Editor,
I write this letter in deep anguish and outrage over the recent case involving the murder of a 4 year-old child from Nongrah, Shillong, allegedly committed by a 13 year-old boy. As further evidence emerges, the brutality of the crime has left the public shocked and struggling to comprehend how such an act could be committed by someone so young.
While the Juvenile Justice system in India exists to protect and rehabilitate minors, this case forces us to confront an uncomfortable question: should age alone determine punishment when the crime involves extreme sexual violence and murder? A child of four had no voice, no defence, and no chance to survive. Therefore, justice must speak firmly on her behalf.
It is deeply disturbing and outrageous that the accused in such a heinous crime may face only a limited period of prison time purely due to his age in accordance to the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. Juvenile laws were designed to reform children who commit minor or impulsive offences and not to create a loophole where perpetrators of the most brutal crimes escape proportionate accountability. Also, reports that the accused was exposed to pornographic content highlight a wider failure of parental/guardian supervision, digital regulation, and early psychological intervention and while such exposure may explain behavioural distortion, it can never justify or excuse a crime of this magnitude.
This case demands immediate judicial and legislative attention. I urge the judicial system and lawmakers to re-examine and reform juvenile justice provisions for heinous crimes, allowing courts to assess intent, psychological maturity, and brutality on a case-by-case basis. This will ensure that the perpetrator, despite his young age, should be tried as an adult for the heinous crime he committed. The law must strike a balance between rehabilitation and justice, without undermining public faith in the legal system. If justice appears diluted in such cases, it risks losing public trust and moral conscience. I urge lawmakers and legal authorities to re-examine existing provisions and initiate meaningful reform.
Yours etc.,
Mebaphylla Rymshon,
Via email
Knowledge without wisdom is facile
Editor,
With reference to your Special Article “Hollowing out tradition; Education in a bubble”, published in The Shillong Times on December 19, 2025, you have raised a concern that many parents, teachers, and thoughtful readers quietly feel, but seldom express openly.
Education today appears impressive on paper. Marks are high, results are celebrated, and careers are planned early. Yet, somewhere along the way, learning seems to have drifted away from real life. Students spend years inside classrooms, but often remain distant from nature, community life, and the simple human values that shape responsible living.
The focus of education has largely shifted to scoring well, securing ranks, and getting jobs. There is nothing wrong in aspiring for success, comfort, and professional growth. However, when education becomes limited to examinations and certificates alone, it begins to lose its deeper purpose. Children gather facts and information, but not always the wisdom needed to live with care, responsibility, and respect for the world around them.
Many students learn about the environment without ever feeling close to nature, and study social lessons without truly understanding the people and communities around them. Knowledge often remains confined to textbooks instead of shaping thought, behaviour, and character. This separation between formal education and lived knowledge is not new. I recall an incident narrated to me during my college days by my younger brother, who was pursuing his B.Sc., which left a lasting impression on me. During a zoology practical class, a dead snake preserved in a bottle was brought for identification. To everyone’s surprise, neither the lecturer nor the demonstrator nor the students could identify it with certainty. The discussion soon turned into guesswork.
At that moment, a laboratory peon, who had been watching quietly, identified the snake without hesitation. He explained its local name, whether it was poisonous, and how people in his village traditionally distinguished it from similar species. His knowledge was accurate and practical, shaped by lived experience and passed down through generations, rather than acquired from textbooks. That moment powerfully reminded me that valuable knowledge often exists outside classrooms, yet remains unseen and unrecognised.
Your article also rightly links this loss of traditional knowledge with environmental damage. In regions like Meghalaya, deforestation and unregulated mining have not only harmed ecosystems but have also erased generations of understanding related to forests, medicinal plants, wildlife, food habits, and sustainable living. When forests disappear, wisdom disappears with them.
My argument is not against modern education or science, both of which have brought immense benefits. The real concern lies in our failure to connect modern learning with local realities and traditional wisdom. Education should enrich life, not distance itself from the land and culture it is meant to serve.
Encouragingly, there are examples that show a better path. Green School Bali in Indonesia stands as a shining example of nature-centred education. Set amid forests near a river, the school follows an annual academic calendar that blends regular subjects with hands — on learning through gardening, ecology, renewable energy, and community projects. Students learn not only from books, but directly from nature, developing both academic skills and a deep respect for the environment.
Your article gently reminds us that education should prepare students not only for earning a living, but also for living a meaningful and responsible life. This growing gap between learning and life deserves serious and honest attention, before education becomes impressive in appearance but hollow at its core. As the old proverb wisely says, “Knowledge without wisdom is like a lamp without light.”
Yours etc.,
Jairaj,
Via email
