Editor,
Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I wish to express my deep frustration regarding the conduct of the MPSC examination for the post of Junior Cooperative Officer held on the September 6, 2025.
One of the centres allotted was St. Antony’s Higher Secondary School, Shillong. To the utter dismay of candidates, while the exam was in progress inside the classrooms, a Gospel Retreat was being conducted in the school’s basketball court. The blaring loudspeakers, continuous music, and preaching created unbearable disturbance. For an exam that demanded focus, especially in sections involving mathematics and aptitude, such noise was not only distracting but also unfair to the candidates who had prepared with sincerity.
This letter is not intended to criticise any religion or the institute. Faith and worship have their sacred place, just as examinations demand silence and seriousness. But what happened was against the very decorum of a fair and impartial examination environment. Thousands of aspirants invest their time, energy, and years of preparation for these exams, and such lapses in planning leave us feeling disheartened.
I earnestly request the authorities concerned to ensure that in the future, exam centres are chosen and managed with greater care. Religious or cultural events and competitive examinations must never be scheduled simultaneously in the same premises. The least that is owed to aspirants is a fair chance to prove themselves without external disturbance.
Yours etc.,
A frustrated aspirant,
Via email
Where is the Devotion in Durga Puja
Editor,
Durga Puja is one of the most auspicious occasions for all of us Hindus. During that time, as per sacred scriptures, we are required to observe nine days of fasting and maintain complete purity of action. But what is sad is that many pandals in the town organize programs that are completely against Hinduism. Instead of bhajan, kirtan, and other devotional activities, they organize various programs with Bollywood songs and vulgar dances right in front of the idols of Maa Durga. Should the elderly members who organize these events encourage younger children and youth to enjoy such cheap entertainment in the name of Goddess Durga? What kind of message do they want to send to the new generation?
Some puja pandals near Lower Mawprem always disturb the neighborhood with deafening Bollywood songs. Many members there, having no civic sense, are often tipsy as though no other residents live there, or have no right to live in peace. Such irresponsible puja organizers should not be given permission by the DC, East Khasi Hills. I also humbly request the most respected members of the Central Puja Committee to ensure that no organization performs their auspicious puja function in a way that goes against the ethos of Hinduism or shows lack of civic responsibility.
Yours etc.,
Neha Dhananjaya
Via email
We Want Justice
Editor,
The CBI indication to appeal against the Meghalaya High Court order on the abominable White Ink Case involving the then Education Minister, Ampareen Lyngdoh, is indeed a great relief to us, relations of the victimised passed out teachers, who were mercilessly deprived by the Minister in order to accommodate her favourite supporters. We support the CBI on this move, to at least see that justice is in favour of the victims, although many of them have become over-aged after 17 years, but we hope the Judiciary will intervene and that the case of the over-aged victimised teachers be considered as it was then, that is at the time the interview was conducted followed by the declaration of results.
We had some doubts about the then CBI and the Police, for not even finding out the two helpers of the Minister who carried out the white ink job in her house, as disclosed by Mr. J.D Sangma. We are pinning our hopes on the present CBI chief to unearth the scam in the interest of justice and public interest.
We earnestly look forward to receive due justice on the basis of fairness.
Yours etc.,
K.T. Kyndiah & other parents of the victimised candidates
Via email
When Luxury Thinks It is Law
Editor,
The recent incident in Shillong of persons with airguns being arrested is not merely about illegal weapons or impersonation. It is a glaring symptom of a deeper social malaise: a brazen culture of faux power and entitlement among a certain class who mistake luxury cars for power and hire muscle for authority.
Mebanshem Snaitang’s convoy, tinted windows, blaring siren, an unregistered Audi, and men in black fatigues was not just “showing off.” It was a calculated performance, an open challenge to the rule of law, staged audaciously right outside the seat of state power. His casual questioning of whether the government “has any rules” against private security or air guns reveals a dangerously entitled mindset that “wealth equals exemption.”
The Shillong Police deserve credit for acting swiftly. But this is not an isolated case. It is part of a disturbing trend where owners of high-end vehicles draped in self-styled VIP-ism treat Shillong’s narrow, congested streets as their personal parade grounds. We see this every day. SUVs double-parked in Laitumkhrah, horns blaring as if traffic exists to serve them. Luxury cars cutting queues near Police Bazar with tinted windows hiding smug faces. They overtake like VVIPs, expecting roads to part and pedestrians to yield, as if their car’s price tag grants them divine right.
Shillong’s charm lies in its humility, its mist-kissed hills, and its close-knit community spirit not in wannabe dons playing power games with air guns and Audi sedans. This city thrives on mutual respect, not manufactured intimidation.
If we do not collectively call out this culture; if authorities do not consistently enforce the law regardless of status or car model, then incidents like this will keep repeating until one day, the “intimidation” escalates into actual violence.
Let this be a wake-up call. Shillong does not need self-appointed VVIPs. It needs citizens who respect the law, not those who believe their wealth places them above it.
Yours etc.,
Marbiang Lyngdoh Rymbai
Via email