Editor,
The Umiam bridge which is the lifeline of Shillong that has served and is still serving us beyond its life and age needs to be taken care of or else we are sure to meet with a catastrophe. Keeping in mind the importance of this bridge one fails to understand why governments both past and present are ignoring this most essential matter that will cripple and cut Shillong off from the rest of the country? Sadly, it is now true that politics is no longer a platform to serve the state and its people but a means to serve the self. Yet can our politicians be a little conscientious and for once gear themselves up to work for those who have got them to that seat in the government?
The Umiam bridge is aged and overworked. Doesn’t it deserve care? If not for this lifeless bridge can’t our legislators think of the condition of the people of the state in case any catastrophe occurs? How long will it then take for the people to be reconnected to the rest of the world? It is a known fact that the people of Shillong travel to Guwahati for medical treatment. In such circumstances, especially medical emergencies travelling via West Khasi Hills will be the only way left but what about the number of hours that it will take? Here I’m reminded of the Umpling bridge that has been under construction for three years now and is yet to be functional. Well, that’s the state of affairs in Meghalaya and that’s the sad plight of the people. Be that a sit may, one urges the present Goverment to create history by saving the Umiam bridge, and thereby save lives and save the state.
Yours etc.,
Jenniefer Dkhar,
Via email
Politics & Religion – a deadly mix
Editor,
What is most feared is the misconception of the faithfuls, especially the Presbyterians vis-a-vis the witty politicians who seem more emboldened to use religion as a cloak for their vices. This is now in full exhibition in Khanduli where gratitude was publicly expressed to the sitting MLA and upcoming candidate for the 2023 election, Sniawbhalang Dhar. Yes Presbyterians in doing this are ignorantly faultless, but sadly they never realise the baitn dangled in from of them before the election. They publicly expressed gratitude for favours done when hat should have been confined within the premise of that church. By doing so the church has willy-nilly made the battle-ground an unfair, unequal space candidates without money power cannot afford to contest elections.
Will religious leaders please put a halt to all these politico- religious connections for this is a sure way of demotivating those that want to save Meghalaya from the edge of the vertical precipice it is standing on now with no hope of rising but only the fear of plunging into a bottomless pit.
Large gatherings in the month of March every year are an advantage for politicians. These religious frills should not be allowed to become political platforms for mercenary politicians. These very same politicians have dragged behind the much- deserved progress, endeavour and stability of our wretched state by a century. Look at our roads, rivers with once potable water now beyond redemption, dumping places that have remained static for centuries since the era of night soil scavengers, and the eternal, almost unsolvable traffic snarls, borne with pain by the common citizens for far too long. Then there’s illegal mining and transportation of coal hushed up with no enforcement in sight to put a full stop to this illegality. Leave religion alone for God’s sake.
Yours etc.,
J. Kharmih
Via email
The Kashmir files
Editor,
While watching the recent movie The Kashmir files, several members of the audience could not help shedding tears. I was also one of them. Of course, I have wiped my tears dry, but the heart is still weeping. I also have viewed several video clippings going round in which members of the audience were overwhelmed with emotions. Some even sobbed hysterically, particularly those who had suffered or witnessed the cruelty and bloodshed in the early 1990s. How can one bear to see small kids and hapless mothers being shot dead in cold blood?
As the scenes in the movie haunted me, I prayed and threw my questions at God above. How on earth can so-called believers in a particular faith take the life of another human just because of a difference of faith? How can every chant of holy phrases spell disaster for others that don’t belong to the faith? Is the pathway to God not strewn with flowers of compassion and love rather than the thorns of hatred and enmity? I am confused.
Is compassion for others and purity of heart not the fundamental doctrine of all religions? Is the omniscient super-soul not approached with the hymn of devotion instead of the roar of bigotry? How can hurting the weak and hapless please any God? If it is so I will stop praying to God and also stop calling him the CREATOR. I rather prefer to die as an atheist with compassion than believing in God and nursing hatred for others.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong
Marital rape is rape
Editor,
There is a common misconception that after a man and a woman get married, the wife must be subservient to the husband. This is totally wrong. In married life, neither the husband nor the wife is superior or inferior to the other. Both of them have equal rights and autonomy. Also, there is an assumption that when the husband makes physical advances, the wife must surrender herself before him, whether she likes it or not. Similarly, orthodox people believe that a husband has the right to forcibly have sex with his wife and it is her duty not to resist it.
When rape charges are brought against husbands by wives, they are rejected by courts because according to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, if a wife is not under 18 years of age, sexual intercourse between the husband and wife is not rape. Although there have been demands from different sections of people that marital rape should be treated as rape, nothing much has been done. However, some judgements consider marital rape as a heinous crime and treat it as any other kind of rape.
Against this backdrop, the judgement of the Karnataka High Court assumes significance. The Court rejected the husband’s plea and said, “ a man is a man, a rape is a rape.” True, the Court verdict is strong and unambiguous. In fact, this is an example of judiciary’s intervention in law making when legislature fails in it. When legislature fails to deal with controversial social issues like marital rape, the judiciary does the job. It is a fact that Indian women are more likely to face sexual violence from their husbands than from others. Marital rape must be criminalised and the perpetrators must face legal consequences.
Yours etc.,
Venu GS,
Kollam