Editor,
The mining mafia has struck yet again and this time a woman activist and her aide are lucky to be alive. The mining mafia with ill-gotten wealth has been ruling the politics of this State and there was a need to stop these forces. What is most tragic is that governments both present and past seem to be on the side of those who have been perpetrators of illegal mining. Without state patronage, the criminal elements would not have mustered up the gumption to murder or attack a person. As we are aware the coal mafia consists of politicians, bureaucrats, police and the miners and this is a dangerous cocktail. What is more pathetic is that the MDA and MUA is turning this issue into a game of ‘tu tu – main main,’ though both are responsible and have turned a blind eye to illegal mining. What is more amusing is that the governments (both MDA and MUA) are also spending crores of rupees in promoting the natural beauty of the state by organising festival after festival ( autumn fest, cherry blossom fest, metropolis etc), while on the other hand they encourage and promote mining (coal, stone, limestone, sand) and environment degradation. It’s like taking medication for liver in the morning and binge drinking at night and loading the system with whisky while knowing that eventually whisky will triumph. I wholeheartedly agree with B Mawlong’s letter to the editor, ‘Evils of coal mining’ (ST Nov 27, 2018) that the NGT and the Hon’ble Supreme Court should stop coal mining for good in Meghalaya . The earlier the better!
Yours etc
Manuel Carey Lymba
Shillong- 08
Constitution Day
Editor,
Our country celebrated Constitution Day on November 26. It was on that day in 1949, that we enacted, adopted and gave to ourselves the Constitution of India. After India became independent, the Constituent Assembly entrusted the job of drafting the Constitution to a Committee with Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee. Dr. Ambedkar completed the draft of the Constitution and presented it in the Constituent Assembly. This draft was adopted on November 26, 1949. It marked a new era in our country as the Constitution which was going to come into effect from January 26, 1950 (Republic Day), upheld the sovereignty of all the people of our country for the first time in Indian history. Unfortunately, some people believe that India was a land of justice and fair play in the epic age and was a far better place to live in than the present-day India. They strongly recommend Mahabharata as a better guide than the Constitution of India. India cannot progress so long as we have such a backward pull in our mindsets.
Our Constitution is a result of thousands of years of evolutionary progress of humankind since the days of Mahabharata. So, it is quite natural that the spirit of Mahabharata will come into conflict with our Constitution which is based on the ideals of equality, liberty, fraternity and justice. Dronacharya, a great figure of Mahabharata, should have been arrested in the Republic of India for cutting off the right thumb of Eklavya as tuition fees. The brightest and the humblest student, Eklavya, was devilishly, made into a cripple so that he could never use his education in archery. Our pining for such an unequal society made a bright student of modern India, Vemula, write in his suicide note, ~ “My birth is my fatal accident”.
Will the code of Mahabharata promote women to the status of devis? When women of elite families could have been pawned in a game of chance in those days, it can, easily, be understood what the status of common women was, especially of the Dalits at that time. We still nurture prejudices against Dalits and women because of our soft corner for barbaric ancient days.
Instead of realizing the contributions of Ambedkar and the Constitution of India, we are giving Dronacharya award to sports coaches when he is an example of what a coach should not be! Such an award and the renaming of Gurgaon as Gurugram to glorify this character show that we have miles to go before we can give due honour to Ambedkar and the Indian Constitution.
The need of the hour is to follow Ambedkar’s path of “Educate-Agitate-Organize” to clear the cataracts of prejudices so that the ideals of our Constitution ~ “Equality-Liberty-Fraternity-Justice” ~ can be translated into reality. This country needs to back Eklavyas and Ambedkars to build a modern, progressive, strong and happy India.
Yours etc.,
Sujit De.
Via email
Responsible tourism
Editor
The recent report of the unfortunate brutal murder of a young American tourist in a remote island in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago (India) at the hands of an isolated primitive tribe is an example of how misadventure and irresponsibility led to the demise of a dream and ended a precious life. The tragic incident should be an eye opener for all around the globe; particularly for young adults who always feel that they could do and achieve anything they want without any connection to the realities of life. Similarly irresponsible tourist behaviour in foreign nations and in completely unknown terrains must be avoided to prevent repetitions of such sad incidents. Furthermore, an individual or a community (particularly isolated primitive tribes) have the complete right to protect their privacy and integrity of their socio-ethnic lifestyles. Possibly the young adventurer was perceived to be an intruder into their territorial domain. Several ancient tribal communities around the planet are facing dangers of extinction. Such isolated tribal members are extremely vulnerable to diseases and infections from civilized people due to poor immunity and should be left to follow their model of civilisation and should not be disturbed or bothered. Only scientific studies under special circumstances and following international guidelines and protocol should be allowed. Lastly, individual countries must have stringent monitoring and surveillance on forbidden territories. The Andaman and Nicobar administration also cannot avoid their responsibility of a serious failure to provide security to tourists as also failure in protecting the privacy and serenity of ancient tribal communities surviving in remote islands. Each one of us needs to learn from this unfortunate incident and try to be more responsible towards local ethnic and ecological sensitivities as well as government guidelines while visiting another country as a tourist.
Yours etc.,
Saikat Kumar Basu
Lethbridge AB Canada