Why should the public suffer for administrative lapses?
Editor,
The recent order given by the Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills instructing shops establishments and fast-food eateries to close by 10 pm has come as a shocker to many bread earners who actually sacrifice their sleep to feed their family as most of them sell better at night. Setting up fast food joints at night is not a choice but a compulsion especially recovering post covid situations and we all very well know they cannot open in the day time due to congestion. The food available in Khyndailad as well as Laitumkhrah police point helps those who visit hospitals to wait on patients who are in emergency and those who work late nights as most online jobs are better off at night considering network issues and load shedding compensation. But, one stray incident that transpired from a drunken brawl has prompted the administration to issue the order putting a blanket ban on night eateries. At a time when the smart city project is being implemented and as we all know, safety and security forms part of this project through city surveillance. But where are the CCTVs promised to be installed under smart city to be monitored and operated by the police department? If nightlife in Shillong can be curtailed just for one miscalculated stray incident what message are we sending to our tourists?
When will our police act maturely to tackle a mob of 20-50 trouble mongers? As expressed in this column by a citizen, a call to the police station to complain of crimes is landing in deaf ears. On the one hand citizens are losing faith in the police while on the other side lawbreakers take advantage of the incompetent system. Is this governance? Is Meghalaya another UP/Bihar of the 90’s in the making? Hope our Hon’ble CM takes into account all these aspects as these ignored isolated incidents will surely take a toll on tourism and compromise our security. We condemn the incident that happened at Laitumkhrah PS and strict action should be taken against those involved. Henceforth police should send a loud and clear message to all trouble mongers, that disturbing peace will and shall not be tolerated in Meghalaya.
Yours etc.,
Iba Kharnaior
Shillong -1
Streetlight Effect
Editor,
The Streetlight effect or the drunkard Search principle is a type of observational bias that occurs when people only search for something where it’s easiest to look.
A policeman sees a drunk man searching for something under a streetlight and asks what the drunk has lost. He says he lost his keys and they both look under the streetlight together. After a few minutes the policeman asks if he is sure he lost them here, and the drunk replies, no, and that he lost them in the park. The policeman asks why he is searching here, and the drunk replies, “this is where the light is”.
This same phenomenon plays out in the recent notification of the government barring shops to open beyond 10 pm. Ironically on the same day the Karnataka government announced that all shops can open 24/7 !!.
Drunken brawls in public, traffic violations, street fights etc., are “symptoms” of a disease; they are not the disease. No doctor treats us for symptoms, they find the root cause. Similarly, these symptoms lay bare the genesis of the complete lack of law and order in the state. Yet when symptoms spurt the knee jerk reaction will always be misdirected towards a different solution often as in this case at the cost of us.
Now consider what happens when a government decides to “Regulate” something in the “Public interest”. The state is not a benevolent God-like force that works in society’s best interest. Politics is an interplay of power and money and those in power have always been captivated by special interests. In a democratic republic , the people should be in charge, and the government should serve. The only legitimate role of the state is to protect the rights of its citizens and that’s what laws are for. And yet, in this inversion of roles that we have accepted, laws become the tools by which our rulers keep us in check. The mere rule of law is never enough for this and the state always seeks to expand it with that magic word ” regulation.” We accept and encourage this whenever we encounter a social or an economic problem of any kind. We assume that the solution must lie with the government and demand regulations. To grant the government more power increases the imbalances and gives them more impunity to abuse it. The state has always treated us as subjects and not citizens. We have no rights except those that our rulers are kind enough to grant us. Since the British left, we have a procedure of electing our own rulers – but we remain ruled.
The 10 PM deadline for shops and other economic establishments goes against the very tenet of a progressive society and it’s an economic and social assault on us all. It exposes the complete lack of thinking and governance of the state to fulfil its duty towards its tax paying citizens and yet in the same tune it entices us with a 10 billion dollar economy in the making. You cannot think about interior designing when your basic foundation is not in place. When jobs are scarce and entrepreneurship is being pushed as an alternative, this notification reveals the stark truth of a government that has no clue what it says or does. The only solution it comes up with is, unleashing its power to subdue us.
In the end, like the drunkard under the streetlight, those in power will look and come up with nonsensical quick-fix answers that justifies their failure.
Yours etc.,
Robert R Khongwir,
Via email
Shillong in unsafe hands
Editor,
I was disturbed, yet amused, when I read the headlines, ‘Shillong unsafe, admits govt.’ Such an admission, although candid, is also casual. Therefore, it is also a candid confession that the administration is either incompetent or inefficient or both. The police too, admittedly, cannot deal with the problem of night crime like drug peddling and usage and other nuisance, either because the higher ups are not serious, or because there is not enough personnel or both.
Therefore, the headlines would be even more candid and accurate if it read, “Shillong in unsafe hands, admits govt.”
Yours etc.,
Amia Kharthomi,
Shillong
Empower Dorbar Shnongs to deal with night menace
Editor,
Apropos the news item “Shillong unsafe, admits govt” (ST July 12, 2023), I find this such an idiotic comment from the Magistrate! As if the solution to the problem of drug users, car drivers with loud music and unruly persons, is to order people to close all businesses after 10 pm! Who is she to regulate human behaviour on this scale? What is the justification for such an order that actually violates our Right to Freedom?
The justification she gives is that police cannot be present everywhere. So, by admission, this order itself will not solve any of the problems mentioned by her. By admission, the District Administration has failed to deal with drug users and rowdy persons. How can that incompetence be made to be borne by the general populace?
The District Administration/Government should rather empower and recognise the Dorbar Shnongs and work with them. This will solve most of the problems, as it will be a very organic way to deal with these lawless activities at the grassroots level, and it will boost the morale of the general conscientious populace. If this is done and the DS’s are empowered to carry out the arrest of lawless citizens and detain them, it will most effectively deal with drug users and peddlers and night menace. But the Government is not willing to do this, because it is either not serious or it is incompetent to tackle these problems. Instead, it passes such idiotic orders on a whim.
Yours etc.,
John Saitkhuid,
Shillong