Editor,
Apropos to the rejoinder issued by Amaresh Chakraborty of Ramkrishna LP/UP School, Umsohsun (ST July 2, 2021) it appears that Chakraborty instead of addressing the issues highlighted in the letter dated June 30, 2021 tried to hide behind the gibberish of statistics and made an effort to self certify the efficacy of HIKAI App although this writer never tried to evaluate the merits/demerits of the said App. This writer is primarily concerned with the plight of the students of this particular school and highlighted the difficulties faced by them in accessing the App in the absence of requisite wherewithal due to their poor economic conditions. Chakraborty has admitted that no tab has been given to the students of this particular school and at the same time asserted that the school authority is waiting for philanthropy from the general public to provide the App to poor students for their actual benefit. This clearly proves the ineptitude of the school authority so far as providing tangible facilities to the students is concerned. Does mere availability of an online free portal in itself benefit the students if they cannot access and utilize it for their studies? Had the students been in a position to have seamless access to online portals, they might not have to depend on this particular App only since there are many learning apps available in the internet designed by well known professionals in the field of education.
Mr Chakraborty, however, conveniently sidestepped the issue of his ascendency (legitimate (?) or otherwise) to the post of Head Teacher in the absence of a valid and approved Managing Committee of the school. Instead, he tried to evaluate the performance of other teachers without having any moral or administrative authority to pass such comments or judgment. He is at the same time acting as the complainant, prosecution and jury that too with distorted logic and statistics. I fully agree that there is an urgent need for proper evaluation of the performance of all the teachers (including him) of the school by a proper and duly approved Managing Committee and not by the whims and caprices of one individual.
Yours etc.,
Roben Chyrmang
Shillong-4
Lawlessness in police force
Editor,
Of late, we hear and read in the media that a few people accused of crimes like rape, etc. allegedly tried to flee from the custody of Assam Police, and then either got killed or injured when police fired on them. This is an extremely pathetic commentary on the Assam Police. Repeated incidents of these types cannot be normal nor natural. This was not the case until the recent past. It also puts a question mark on the efficiency of the Assam Police. First, if fleeing from Police custody is happening regularly, then obviously the Police personnel are ill-trained or are incapable of handling people in custody. Secondly, if the police are using brute force, and trying to get rid of accused persons by using firearms, then these are heinous acts. In Mumbai, policemen like Pradeep Sharma, Sachin Vaze, etc. are bad examples of policemen becoming the law unto themselves. Whether we like it or not, the rule of law has to prevail and established procedures must be followed in letter and spirit by the Police. It is the judicial courts that pronounce whether an accused is guilty or not. The whole world, including us in India, were shaken when a black man George Floyd was suffocated to death by Minneapolis policemen on May 25, 2020. The four officers involved in the manslaughter were fired immediately, and Derek Chauvin, the prime accused was recently sent to prison for 22.5 years. Meanwhile, Pradeep Sharma and Sachin Vaze, who were in privileged positions earlier, within and outside the Mumbai police, were arrested recently and are being investigated for various acts of omissions and commissions.
It is high time that the civil administration, human rights organizations, and of course, the judiciary took sensitive note of these incidents in Assam, and ensured that the due process of law is followed specially by the Police. Otherwise, matters may spiral out of hand and people would start taking the law in their own hands. That would lead to complete erosion of democratic tenets.
Yours etc.,
D Bhutia,
Guwahati
Uttarkhand get’s 3rd CM in 4 months
Editor,
Ahead of the Uttarakhand Assembly elections early next year along with that in Uttar Pradesh RSS pracharak and BJP MLA Pushkar Singh Dami was sworn in as the 11th chief minister of the state on Sunday July 4. Two days ago Tirath Singh Rawat tendered his resignation as he was not able to continue because of constitutional crisis and there was difficulty in him getting elected through a by- poll. The selection of Dami as CM is considered by political analysts as a BJP gambit since he is the first person from Kumaon to hold the post, while the last two chief ministers were from Garhwal region. There may be other factors for the exit of Rawat from the post. The BJP might not have wanted to take the risk of going into elections under his leadership, as he was inept at handling the bureaucracy and party cadres. Just after taking over he made a few controversial remarks including equating Modi with god which did not go down well with many. This is also believed to be a plan to try and needle Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee as she has to be elected through a by-poll within a few weeks; else she has to vacate her post if the by-poll is delayed.
Yours etc.,
Muaz Qasmi
Via email