Editor,
Apropos to the letter to the editor, “Laitumkhrah Hijacked “ (ST Sep 7, 2022) as a concerned resident of Laitumkhrah, at the very outset I would outrightly reject such a bizarre and uncalled for statement. How can somebody “hijack” the entire Laitumkhrah? The heading itself was meant to sensationalise to catch everyone’s attention. I certainly agree that this locality of Shillong is prime and prestigious and of course the most peaceful cosmopolitan locality in Shillong.
But there are several issues pointed out by James Lyngdoh on which I differ, hence I intend to put forward the unbiased narrative of mine so as not to mislead the people of the locality. Firstly, I would like to ask James Lyngdoh as to how he knows the aspirations and ambitions of Bah A A Jyrwa to grab power by misusing a handful of youth of the Seng Samla? Secondly, did A A Jyrwa force himself to be the headman of the locality or were any of the other two headmen forcibly ousted from their positions? Such childish perceptions are laughable. And there’s nothing like maligning the image of the Seng Samla. To say that they are pawns of someone is very wrong because upon my interaction with them I found most of them highly educated and gainfully employed. So how can they be pawns and how can they be arm-twisted when most of them are able to decide for themselves?
Also I have not heard any complaint by any of the residents of the locality till date saying that any member of the Seng Samla were creating nuisance, intimidating or disturbing the peace and tranquility of the locality. Now how on earth could the Acting Syiem of Mylliem be arm-twisted by A A Jyrwa? Such wild allegations can only come from a deranged mind.
To my knowledge the Acting Syiem of Mylliem has tried his level best to bring all the disgruntled Rangbah Shnong together on five occasions and it was only A A Jyrwa who attended all the meetings. The other two Rangbah Shnongs Messers G B Sawkmie and S B Nongdhar attended only once and in that meeting they started raising objections and tried to find fault with the Acting Syiem. Had I been in the position of the Syiem, without any hesitation I would have done the same thing and appointed A A Jyrwa as the Acting Rangbah Shnong of the locality and I wouldn’t call this a use of muscle power.
It is almost a year now that the Government has lifted all the Covid restrictions including the assembling of people, so, to say that because of Covid the Dorbar Shnong was not convened is just a lame excuse. Who doesn’t want an election of new Rangbah Shnong, on expiry of the term which is long overdue? Only a non-resident who does not feel the pulse and sentiments of the locality would want that. I am shocked and astonished with the word “GANG” as there is no one in Laitumkhrah that fits into such a category. I take very strong exception to the use of such a word that casts aspersions on the people of this Shnong. And how can the writer link extortion and intimidation for necessitating the holding of election to the Dorbar?
Lastly, I would like to state that the Dorbar of U Khasi is inclusive of the samla (youth) apart from Rangbah, thus filing of an FIR against the members of the Seng Samla of Laitumkhrah, who are an integral part of the Dorbar, just because they demanded the financial report from the Dorbar is uncalled for.
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request,
Via email
Disgusting Indian postal service
Editor,
The postal service in the country spells disaster for lakhs of people every single day. It’s no exaggeration! Exactly like rape victims, the aggrieved customers “keep silent”. Hardly one bold person in a million bothers to lodge a complaint and seldom does he get a satisfactory solution.I want to cite a case that appalled every discerning citizen, and of course, I am myself the. A parcel containing my own recently published books weighing about 16 kilograms were booked from the Shillong GPO on August 17 for Houston, USA. I sent the parcel with high expectations of its express delivery for which I paid Rs 10,690. But to my great annoyance, that parcel “returned” back to Shillong from Guwahati on August 27 and this was informed to me by a postal man. What all happened to the parcel all those 11 days in Guwahati and who all are responsible for this? It touched a raw nerve. The postal people told me that it is due to the discrepancy in address and the dimension of the parcel. They could have used my two mobile phone numbers before returning the parcel, but the lacked even that simple “common sense.”
After getting the full details, I immediately emailed a grievance letter to the Chief Post Master and a copy to Delhi. I insisted that this glaring fault on the part of the Guwahati postal department, which returned it without “proper checking” and thereby wasting our precious time, should not be taken lightly. Within an hour, I received a response from the senior officer, also from New Delhi, who asked the concerned staff to “rebook” the parcel to the US as they did not find any discrepancy. Of course, this time, the parcel was dispatched with the rider from the top authorities for the “express delivery” with repeated email reminders. But I couldn’t believe it when I heard that the parcel had reached only up to Delhi September 7, to be flown to the US! Here I call upon the wise citizens to evaluate the quality of service of the postal department in India. Does it not put the entire postal administration and the government to question? Should the “shrill scream” of the digital age not awaken the postal department from its slumber?
As I write this letter my parcel has just reached New York. I am wondering if it will be delivered to the consignee in Houston before September 16 because the books in the parcel are for a program to be held on September 18. I am in a cold sweat!
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong-2