Editor,
I express my gratitude to our Education Minister, Mr Lahkmen Rymbui for taking up the issue of seat reservation for local candidates at the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Shillong. There are just two ST seats that are available those not reserved for Meghalaya students but are shared with the entire ST community in the country. Mr Rymbui’s intervention on this matter with the Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry, Govt of India is a welcome initiative and I do hope that our Union Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank would ensure that the State Reservation Policy applies for admission of locals in this University. We are now seeing a silver lining on this matter and I hope it becomes a reality, for EFLU aspirants in our state.
Yours etc.,
Chanmiki Ezra Laloo
Former Student
EFLU
Wanted equality before law
Editor,
While one extreme way of dealing with cold blooded murderers is to give them death penalty, the other extreme is to provide them with bail having one rider or two. But there must be uniformity in justice. All cold blooded murderers should be in jail without bail till death. This will act as a more effective deterrent than occasional “rarest of the rare” capital punishment for a few, some years of confinement for others and even bail for some brute massacres. It is time to acknowledge that such a difference fails to highlight equality before law. Law should protect the poor and powerless. But law fails to protect them when equality before law itself is not vigorously protected in a society where inequality is the norm.
When the date of a death penalty is fixed then some television and print media come out with bulletins about the preparation for executing the penalty like how much the executioner will get, what his reaction is, how the rope is being prepared etc. This creates a mood for celebration cutting across various age groups. The tragedy is that the celebration of a death penalty caters to machismo. And ironically, machismo itself encourages violent behaviour.
We need quick justice delivery system that can send all cold blooded murderers behind bars without delay to spend rest of their lives in jail without bail. Their spending the whole lives behind bars or inside isolated cells need to be projected as the fate of badass machismo which causes domestic violence, street violence, ragging, rape, lynching, murder, massacre and fascism.
Yours etc.,
Sujit De,
Kolkata
Assam on the road to peace?
Editor,
Assam has always been a battleground with people of diverse ethnic and linguistic origins up in arms for their due share of power. The Assam Agitation that capped six years of anti-foreigner movement from 1979 to 1985 also impacted the way the state votes. It gave birth to powerful regional party Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). With the rise of AGP and regionalism, assertiveness of ethnic groups increased and they sought a greater stake in the state’s politics. Each group wanted to see its candidate elected or have its own political outfit.
Now Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the Narendra Modi government was willing to hold talks with the anti-talks faction of Ulfa-I led by Paresh Baruah if they are keen to hold talks for a permanent peace in the Northeast. This is for the first time that this government is making a public appeal to Ulfa-I for dialogue. It may be recalled that the historic accord was signed on Monday with all the factions of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland in the presence of all stakeholders.
The silver lining on the dark cloud of insurgency in Assam is that the pro-talk faction of Ulfa led by Arabinda Rajkhowa is already engaging in a dialogue with the Centre, but for permanent peace to prevail, it is necessary that all the factions come to the negotiating table. Now the anti-talks faction of Ulfa must accept the Centre’s invitation for talks and without delay all should reach a consensus in order to bring about peace in Assam.
Assam lies in a strategically important place sharing boundaries with Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya. Only through Assam all these states can be accessed via rail or road. So, it is of paramount importance that Assam should remain peaceful at any cost. The common fear among the people of the rest of India is that northeast is a highly disturbed area and visit to northeast is discouraged fearing attack on visitors by the ultras. So, this stigma has to be shrugged off by all who love Assam and its people.
Yours etc.,
TK Nandanan,
Via email