Editor,
Having seen terror attacks in other parts of the world and even in India our fear is that Shillong may one day face the same fate. We do not know who will commit the act and when but the possibility is there. This possibility can be seen from the fact that all sorts of people come here from all parts of India and the world over and there is no mechanism whatsoever to monitor and keep a check on the movements and activities of the people coming here. We only rely on the police and their intelligence gathering. But police, being people as they are, cannot keep track of the movements and activities of every person. Even in advanced countries like the USA, UK and others, intelligence agencies have failed and frequent terror bombings and other ghastly massacres take place regularly. Therefore it is imperative on all of us to be extra vigilant and alert wherever we are and to report to the police whenever we find suspicious objects or see suspicious movements and activities of people, especially those who are indoctrinated and radicalised.
Over the years we have seen heavy influx into Shillong and in other areas particularly from a particular community. We do not brand that all of them are terrorists or radicalised and indoctrinated and that they can be potential terrorists and suicide bombers but the possibilities are there because it is difficult to know who among them is indoctrinated and radicalised and we do not know when and where they will strike. Indeed radicalism and fanaticism perpetrated in the name of religion which leads to terrorism, decapitation, bloodshed, rape, bomb blasts, murder, and other forms of violence are all crimes against humanity. No religion teaches all these. No religion preaches and promotes the cult of violence and if there is any religion that succumbs to such indoctrination and propagates crime and violence, then it is no religion at all but it is the act of the devil or a satanic cult. True religion teaches, preaches and propagates love and peace; love for oneself and love for neighbours and peace to oneself and to all men.
It is a great threat to world peace that there are religions today which succumb to the cult of violent groups and religious bigots or extremist religious ideologues. It seems as if the kingdom of God has fallen into the hands of Satan. It is indeed deadly and dangerous. Those religious teachers and their agents who teach, preach and propagate hatred, hate crimes, religious dogmatism, religious fanaticism, radicalism and violence should know that they are the disciples and soldiers of Lucifer. I appeal to one and all to pray for and shun these ideologies and the people who propagate them.
Yours etc.,
Philip Marwein,
Via-Email
Press freedom diminishing in India
Editor,
The fourth estate must play the role of the third umpire to help the umpires (voters) on the field in a political IPL match between the ruling and the opposition parties in a democratic country. It will be highly unfortunate if the media takes on the role of the cheerleaders of the batting side. Freedom of the Press is now in great danger. Our position has gone further down to 140 among 180 countries in the 2019 World Press Freedom Index. India has continuously been sliding down from 133rd position in 2016 to 136th in 2017 (down 3 ranks) to 138th in 2018 (down 2) to 140th in 2019 (down 2) on the World Press Freedom Ranking Index of the international free speech advocate Reporters Without Borders. This means that India has slid down 7 ranks in press freedom in the last 3 years.
The Human Development Index topper Norway has again got the first position in press freedom for three years on the trot. On the other hand, the Happiness Index topper Finland gets the second rank in the freedom of press. On India, the report says, “Violence against journalists – including police violence, attacks by Maoists fighters and reprisals by criminal groups or corrupt politicians – is one of the most striking characteristics of the current state of press freedom in India. At least six Indian journalists were killed in connection with their work in 2018.”
The report found an alarming rate of “coordinated hate campaigns waged on social networks against journalists who dare to speak or write about subjects that annoy Hindutva.”
Indeed, alarm bells are ringing for our democracy. Dissent, debate and dialogue are central to democracy. On the other hand, democracy is the lifeblood of our Constitution and nation. We need to remember that democracy cannot survive without free press.
Yours etc.,
Sujit De,
Kolkata