Editor
Further to my letter under the caption ‘Change demands hard work’ (ST Dec 31, 2022), we all are aware that a strong government requires a powerful head of the State. Presently, we have such a dispensation in the Central Government where the Prime Minister is very powerful. He is capable of taking hard decisions, capable of removing his subordinate ministers if they do not deliver to their optimum capacity or fail to meet the public aspirations. This is possible because the central government is governed under a single party, an absolute majority ruling party.
In contrast, in our state, we have a coalition government, where no single political party is in the majority to form a government of its own. As a result, the leader of the party leading the government has to depend largely on the will and wishes of the parties supporting it. The CM cannot take effective/corrective action against any of his subordinate ministers, especially those from the coalition partners. Throughout his tenure as a CM, he is apprehensive about the fall of his government and therefore has to always appease his allies. We have experienced earlier as to how our government was toppled several times in a single 5 years span, probably because the CM then could not please all at all times. So, one can imagine how difficult it is for a CM to run the administration in a coalition dispensation. In such a scenario how can we expect a decisive and result-producing head of the state.
Thus, in order to avoid such a bitter experience of having a weak coalition government, it is necessary that we bring a single party to power. This is possible only when we cast our votes for such a candidate, in our respective constituencies who is from the party having a pan-state presence and also has contested an adequate number of assembly elections and which is capable of forming a single party government.
Yours etc.,
K Chettri
Shillong -2
A well-timed answer
Editor,
A big thank you Mr Charles Pyngrope for having brushed aside all the angles of xenophobia against Bengalis. From the Siachen glaciers to Kanyakumari from Tripura to Gujarat, BJP could look at the vast land that belongs to it. But 2000 km South East lies West Bengal and there the hinge of fate has turned. Four months of campaign by three BJP stalwarts ended up in smoke. The CAA is defeated. The injured tigress had fought back and Sunderbans tigress are world renowned like those of Kumaon.
And look at all leading institutions. We are grateful to all our teachers from Dacca, Jadavpur and Calcutta who were torch bearers of education and with our Khasi-Jaintia and Garo teachers we got Shillong as the educational hub of the North East. Of course, we will need to revive this place of pride in course of time.
Yours etc.,
W. Passah
Ex Hod electronics
(St Edmunds College)
Shillong
On celebrating religious festivals
Editor,
This is with reference to what Salil Gewali wrote (ST Jan.13) on the mode of celebration of important religious festivals. The moral issues he raised in his letter deserve attention and implementation. Such raising of voices against the evils of our society makes us aware of what we are doing and what we ought not to do. Sad to say, that such write-ups in the form of articles and letters in your esteemed daily do nothing more than make us feel guilty of what we are doing. But should not such guilt compel us to repent of our evil deeds and help us resolve not to commit such wrongs again? Well, that did not happen in the days of Krishna and Arjuna, and is not happening today. This will go on till God Himself comes to destroy the evil and the evil doers in His time. Till then let us lend our sensitive ears to the advice of people like Salil who give us unsolicited advice. Their desire to bring about a social change is commendable.
The law of the land and the truths found in the religious books and the police force and the good education in our society can do very little if we do not humble ourselves and surrender our all to God who alone can change our wicked heart. Let’s learn to live for others as we live for ourselves. We need to use our sacrificial love (which God has already given us) and only then will we find the desired change in our society that noble people like Salil are talking about in their writings.
Yours etc.,
Omar Luther King,
Delhi-34
Undesirable statement of RSS chief
Editor,
Any statement made by the RSS chief carries weight and cannot be ignored as we had seen the impact of the statement in Bihar assembly elections. During the last assembly election in Bihar the RSS chief had made the statement on review of reservation policy. Due to this one statement the BJP lost the assembly elections. Mulayam Singh confirmed in the Lok Sabha that due to one statement of Mohan Bhagwat BJP lost the assembly elections in Bihar. So whatever statement is made has its own weightage. The RSS will be completing a hundred years in 2025 and is at present running about 60,000 shàkhas (daily assemblies) which it intends to increase to one lakh which is well night impossible. Such statements are meant to gear up their cadres at the ground level. It is also a false notion that with the increase of RSS workers seats of BJP will also increase because maximum RSS shakhas are in Kerala yet there is only one MLA and no Lok Sabha member from there..
The RSS doesn’t speak much, or publicly so when it does the context is crucial. The ambiguities are rife and much can be lost in translation. Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat’s interview to editors of the Panchjanya and Organiser, both RSS-affiliated journals, is, therefore, a valuable peek into what lies at the heart and mind of the Sangh Parivar of which India’s ruling party is a member. It shows signs of a softening, on the question of LGBTQ rights and freedoms. But it also frames a dialling up of the divide on the Hindu-Muslim issue.
On the first, the RSS chief’s comments, “We have found a way to provide them (LGBTQ) social acceptance. They are also human beings having an inalienable right to live.” Bhagwat’s statements now can be read as the RSS taking a small, significant step towards tolerance of a sexual minority that faces popular discrimination. His statements about a “war for over 1000 years” are disquieting for their portrayal of a society under siege and engaged in unceasing hostilities within. His saying that it is “but natural for those at war to be aggressive,” and talk of the “enemy within” can be read as justification of perilous majoritarian assertion in a diverse democracy. His advice to Muslims to “abandon their boisterous rhetoric of supremacy” is unwise counsel from someone who speaks to the majority community from a position of great authority.
If his war-like comments now are seen in the context of next year’s general election, the augury of polarisation seems clear — and disquieting. Bhagwat should not turn the clock back on a forward movement he threw his weight behind. The statement also shows the RSS-BJP uneasiness due to Bharat Jodo Yatra of Rahul Gandhi which is getting good response from the common masses. Moreover opposition parties are uniting against the BJP and in this regard on Jànuary 30 when this Bharat Jodo Yatra will culminate at Srinagar, 21 political parties will assemble to show their strength.
BJP is already losing ground on two parameters one is Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and second is caste based census. Assembly elections of Karnataka are very crucial for BJP as it can make or mar the Party’s future.
Yours etc.,
Yash Pal Ralhan,
Via email