Editor,
I really enjoyed reading the article “The Dome episode…” (STJune 14, 22) by my good friend Bah Toki Blah. It’s quite exhilarating and entertaining after being bombarded on a daily basis with mundane and unpleasant news. I was thinking under which category will this piece of literature be placed. Is it sarcasm, allegory, a parable or sardonic; nay, I think it’s a satire. It’s good as a society we take time to contemplate our own image in the mirror such as this satire. The
C&AG report on public domain that almost indicted the three District Councils of mishandling of public funds and finances should concern every citizen of the state. New Delhi must be watching. The debate on the necessity to have the Councils in a resource-scarce state like ours needs to be revisited. This was debated some years ago when the narratives were dominated by the political class who justify without conviction since they take the Council as the goddess of employment and ill- gotten wealth. If Mizoram and Nagaland can do without the Councils, one would like to be enlightened how the Councils can protect us where the State cannot do it.
The protection of land is done by the State through the Land Transfer Act. I wish some intellectuals would present a true and unbiased cost-benefit analysis of the effectiveness and advantage of the Council. The Hill State Leaders could have done away with it but they thought it will be a useful forum to groom future legislators. They never in their wildest dream ever thought that the daughter would rebel and fight against it’s own mother. The same people sitting in the Council Secretariat would move to drop section 12 (a) of the Sixth Schedule and the same people sitting at the State Secretariat would oppose it. How can we trust such double minded people without any principles? Frankly speaking the minorities in the state need protection. How can majority be protected within the majority. It’s not only a constitutional anomaly but a dichotomy. If the Govt. of India can do away with article 370 one would not be surprised when one fine morning we wake up finding that the Sixth Schedule had been recast on behalf of the minorities in a majority state of Meghalaya and through an act of Parliament the structure and infrastructure of the Councils are transferred or better metamorphosed to the minorities with direct funding and they are legally allowed to administer according to their wisdom and understanding. Period. Hope this becomes one of the issues in the 2023 elections.
Yours etc
Torist Mark,
Via email
Ideological violence and bigotry
Editor
In the realm of politics (as in other realms), expediency should always be subordinate to moral principles — never the other way around. But Mr. Modi’s BJP government has often, for the sake of trade, forfeited ethics. We should therefore not be surprised at India’s sitting on the fence over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nor should we be surprised that BJP suspended its former spokeswoman, Nupur Sharma, and expelled Naveen Jindal — following expediency at the cost of ethics. The cause of their suspensions was foreign backlash. We should not be surprised that Mr. Modi’s government meekly allowed India to be rebuked by autocratic Muslim nations that have never taken PRC to task for its abuse and torture of Uighur Muslims. Nor should we be surprised that Mr. Modi has wooed (even hugged) Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), despite MBS being accused of the brutal 2018 assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.
In this cynical approach to politics, often, the first casualty is women’s rights. Thus, in 2018, Indian coast guard forces stormed the ship of UAE’s Princess Latifa, while it was still in international waters, ignored her pleas, and handed her over to Emirati special forces.
The Nupur Sharma event should have led to serious conversations about interfaith education, women’s marital rights, and ethically appropriate ways of dealing with religious bigotry. But it has not.
The problem here is not just that Mr. Modi’s government mixes religion with politics (an explosive mix), but that it has removed religion from the tripod (ethics-wisdom-mysticism) whereupon it should always stand. When religion divorces itself from ethics, it degenerates to ideological violence and bigotry.
Yours etc.,
Deepa Majumdar,
Via email
Cumbersome CUET!
Editor,
Apropos the letter to the editor dated entitled CUET & its implications (ST June 15, 2022) I totally endorse the views of the author. Being the only girl-child of my single parent, it becomes imperative for me to continue my education in the same State. With demands of a State University seeing no light of the day, our only dependence is on NEHU for quality and economical education. And when we, the indigenous community are given second class treatment in our very own state with regards to admission, it is a pitiful state of affairs. The shocking part is neither the administration of NEHU nor the Vice Chancellor have given any statement with regards to any special provisions ,if any, for the ST students of the State. How can we compete with people from Mumbai and Kolkata who are already gearing up for the entrance examinations through coaching centres and state affiliated measures? The Controller of Examinations and the VC should come out in public and discuss the issues at hand and educate us on what grounds NEHU aims to admit students, especially of our state, rather than just passing on the buck to CUET and the UGC.
Yours etc.,
Bianchi Sangma,
Tura-2