate to abuse her ten year old daughter. This is horrendous verbal violence targeting a kid who doesn’t even know what is happening around her!
Much more worrying is the way the government remains silent on the issue of Sushma Swaraj, one of the most popular and successful cabinet ministers of the Modi government. Swaraj’s own party ruling BJP is surprisingly mum on the issue. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi is quiet, who otherwise is known for tweeting almost on every issue. The two women Cabinet Ministers Smriti Irani and Nirmala Sitharaman too are maintaining a studied silence although two other senior cabinet ministers — Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari came out to support their colleague, Sushma Swaraj.
Actually, the BJP and the government’s silence is only strengthening those using abusive language online. Most of the trollers of Sushma Swaraj are the self-styled supporters of the BJP and its extended family and this is the reason the party is mum. But they are wrong because if today these supporters who abused Sushma Swaraj are endorsed, tomorrow the next target could be someone else from the BJP and even Prime Minister Modi himself. Maintaining silence amounts to encouraging the trolls. This could be detrimental for the party and the government in the long run. Already, the silence has tarnished the government’s good image.
Importantly, another very disturbing issue is the selective highlighting of the abusive trollers. If social media is observed, one would find haters belonging to every political and ideological groups. Even Prime Minister Modi himself continues to receive hate comments, mostly from hardline Islamist and the self styled “secular” users. So, if we highlight the case of Sushma Swaraj and Priyanka Chaturvedi and on the other side remain quiet on the other cases — then this amounts to bias. That’s why it would be better to speak against all these abusers whether irrespective of their ideological moorings – hardline Hindutva or Islamists or the hardline left wing or secular users who every now and then are engaged in spreading venom on social media. So, it’s high time that both the ideologically and politically divided lawmakers and the civil society of the country keeping aside all ideological biases come together to tackle this situation.
Yours etc.,
Sagarneel Sinha,
Via email
Clarification from William Carey Univ
Editor,
Apropos the news item” Fake mark sheets seized from students” (ST July 7, 2018) we would like to clarify that the news item is devoid of facts and the consequences of distorted news are themselves negative. Far from being better informed, reporters do abdicate the discipline of independent verification when they fail to vet sources, embellish details or make up facts and misquote sources and it is our duty to bring the facts before the public, our employees and students who are the stake holders of this prestigious university.
It is pertinent to mention here that the documents which were seized by the police from the University were in fact letters of request from various organizations and persons from different parts of the country for the verification of academic documents and credentials stated to have been issued by William Carey University and upon conducting verification from our end we have duly replied to all the requests for verification to the effect that the said documents to be verified were all fake, with no connection whatsoever with the University.
In the recent months there have been a substantial increase in the number of such requests which had caused alarm in our minds inasmuch as that it could be indicative of substantial misuse of the name and goodwill of the University by unscrupulous persons and in this respect we lodged an FIR before the Rynjah Police Station dated November 15, 2017 and the FIR was registered as Rynjah P.S Case No 191(11)2017 UIS 65/66 of the Information Technology Act. Here I must say with utmost regret that due to the laxity of the Officer-in- Charge who himself is the Investigating Officer investigating the case, our FIR was not properly investigated. I am compelled to highlight the act of colossal insensitivity of the investigating Officer towards our FIR and his failure to take effective steps to find out the source of issuance of fake degrees in the name of the University and that even after reasonable time the investigating officer could not score any breakthrough, It would not be a misjudgment to construe that due to the Investigating Officer’s laxity, inaction and sheer incompetence the unscrupulous persons got emboldened in circulating fake degrees.
This catastrophe could have been averted and the conspirators subdued had the investigating officer taken the matter seriously and in a professional manner. In this time of crisis we remain committed to faculty excellence by maintaining the highest standards of research and teaching and would fully co-operate with the law enforcement agency.
Yours etc.
Dr. B.W. Nongbri
Registrar,
Willam Carey University,
Shillong