Editor,
Indian News Channels yesterday and the News Headlines for today , 31st July 2025, are awash with the sudden imposition of 25 % Tariff duty on Indian goods by the US. The US President, a “Good Friend” of our PM, Narendra Modi has seen fit to make that announcement through his notorious tweet diplomacy. Lets face it , the US today under Donald Trump is not the US of yesteryears, a US that handled diplomacy with the charm and charisma of an Old Grandmother, while at the same time dealing deadly back-stabs through covert CIA interventions. That heady mix of sweet seduction of nations running cheek –to – cheek with concealed agendas of the spy for subversive action has disappeared for ever. Its now mafia style diplomacy where tariffs are openly used instead of the good old tommy gun.
Under Trump it’s a different America altogether. Uncle Sam’s diplomatic idea of using philanthropy, compassion, humanity and generosity to manage the world have been tossed out of the window. Its now a world of diplomatic control through deals. Deal making has become an art form to be seriously studied by all budding diplomats. It’s a New World Order that has sent world leaders scrambling to make sense of it all. It’s a world of the Bania where the concepts and ideology of the Vishwaguru , the Indian vision of enacting the role of ‘World Teacher’ in foreign policy discourses, has little or no recognition. Under Trump, Diplomacy has been reduced to bazaar haggling and bargaining and that too openly under full public scrutiny. A visit to a khar pusari shop at Iewduh will serve as a good eye opener on how a deal is usually done.
There are comments galore on social media about the price India has to pay to accommodate Modi’s Bear Hugs with Trump. Perhaps there were 25 such hugs every time they met and to a deal making US President, who perhaps kept count, imposing 1% tariff on India exports for every Bear Hug was a way of deal making. So here we are slapped with a 25% tariff duty for no fault of ours except that our PM mistook comforting bear hugs as deal making gestures. A high price to pay and its clear that Modi, despite being Gujarati is no match at deal making. Come to think of it Meghalaya Cabinet members, especially those hard-nosed business types, from the eastern part of the State, could perhaps teach Modi a thing or two about governance through the ‘Art of Deal Making!’ Come to think of it, Conrad Sangma could be doing the country a great service if some high ranking Cabinet members aided perhaps by similar minded senior bureaucrats of the state, could be sent on Deputation to Delhi to teach PMO and MEA how to make deals. They are good at it I am told. Our Cabinet members , that is!
Yours etc.,
Toki Blah,
Via email
Our forests endangered
Editor,
What was in the news about our state for a couple of weeks now is that the agreement signed in 2014 by the then Syiem,(L) Latho Manik Syiem and his Myntris, during the tenure of former CEM, Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit to declare‘Law Mawpat’as a ‘Law Adong(protected forest) was revoked in 2019. Hence plots have been allotted to many MLAs whose identities are still not placed in the public domain. What was a ray of hope and a way forward towards the protection and safeguarding of the forests and the environment came crashing.
What came as an even greater surprise were facts shared by Paiem Laborious Manik Syiem, former Syiem of Hima Mylliem in the panel discussion, “To Ngin Iathir”by The Shillong Times on July 26, 2025. Here Paiem spoke about how self-serving those in power and authority could be which affirms that human wants are unlimited. The more we get the more we want and at times our yearnings turn to greed making us unscrupulous and selfish. This is nothing short of disregard for morality and a lack of fellow feeling on the part of those who prefer to grab rather than think about the greater good of all. Painfully true and honest write-ups in The Shillong Times told tales of those in power and might subjugating the rights of their own people while shamelessly securing pieces of land that would otherwise help realise its purpose of providing a clean and safe environment for all.
Pertinent questions that arise are: Why was an important agreement for the good of all, especially our future generations revoked? What made one CEM realise the purpose of the ADC and the other to annul it when the sole purpose of being in the District Council is to safeguard the rights, customs, and traditions of our tribal communities and managing local governance and development? Were the traditional heads really ignorant of the happenings in their locality? Why are plots allotted to the MLAs? Who are these representatives of the people? We all agree that we need to sustain the forests for the larger good of humankind and the environment. Can the Syiem Hima Mylliem, the KHADC and those in a position to help maintain a healthy planet, set things right?
As a little girl in school I had read about the Law Kyntang in my Khasi books and was also told stories by my grandmother about the Lawkyntang at Mawphlang and about the farsightedness of our ancestors. These forests do not only have religious and cultural moorings but show the close connection that people have with nature and their sincerity towards protecting medical herbs and plants, a sanctuary for a variety of animals and wildlife and also regulating climate. Today we are braving the challenges of climate change and global warming, we need to provide more such green spaces for our children to breathe clean air, drink clean water and ensure their well-being. While our ancestors were conscientious and selfless people who thought about the greater good of all, especially the future generations, today we have those in power and authority bereft of conscience, ethics and morality. In doing so, they let us down by failing to champion the cause of the people who voted for them and imperiling our lives and those of our children.
Yours etc.,
Jenniefer Dkhar,
Via email
Mawkhar Presbyterian Church in crisis again!
Editor,
Through your esteemed daily, I wish to express my deep concern over the unfortunate spate of controversies plaguing the Mawkhar Presbyterian Church to which I belong. The most recent episode involves the suspension of a senior pastor in the church by the Synod, which I understand, was for reasons of gross indiscipline and insubordination to the authority of the Synod. Instead of due compliance and the matter ending there, the pastor in question chose to defy the suspension order and continued to function with the concurrence of our church committee apparently. This development, apart from bringing disgrace and dishonour to the name of the church, has made church members at large to question in particular, the intent and role of the church committee in all this, with some viewing the committee as being spineless, biased, and compromising its true principles and character. There is nothing more disconcerting and damaging to the church than this.
Perhaps some questions are worth considering, such as – would it be right for members of the church to accept a suspended pastor to illegitimately perform his functions in the church? Whether the confrontational path of defiance against authority would one day lead the church to the brink of being branded a ‘rebel church?’ Isn’t the church committee teaching and encouraging the culture of defiance and challenge to authority, which clearly is opposed to the word of God and its teachings, and what will happen if the committee itself is faced with such challenges internally? These questions are not far-fetched to reckon with but they are real and pertinent, and not easily dismissible.
Sadly, the situation is so bad that it has literally exposed the weakness of the church leadership or lack of it, and revealed its moral and spiritual bankruptcy. Wittingly or unwittingly, it has thrown the whole church into a state of uncertainty, fraught with unimaginable and undesirable consequences. We hope and pray that the church redeems itself by fearing and obeying the Lord and His word before it is too late.
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request.
Via email.