Editor,
I write to express my concern regarding the irregular release and pricing of the Meghalaya calendars by the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR). It has come to my attention that these calendars, depicting the rich cultural heritage of Meghalaya, are being sold at a significantly higher price by vendors compared to the cost at the DIPR Dept counter. This not only tarnishes the state’s reputation but also places an unfair burden on residents and enthusiasts who wish to celebrate and showcase the unique aspects of Meghalaya.
I kindly request the DIPR department to adopt a more organized approach by setting a fixed release date for the calendars and regulating the quantity sold to vendors. It is disheartening to learn that the calendars are often unavailable at the DIPR office, thereby vforcing interested individuals to resort to purchasing them from vendors at inflated prices. A simple circular from the DIPR department limiting the number of calendars sold to vendors, along with a reasonable pricing guideline, can ensure a more dignified and accessible distribution of these calendars, benefiting both the Department and the people of Meghalaya.
Yours etc.,
A Sarki
Shillong
State’s iconic beauty at stake
Editor,
Wards Lake- the natural beauty within Shillong city has slowly lost its charm and beauty due to frequent ’FESTIVALS’ being organised within its premises. The organisers, participants and attendants do not seem to bother about the surroundings, from the green grass to the trees, the flowers, etc. The setting up of stalls/ booths without responsibility for disposing of the waste materials is an eye sore. When one visits Ward’s Lake, at times it looks like a location of a mini fete or a small bazaar.
Another disappointment is the time immemorial footbridge across the Lake which has been closed for almost a year now. The Department concerned is not taking any initiative to repair this bridge for reasons unknown.
I am writing to express concern and to raise awareness about the need to preserve this beautiful landmark of our city which is frequented by locals and tourists alike.
Yours etc.,
PM Syiem,
Via email
Caste continues to be a curse in India
Editor,
A few days ago, three persons allegedly molested an 18-year-old Dalit girl in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh when she was working at a cauldron of a jaggery-making unit. When she protested, the accused allegedly threw her into the hot cauldron and hurled casteist words at her. The girl sustained serious burn injuries and has been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Delhi.
The above incident is just the tip of the iceberg. The latest National Crime Records Bureau’s data show that crimes against Dalits increased from 50,744 in 2021 to 57,428 last year. The graph has been going up since 2013. There were 15,368 crimes against Scheduled Caste persons last year in Uttar Pradesh, while Madhya Pradesh ranked first in crimes against Scheduled Tribes from 2020 to 2022.
The administrations in these two double engine states need to be more efficient in dealing with crimes against Dalits. However, caste hatred towards Dalits by the upper caste members of the same religion is not confined to those two states only but across India. Many parents follow the “teach them young,” mantra regarding educating their children about caste differences. In some schools in Tamil Nadu, students wear colour-coded wristbands to show their caste identity. Those children may or may not wear their hearts on their sleeves. But they definitely wear their castes on their wrists!
The following incident would reveal what ‘caste educated’ little children could do. A teacher from a lower caste was appointed in a school in Tamil Nadu where majority of the students belonged to upper castes. A student threw a firecracker at her when she had been taking a class. It ruptured her eardrum and she was forced to leave.
On the other hand, a young student was killed in Rajasthan in August 2022 for not getting enough education on untouchability. The student touched a drinking pot and as a result he was beaten to death by his teacher in Surana village of Rajasthan’s Jalore district. As per the India Human Development Survey (IHDS-2) in 2011-12, 27 per cent respondents across India said that they had been maintaining the practice of untouchability in their daily lives.
According to studies conducted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research in 2016, about 5% of marriages in India are inter-caste marriages. Caste identity cannot be changed with the change of class or in other words with the help of money power. One in four Indians who practice untouchability will not touch even a well-off Dalit. On the other hand 95 among 100 Indians continue to avoid marrying even rich Dalits.
There is a long list of atrocities against Dalits like thrashing them for – sporting a moustache or riding a horse or drinking water from a public tap or getting a haircut at a barber’s shop or entering a temple or taking water from a well or sitting in a row in a feast etc. The story is the same as that of “Sadgati” which is not just a Munshi Prem Chand’s short story or a Satyajit Ray’s film. As a matter of fact, this is a never-ending story of caste hatred in our country.
This made Ambedkar embrace Buddhism and Vemula write in his suicide note, “My birth is my fatal accident.” And this makes the school-dropout-rate among Dalit children generally high in our country. The UN report says that there is widespread discrimination against Dalits throughout the entire educational system in India.
This is a threat to equality, to our national unity and more importantly to humanity. More often than not, history witnessed what Tagore wrote in his famous poem, Apamanita (Insulted), “Whom you push down will pull you down” or in other words Newton’s third law “for every action in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
Students should be taught in schools why caste inequality is an ugly blot like sati that needs to be erased from our society. Moreover, a display of any kind of symbol of one’s caste identity must totally be banned.
Yours etc.,
Sujit De,,
Kolkata