Editor,
Recently I came across a video in which an African spoke about the political situation in his home country. Here is what he said, “What is the difference between an ordinary thief and a political thief? The ordinary thief steals our money, our bag, our jewellery, our watch, etc., but a political thief steals our future, our careers, our education, our health, our business, our roads and other infrastructure. The hilarious part is that the ordinary thief decides whom to rob but we are the ones who choose the political thief who rob us because we vote for them in every election. We blindly say we are not blind. Who is deceiving whom? The ridiculous part of the whole issue is that we fight to protect our belongings from the ordinary thief but we fight each other to defend and protect the political thief. Is that not what we do? We fight for the thugs who steal our future, our careers, our education, our health, our roads, our livelihoods. What a shame! What a travesty! It calls for us to think and think deeply. ”
I think the above speech also perfectly describes our own predicament here in Meghalaya. Do we really have a choice? I don’t see that we have any. We always have to choose the best from amongst evil men perhaps because generally only the worst of humanity are attracted to join politics.
Yours etc.,
Samuel Swett,
Shillong- 2
.
Encourage those who work for the environment
Editor,
Whom do you blame if a child is not properly washed and is scruffy? Certainly, the parents. So, who should you blame if the rivers and lakes are polluted and dumped with mountains of garbage? Please keep guessing. Well, the news story – “Rivers orphaned: Is OCU pursuing a futile agenda?” (ST Jan 23, 2023) rightly laments how the “natural resources” in the state are in a sorry state of affairs. Why and who are answerable? Frankly speaking, the heaps of clothes, broken furniture, tin, plastic filled with whatnot,…will be left uncleared until they get washed away one day by torrential rains. Will the problem be over then? Not at all. It only goes to debilitate UMIAM lake further.
Thank God, we have some assiduous members of OCU (Operation Clean-Up) who get together to clean the riversides twice a month. But the river cleaned yesterday gets clogged with heaps of garbage the next day. However, the team has not given up and it is ploughing with the mess for the past four years. For many, they have become an inspiration. By the way, have those diligent members ever been publicly appreciated by the concerned authorities? Has the government or the pollution board extended their full support? We are not aware of that. There are as yet no strict prohibition orders issued by the authorities against the dumping of garbage. Why couldn’t that at least be done? It would have boosted the morale of the OCU members. This exposes the complete lackadaisical attitude of the government. Therefore, people, even the literate, keep dumping waste with impunity near riversides, lakes and drains. One wonders how this must have disheartened the OCU members!
Incidentally, I believe, it is vain to take pride in claiming that we are in the advanced age of the 21st century. If we do a serious study, we have only walked the wrong path. Our ambition and aspiration have only given birth to endless problems. What we have achieved in the name of development is only at the cost of our health and ecology. Near-irreversible “climate change,” (I find this phrase weak), is the outcome of our indiscriminate and ruthless exploitation of natural resources. With the industrial revolution, the capitalists have churned out billions of consumer items that raised the heat of the planet. Of course, their greed has still blinded them to see no wrong with the release of greenhouse gases leading to catastrophic environmental damage. Behold, our desire to bask in opulence and luxury has only punctured the ozone layer. This has also posed a serious threat to even the animal kingdom.
What if wild animals suddenly become “intelligent” like humans now? They will certainly snatch away our guns and pistols and shoot us down. They will scream and roar: “Hey humans, your intelligence has only wreaked havoc with nature and threatened our existence. Without you, this EARTH will be more serene and livable, so get lost!”
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong
Who scores more marks in Parliament?
Editor,
When AB Vajpayee whose government lasted only thirteen days delivered a memorable speech in Lok Sabha and explained in detail why he and his cabinet were resigning it was the view of Vajpayee that the public should know about the functioning of the government. On February 7, it was the turn of Rahul Gandhi where he levelled various allegations against the present government. On February 8, the Modi government replied to all the allegations levelled against it. And just as Vajpayee had said that the public should know about the functioning of the government, the same is now applicable to Modi. In his speech Modi remained silent on the issues raised by Rahul Gandhi whereas in a mature democratic country answers to various questions are expected. In the USA there is open discussion on every issue and candidates have to first clear the doubts of their own party members and later respond to allegations from the Opposition. Listening to such discussions makes Americans proud of their democracy. Here, it was obligatory on the part of Modi to at least give some sort of assurance that matters raised would be looked into seriously and if there are irregularities those would be addressed. Modi should have touched on the issue of Agneevir and should have given assurance to the people of this country in this regard.
Modi is confident because he believes the common man has confidence in him but he forgets that the same common man had defeated the party recently in Himachal Pradesh assembly elections and corporation elections in Delhi. Modi speaking in Parliament is no different from Modi giving an election speech.
Finally, if one is to decide on the marks to be given to Rahul Gandhi and Modi on their speeches in Parliament then Modi would have scored 49 marks and Rahul Gandhi 51.
Yours etc.,
Yash Pal Ralhan
Via email