Sunday and a festival controversy
Editor,
I find it absurd and irrational that a few groups and political parties, openly rant about the upcoming ‘Shillong Cherry Blossom Festival’ scheduled to be held from 17 to 19 November, 2023 of which 19th being a Sunday; a day that has always been considered sacred by a majority of Christian followers. However, keeping aside the consideration of the sacredness of this day (Sunday) I, however beg to differ on this notion, with regards to the said festival to be held on a Sunday. I feel we need to be progressive in a world or society where one community or religion does not dominate the liberty and right to life of the people.
The question that comes forth with this propagated issue is, why all of a sudden arise these kinds of dramatic reaction to a mere festival which overall brings about a brand image of our state to the rest of the world, just because of the fact that it would be celebrated on consecutive days of which one of them falls on a Sunday, when over the years we have seen a numbers of Melas and Trade Expos and even the then popular Autumn Festival being held on a Sunday? Do we Christians or more specific; Khasi Christians(except Seventh Day Adventist) have every right to claim this day (Sunday) solely and entirely to us, on the pretext of its sanctity, at the cost of the faiths and beliefs of other religion or their freedom of choice, when we live in a secular country enshrined clearly on the Preamble of the Constitution of India? How righteous are we that we blatantly conform to this notion when in several instances I see people with such mindsets, coming out doing the most hideous stuff? Or, perhaps they hardly even visit a church or are involved in any kind of worship, then saying that it’s the heart that matters even if they don’t go to church, but not conforming to the biblical notion of the importance of a congregational gathering?
Also, while I have considerable respect for a certain regional political party here for being vocal on local issues on numerous occasions, I was surprised to see the Party opposing the Shillong Cherry Blossom Festival to be held on a Sunday and demanding from the Government that it takes necessary action to withdraw the same. I was taken aback at this, given that the party has always stood on its core principles of transparency and fairness, but has kind of lost its way here when it has started mixing politics with religion in a milieu where religion and politics have had a respectable distance.
I believe that God has given us a free choice in our lives. God never forces us to either worship or follow the righteous path, but instead the Bible insists and advices us to follow its principles and teachings righteously.
Hence, if a festival is to be held on a Sunday, let it sail smoothly as long as the society is not disrupted at the cost of people who consider Sunday just as normal as any other day or those who do not relate a festival to the sacredness of Sunday.
Note that festivals or its organisers too never force us to attend the same or in particular that we should attend it on a Sunday either. Nonetheless, our individual conviction is what matters and that is paramount. If we feel the need to worship as Christians on a Sunday, let us be firm with that otherwise we should abstain from creating petty and trivial issues just for vested interests of some groups and organisations.
Yours etc.;
Mewan Pariat,
Shillong -2
Where is the MCA vision?
Editor,
As an ardent cricket fan and a fervent follower of the Meghalaya cricket team, I cannot help but feel aggrieved at the performance of our cricket team in both men and women domestic tournaments conducted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). When the Meghalaya Cricket Association (MCA) was granted full membership by the BCCI in 2018, we the followers of cricket were overjoyed by the fact that eventually we would be able to see a cricket team from our own state competing with other state teams from our region as well as with other state teams from mainland India. Then when on November 15, 2019 Meghalaya scripted history when they beat Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, we the followers were hoping that this win will prove as the catalyst for the development of the game in our State and that this victory would make our players to strive and perform better in the seasons to come.
Alas! This did not happen! On the contrary we see the performance of our team going down to such an extent that at present we cannot even compete with teams from Mizoram, Manipur and other north eastern states.
In this year’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Meghalaya lost all the matches they played so far and they even lost to Mizoram which we had easily defeated in the last few years. In the under-19 category for the Vinoo Mankad Trophy, Meghalaya was thrashed by all the teams and in two or three matches they conceded more than 400 plus runs. If readers have the time to check the facts, they can Google search and find out more about the performance of our team.
The question is whether our players are so bad. Or are the custodians of Meghalaya cricket to be blamed for such a shoddy performance? Or perhaps the players lack exposure or experience to compete with better teams? Both players and the MCA cannot give excuses for such a poor performance. Granted that the gulf between our team and other teams such as Mumbai, Delhi and others is huge in terms of cricket infrastructure and experience but now it seems that even among north eastern teams, Mizoram and Manipur are far ahead of Meghalaya. I watched the match between Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir in the T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy and could not help but feel a sense of shame in the manner in which they played. It was as if they played day matches. All players seemed like they played for themselves or were thinking about their spot in the next tournament. Or they just don’t care whether the team wins or loses as long as they get their match fees.
It’s an open secret that the BCCI sends money to the MCA annually for the development and improvement of cricket in our state. The question is where has all the money gone? How much of that money is used for the development of players? Are players or the team sent to play with better teams before the start of BCCI domestic tournaments? If the players lack match experience, the MCA should organize matches with better state teams so that our players can improve when they play against better teams. What about infrastructure development? After 2018 when MCA became a full member, it’s only this year that they started the construction of the indoor facility for training and practicing of players in the off season. Before this year all infrastructure development was concentrated in Polo grounds where players are allowed to practice only at the whims and fancies of MCA officials. But let me remind the MCA that it is not only in Shillong that they need to concentrate but also other districts too. As far as my knowledge goes, apart from Shillong and Tura, other districts have little or no league cricket at all. If they organize a league it was done half-heartedly, or just to show that they spent the funds sent by MCA for development of cricket.
Now why can the MCA not question the district associations for not organizing the league is beyond understanding. It seems that the MCA and the office bearers of these associations are hand in gloves in using the money for other means other than the development of cricket. If this is the case then it shows MCA in bad light and that it is without vision and that the goal of the members of the MCA is not for the development of cricket but just to get the funds from the BCCI and probably use it for other purposes.
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request,
An ardent Cricket fan
Via email