Editor,
With reference to the news item “High Court wants Umiam bridge work to start soon” (ST May 4, 2022), as a citizen of the state I now see a ray of hope that with the intervention of the High Court, perhaps the state government may be forced to start work on the bridge. Governments then and now have ignored this lifeline of Shillong for way too long. The bridge has and is still serving us way beyond its age and needs urgent care. It is irksome to look at the lackadaisical attitude of our state government which cares very little about the people of the state. Once in power our representatives are less attentive towards issues affecting the people but are more concerned about their personal well-being and wealth gathering. They try to make the most of what they can accumulate and lay their hands on. It’s a trend among governments then and now! But can those in authority for once be alert and conscientious? Imagine the catastrophe in case of a mishap. How long will the bridge hold on? There should not and cannot be any further delay to the construction of the bridge before Shillong meets with its doom. Take the matter seriously for the good of all.
Yours etc.,
Jenniefer Dkhar,
Via email
State Sports needs drastic improvement
Editor,
I agree with some of the points on an article written by Patricia Mukhim captioned ‘Incompetence the forerunner to corruption’ (ST May 6, 2022) pointing out the crisis that haunts the State Sports Department and its wings. We have heard so much about the State Sports Policy and State Youth Policy but honestly no one has even seen or read the Policy/Policies as it is not put up on the public domain for interested citizens to engage with. It is ironic that a few people sitting in their cozy rooms should frame and design such policies without diving to ground zero. The recent Meghalaya Games held in Shillong were more of a showpiece. The Games should have been held in various districts to make them more “community centric.” No one has even sought accountability about some of the indoor sports complex that were built but not been used and hence have remained idle investments. The aspiring athletes along with their parents complained of bad food. To add salt to injury the athletes who won different games on the last day did not get their medals as those were in short supply. What a shame that they had to go home empty-handed. My advice would be to please do a SWOT analysis before hosting such events lest it turns out to be an embarrassment to the state. Sports is not about money alone but money is needed for the best infrastructure. The money allocated for Sports should be audited. Sports is more about the spirit of competition and participation.
Yours etc..
Dominic Stadlin Wankhar
Via email
Accepting the bitter truth
Editor,
This is a reply to the article “Why this anti-Bengali rant?” by Kajal Chatterjee where the writer is hellbent on framing the responsibility of all riots in the country upon just one community. Perhaps the names of the five main accused in the Delhi riots have not been publicized by extremely secular media channels. Although the writer has left no stone unturned to mention the incidents where the supposed responsibility is being labelled on the Hindu community, there is a suspicious silence on his part when it comes to mentioning the killings done on “Sar tan se juda” slogans.
We must remind ourselves about the bloodshed and agony faced by the citizens of Bengal under the communist government. The list of such heart wrenching crimes is incomplete without mentioning the Sainbari murders, Bijon Setu massacre, Nanoor massacre as well as Nandigram massacre. Another addition to this list is the Marichjhapi massacre perpetrated under none other than Jyoti Basu, the then Chief Minister of Bengal. All of this contradicts the fact that the state was never touched by barbarities of riots as stated by the writer. It is doubtful whether this tradition has come to an end under the TMC government. The manner in which false voting occurs in the state as well as the brutality that unfolds after the end of polling sessions have done little to remove the doubt. It is also shameful to mention the innumerable accounts of crimes on women, most startling of which was the account of the rape survivor of post-poll violence where a 60 year old woman was gang-raped in front of her grandson allegedly by TMC workers.
Clearly all of these incidents contradict the fanciful portrayal of the state by Chatterjee. It is also a curious scenario that people are trying to cover up this blatant barbarity just because of political motives rather than accepting the truth and taking measures to improve the situation. Whenever there is a mention of such incidents, the heads of Bengalis residing outside the state hangs in shame. It is therefore quite natural to question this absolutely stupefying culture of barbarism that has infected the state and has put the respect of all educated Bengalis at stake throughout the world.
Yours etc.,
P Bhattacharya
Shillong- 4