Editor,
According to news from the Press Trust of India on 27.02.2024 Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister of Assam made an interesting statement “I am not interested in knowing the names of the candidates (MPs). People will vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.” Interestingly, there isn’t a specific constitutional provision in the Indian Constitution permitting voters to directly vote for the Prime Minister, as the electoral process involves a combination of local representation and national leadership. In fact, it was the late Brington Buhai Lyngdoh, the first Finance Minister and later Chief Minister of Meghalaya who advocated long time back that the electorate in India should not only vote for their MPs or MLAs but simultaneously vote for their Prime Minister and Chief Minister. From the statement made by the Chief Minister of Assam as well as the Union Home Minister recently to vote for the Prime Minister, I think it is time to amend the Indian Constitution and incorporate an article that facilitates electorates to simultaneously elect their Prime Minister and the Chief Minister in their respective states.
Yours etc.,
VK Lyngdoh,
Via email
Repeated Violation of Human Rights in Tibet by China
Editor,
I am writing to draw attention to the rampant violation of human rights and brutal oppression being experienced by Tibetans inside Tibet every single day under the draconian rule and wrathful watch of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Chinese authority.
The recent news of illegal detention and brutal assault of more than 1000 Tibetans by Chinese authorities, mainly monks and villagers protesting peacefully against the forceful relocation and planned construction of Gangtuo Hydro Power Project on Drichu river in Derge region, south east of Tibet is one such case. The villagers and monks were only pleading with the Chinese officials to stop the construction of dam and defend their land comprising two villages and eight monasteries that will be destroyed due to the proposed 2240 megawatt Gangtuo hydro power station, leading to their submergence.
These 2 villages are home to more than 2000 Tibetans and one of the monasteries, the Wonto monastery is believed to date back to the 13thcentury and has huge historical significance with some of the most ancient forms of Buddhist paintings – a group of murals dating back to the 14-15 century are preserved in the monastery. Many under detention are also being reportedly admitted to hospital as a result of brutal assaults during the interrogations.
This is completely against and sheer violation of basic human rights and disregard to the Tibetan way of living, cultural heritage and Tibet’s environment on the part of Chinese authorities. The protest which initially began on February 14, 2024 after receiving a forced relocation order from Beijing by local Tibetans inside Tibet, is today being continued by Tibetan diaspora across the world by organizing demonstrations/protests at Chinese Embassies/Consulates at major cities of the world including Delhi, New York, Toronto, Paris and many more to support and express our solidarity to every single arrested monk and villagers during the recent protest and also to heavily condemn this wanton act of repression and draconian rule by Chinese authorities in Tibet.
Yours etc.,
Yangchen Dolkar
Shillong
Where’s the inclusive spirit?
Editor,
Once again I wish to reiterate on the point of the omission of the Pnar language in the State’s anthem. After writing a couple of letters on this issue, looking back, I perceive that the Government did try to justify its stand by quoting the 2015 act passed in this regard ( but which can be easily taken care of, as even our Constitution had been amended from time to time).
What amazed and perplexed me was the excitement, the invaluable research work done on history, the lineage system, the language problems and so on and so forth on the Pnar people by many authors, historians, writers and researchers who went out of their way to justify their stands/reasons to prove that we the Pnasr are not the main tribes of Meghalaya. Hence the exclusion.
Looking at these, it seems that there are people who are hell bent on opposing our request even though we had asked for inclusion of only1/2 lines in Pnar language in the anthem. The question that arises, is – Why? Why bring in such a heated debate on almost a daily basis on this issue? Why as the Khasi- Jaintia we do not have big hearts to support one another? We are not asking for the moon, the sun or the sky….
Why did vehement arguments arise out of this? Are we not living all these years as one, like one big family? Why create a crack in our unity? I am saying this from the perspective of a common person not the elite because the stakes are not so big and are anot conducive for a thorough in-depth study.
My fervent prayer to all is that we must have golden hearts and concrete feelings towards each other and work on strengthening our roots so that our future generation would emulate the same.
To conclude, I would like to say that there may be those who would be offended by this letter and to them I offer my apologies in advance and also I reitèrate that there are no puns intended here.
Yours etc.,
Helen Dkhar,
Via email