The Cherry Blossom Festival which was marred by the cyclonic storm on the first day ended in a pleasant note albeit with one of India’s leading band ‘Sanam’ unable to give their best as their performance was pushed towards the last part of the programme. As far as the organisers are concerned there was little they could do to ward off a natural phenomenon- in this case the inclement weather. But what the Tourism Department ought to seriously consider is a large enough permanent venue that can house the growing audiences that come from across the country to watch the famed international rock bands that have made Meghalaya part of their itinerary. A makeshift ground that turns mushy after a bout of rain is clearly not a venue where international rock bands should ideally be performing in.
The Shillong Centre for Performing Arts in New Shillong is an example of a world class performing arts venue. But this is meant for performances with a limited audience capacity. International rock bands are an entourage that require huge seating capacities in the open air. Perhaps this needs better imagination so that there is less need for policing. The number of police personnel present at the venue in the Kurkalang Ground where the recent Cherry Blossom Festival was held was far too many. That, after a huge contingent of the Bouncers’ Association of Meghalaya (BAM) were also there in full strength. Of course this time with fringe elements threatening to disrupt the concert because it included a Sunday, the District Administration of Ri Bhoi had to remain on alert.
This is where the question of religious imposition comes in. India is a secular country and has to remain so if it is to survive as a nation. The people of India no matter what religion they belong to have to learn to co-exist with mutual respect for one another. Sunday may be a holy day for Christians but to expect all non-Christians to adhere to this diktat is an imposition. It leads to acrimony that mars the spirit of co-existence. It is made worse when fundamentalists of any religion take things further by threatening to disrupt a secular gathering scheduled for Sunday. This is unacceptable and such elements need to be rounded up for creating disharmony at a time when the State is gearing up to promote tourism as one important means of livelihoods in a State that is starved of industries. All’s well that ends well as they say and it’s good that the last two days of the Cherry Blossom Festival went off well. But there are lessons to be learnt that need to be taken forward into the next major event in the State.
