Editor,
The editorial “Out of sight out of mind.” cannot be easily applied to the carnage which happened on November 22, 2022 morning in Mukroh the border village of West Jaintia Hills District in which six precious lives were lost, That and the incident that happened at Langpih another border village in which four precious souls were lost, will remain permanently in Meghalaya’s history as gruesome murder perpetrated by the high handed and brutal Assam government. Both incidents happened as a result of the insensitivity and prolonged neglect by our own Meghalaya Government to solve the border issues despite innumerable problems faced by our Meghalaya border people in the last fifty years. Time after time our border inhabitants have lodged written complaints, submitted memoranda and raised SOS messages to government authorities with copies to the public representatives – MLAs, MDCs and MPs yet they cared a damn. The subject came up in the floor of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly too many times in various forms yet Meghalaya Governments simply held few bilateral talks with its counterpart only to concluded with the usual “Status Quo” results which only emboldened the Assam Government to continue with its expansionist indulgences which had caused untold sufferings and hardships to our border people in the hands of Assam police and leading to loss of precious land to Assam and most importantly loss of unaccounted lives.
As of now I must congratulate this NPP- led Government which dared to touch this sensitive, volatile and controversial subject which had eluded solution. It has tried to solve the first part of land disputes between the two states which ended up in lots of controversies and loss of precious areas of land of Meghalaya to Assam. In spite of suggestions and requests from many quarters, including stakeholders for review of the MoU signed between the two CMs of Meghalaya and Assam on March 29, 2022 yet the Meghalaya CM, Conrad Sangma, remained adamant by justifying that what he and his government did was all correct for the good of the people of the State. Now, what will be the fate of the first part of the Agreement we do not know yet because some parties have petitioned the Meghalaya High Court against the MoU.
Now what the present CM of Meghalaya and his Government should do is to complete the second part of solving the borders between the two states as they have dared for the first part. What is there to be hesitant and afraid about? Complete the task quickly! why leave it half done and for whom? If this government wants to get full credit for solving the 50 year old problem why leave it half-done lest someone else walks away with the trophy. Or does Conrad Sangma and his colleagues want the people of the state to allow him and his team to complete the incomplete part after the ensuing elections in 2023 ?
Yours etc.,
Philip Marwein,
Sr. Journalist,
Shillong-2
War and peace
Editor,
Recently in a remote, north Ukrainian province, a man walked with a rifle on his back and was surrounded by shooters. Suddenly, he stared into the sky and saw an enormous shadow looming near him. Then he suddenly heard a strange siren and horn as if descending from heaven. A huge tanker, along with the group of army men, trained their guns at the aircraft, which had already disappeared in the clouds. This is how ominous hollers frequently echo through the land and far in the distance. It seems like a DEVIL is sitting somewhere up and laughing at calamities on the ground below. To some, it felt like some weird spirit is hovering ceaselessly and raining fires. All around are casualties — death, destruction, darkness and despondency!
War-torn Ukraine is thus suffering from unprecedented grief and distress. With each passing day, Russian President Vladimir Putin has only embodied himself in the persona of hardened cruelty. Well, one’s struggle to accept history as factual and attempt to judge leads to a conflict not just within oneself but also with society and humanity at large. Putin is facing a similar struggle which is evident in his aggressive annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the subsequent invasion of Ukraine. It appears that he wants to take Russia back to its pre-World War-I days. Russia had annexed Ukraine during WW1. The treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918 recognized Ukraine’s independence. Russia has now claimed that Russian-origin people are ill-treated in Ukraine. Regions of Donbas and Luhansk, which have a majority of people of Russian ethnicity were used to create a divide and fell to the Russian invasion. Even after annexing Crimea, Putin is not content. He pushes himself on the mission of expansionism to recreate the glory of the Soviet Union of pre-Lenin days.
Yes, Putin did not stop the attack on Ukraine even after winning in Donbas and Luhansk. He bombarded Ukraine ruthlessly, regardless of civilian or military areas, resulting in extensive destruction. His army destroyed Kyiv while a hapless Zelensky appealed to NATO, the USA, and the rest of the world to help him. The United States did not want a direct conflict with Russia, a robust nuclear power. While it refused to send boots on the ground, it sent military aid. Russia, with impunity, carved a route to the Black Sea to enable it to use sea routes in winter. Ukraine’s eastern front is more or less under Russian control.
The conflict is bloody and the worst since the end of World War 2. Zelensky chose to fight back, he seemed determined. Several attempts at peace have failed. The war started in February 2022 and but still ongoing. Zelensky ran out to the world with a begging bowl, pleading for aid to fight his enemy. Of course, Zelensky’s resilience is incredible, and that literally has won him countless fans across the world.
However, these two AVENGERS are not concerned about the people and their untold suffering. The safety of the citizens is just an excuse for this protracted war. Indeed, human life is transient; each day, the two leaders fight over a piece of land, killing hundreds and causing colossal loss of property. They don’t think of the soldiers and civilians as human beings but as tools for targets. It is not improbable that they may turn the whole world into a “battleground”. It all depends upon their thoughtless impulses. Until their EGO gets blunted, we, the mass innocent world population, are on the verge of an apocalypse. Beware, the NUCLEAR press buttons might be set off by mavericks whose minds are always at war.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong
Need for urgent Covid protocols
Editor,
Through your esteemed paper I would urge upon the state Govt./District administration to be on high alert on the increasing cases of Covid of a new variant which is prevalent in China and has claimed lakhs of lives. In India we have come across few cases in Delhi and Gujarat and the virus is spreading to many more countries.
It is therefore requested that necessary steps to be taken to re-impose the protocols as well as surprise testing at the borders of the state from different corners.
If timely action is taken at the earliest to check the spread of the virus it will have lesser impact in the urban areas and rural areas in particular who still hesitate to take the jibe against this virus.
Yours etc.,
SL Singhania
Shillong -1