Editor,
I am providing excerpts from reports that are in the public domain. It is surprising to see that our state is still beating their chests about a WAR on DRUGS. “In June 2011, the Global Commission on Drug Policy had declared the global War on Drugs a failure.”
On June 24, 2022 the UN human rights experts have called on the international community to bring an end to the so-called “war on drugs” and promote drug policies that are firmly anchored in human rights.
“Data and experience accumulated by UN experts have shown that the “war on drugs” undermines health and social wellbeing and wastes public resources while failing to eradicate the demand for illegal drugs and the illegal drug market. Worse, this “war” has engendered narco-economies at the local, national and regional levels in several instances to the detriment of national development. Such policies have far-reaching negative implications for the widest range of human rights, including the right to personal liberty, freedom from forced labour, from ill-treatment and torture, fair trial rights, the rights to health, including palliative treatment and care, right to adequate housing, freedom from discrimination, right to clean and healthy environment, right to culture and freedoms of expression, religion, assembly and association and the right to equal treatment before the law.”
“As the UN system Common Position on drug policy has emphasised, drug use and dependency should not be treated as a criminal matter, but rather as a health issue to be addressed through rights-based measures including public health education, the provision of mental hygiene treatment, care and support, rehabilitation and transition/reintegration programmes.
The UN system, the international community and individual Member States have a historical responsibility to reverse the devastation brought about by decades of a global “war on drugs”.”
The IDADAIT 2023 theme is “People first: stop stigma and discrimination, strengthen prevention” – aims to raise awareness about the importance of treating people who use drugs with respect and empathy; providing evidence-based, voluntary services for all; offering alternatives to punishment; prioritizing prevention; and leading with compassion.
As someone who has been caring for dependent individuals for over 30 years I want to highlight the fact that these are people we are talking about – who could even be someone from your own family who has the disease of addiction. Let our state lead in understanding the theme for this year and living it – not beating the drum for a WAR
Yours etc.,
Dr Sandi Syiem,
Via email
Where’s our humanity?
Editor,
I read the report in a section of the media (Scroll.in) about refugees from Manipur in Shillong being turned away in many localities. I am pained to see what appears to be a reluctance to help – I hope my impression is wrong. Precautions are necessary. We need to ensure that the city is kept safe. However, a blanket ban on all refugees from Manipur is inhuman to say the least. These are people whose houses may have been burnt and several may have lost their loved ones to the violence. We could place ourselves in their shoes.
What has to be done is to keep good records of the tenants. Ask them to get a certificate from the respective organisation in Shillong of that community. Let an undertaking also be given that they have to abide by a set of rules the shnong may make, with a penalty for infringement. The district administration may arrange for records to be sent to the respective police station for quick reference in case of any emergency and for unforeseen difficulties which may arise. Other requirements may be prescribed.
The requirements should be with the purpose to ensure security and not to make it too difficult for people who are in great need. May I request the Dorbar Shnongs to rethink their blanket ban on refugees?
“For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Let these not be the words that Christ will confront us with some day.
Yours etc.,
Barkos Warjri,
Via email
Dangers of Aadhaar!
Editor,
All of a sudden our State government has gone the whole hog to enforce the Aadhaar enrollment for all citizens who have not yet done so. Against such a sweeping imposition some discerning citizens have opined that there is something fishy in the process. It’s widely known that Meghalaya fares abysmally low in Aadhaar registration vis-a-vis all the other states in India with around 40% of citizens still not registered under Aadhaar. It’s mind-boggling that just a few months ago the state government has asked even students to register themselves under Aadhaar and also told the people included in MHIS health cards to mandatorily link with it with the Aadhaar number. Naturally most rural beneficiaries, poor as they are likely to suffer bitter deprivation since hospitals have flatly refused to accept the MHIS card not linked to Aadhar. Of late I have been given to understand that even for replacement of exhausted LPG cylinders the Aadhar card has become compulsory without which the suppliers will not deliver the filled cylinder.
I’m constrained to believe that the present Government of Meghalaya is considering bringing more public utility services under the Aadhaar parameters, forthwith. It may be a point to note that when Aadhaar was first implemented, it was declared that Meghalaya, Assam and the erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state were exempted, but our government seems to have kicked that notification under the carpet. Additionally, on March 27, 2023, the Apex court ordered that the Central government cannot make Aadhaar card mandatory for any welfare schemes offered by it. Hence in short, with this stringent measure promulgated by the MDA-02 government the axe will definitely fall on the gullible villagers and the less educated masses. Perhaps all this has come to pass owing to the rock-bottom position occupied by Meghalaya amongst the states of India in terms of Aadhaar registration and for which the saffron government in Delhi must have taken to task the Conrad Sangma-led MDA 2.0 Government for its soft peddling on Aadhaar enrolment.
This lambasting recipe must have propelled Sangma to go on an overdrive in this context. I’m also bewildered that despite the presence of innumerable NGOs in the Khasi-Jaintia hill-districts like KSU, HYC, HITO, FKJGP, they have to date maintained a studied silence over this critical societal issue. A notable point here is that Aadhaar conscription is fraught with the dangers of data breach pertaining to one’s privacy – a fundamental right. A case in point is that on May 1st, 2017, the details of 130 million bank account holders were leaked from the government’s websites. To top it all, on June 12, there was a massive vital data leak caused by the Co-win portal where personal data on Aadhaar were freely accessible to any inquisitive tech-savvy person. Leakages were also reported on gender, passport numbers, date of birth, date of receiving first Covid vaccines, thereby offering a level playing field for the scrupulous characters as they are accessible on social media platforms!
Prominent personalities in the field of politics, bureaucracy etc., are inevitably under the scourge of data exposure. Besides the Secretary, Union Health Ministry R. Bhushan and his spouse R. Khandhuri, the Union Minister of State, Meenakshi Lekhi there are also well-known opposition leaders, viz. P. Chidambaram, former Union Minister, Derek O’Brien, Rajya Sabha MP and Trinamool Congress leader are victims of data breach. Even eminent journalists like Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt have fallen into this conundrum. It bears recalling that in one of my letters to the editor, titled, ‘The dark aspects of Aadhaar’ (ST July 11,2017), I had conveyed a caveat that induction into Aadhaar networks will in the end literally turn us into a dog under an electronic leash. Hence, taking everything into account, Aadhaar regimen will be breathing down our neck at all times.
Yours etc.
Jerome K Diengdoh,
Shillong-2