Editor,
The Meghalaya Cricket Association (MCA) President’s move to dismiss and impose lifetime bans on the Head Coach and Manager is nothing but a baby step towards justice. His refusal to pursue action against former office-bearers on the ground that they no longer hold office is untenable and demoralizing. This stance effectively shields former officials who allegedly ignored serious harassment complaints from our women cricketers, in blatant disregard of mandatory legal requirements. The MCA should have, in parallel, filed a formal complaint with the competent authority to initiate proceedings under the BNS, 2023, against all individuals whose conduct prima facie indicate commission of cognizable offences or abetment. If the MCA fails to act, the MSCW should intervene and recommend criminal prosecution.
Suspensions, dismissals, or lifetime bans cannot substitute criminal liability where serious cognizable offences appear to have been committed. The safety and dignity of women athletes demand far more than symbolic administrative measures like ban or suspension. The criminal justice system must be activated to independently assess culpability so that no guilty person is spared. It would be nothing short of a grave sin if we fail to guarantee justice to our young athletes.
Yours etc.,
NK Kehar,
Shillong-3
Politics of Perpetual Suspects
Editor
The proposal to introduce a Non-Tribal Employee’s Service Licence raises a simple but fundamental question: What problem is it intended to solve?
Non-tribal traders, employees, business owners and establishments in Meghalaya are hardly strangers to regulation. They are already required to comply with an extensive framework of legal and statutory requirements—trade licences, labour clearances, professional tax registration, Aadhaar, PAN, voter identification, and numerous other obligations depending on the nature of their work. If all these mechanisms already establish identity, legality and accountability, what administrative gap remains that only another licence can fill?
One cannot help but wonder whether, at this rate, even a DNA sequence might someday be demanded to prove one’s legitimacy.
The issue, however, extends beyond one proposed licence. It reflects a deeper and older pattern in our politics. For decades, non-tribals—an ever-diminishing minority in the State—have too often served as convenient political targets whenever familiar identity politics needed to be revived. Electoral arithmetic has repeatedly demonstrated that standing up against a vulnerable minority can be more politically rewarding than standing up for better governance.
That is why this proposal appears less like an administrative reform and more like another chapter in a well-rehearsed political script.
Unfortunately, this mindset is no longer confined to electoral politics. It has gradually seeped into institutions that were created to foster unity rather than reinforce social distinctions. Increasingly, organisations whose very purpose is to bring citizens together appear comfortable organising activities along lines of identity.
A recent example is the decision to organise a National Level Tribal Scout/Guide/Rover/Ranger Meet at the Meghalaya Bharat Scouts and Guides State Headquarters, Pine Mount Ridge, Shillong, from 25th to 29th June 2026. The question is not whether tribal youth deserve encouragement—they certainly do. The question is whether creating separate identity-based platforms serves the very ideals upon which the scouting movement was founded.
Scouting was conceived as a movement where the uniform erased differences of caste, tribe, religion and region. It sought to build character, leadership and friendship by bringing young people together under a common flag, teaching them that citizenship transcends identity. Its enduring motto is not separation, but shared service.
The same principle applies to sports. A playing field is perhaps one of the purest arenas of national integration, where merit, teamwork and discipline matter far more than one’s community. If these institutions already provide inclusive platforms where every participant competes as an equal, what compelling purpose is served by organising separate events exclusively on the basis of tribal identity? True inclusion is achieved by ensuring equal access to common institutions, not by creating parallel spaces defined by identity.
When institutions begin equating separation with inclusion, they risk sending an unintended message: that citizens are first members of separate communities and only afterwards members of a shared society. Politics then merely harvests the divisions that institutions have inadvertently helped to cultivate.
It is therefore unsurprising that governments often struggle to confront aggressive identity mobilisation. What were once whispered prejudices have gradually evolved into loud and respectable political slogans. Each new concession to identity-based politics encourages the next demand, and each new demand further normalises discrimination disguised as administrative necessity.
Meghalaya offers the world one of humanity’s most remarkable engineering marvels—the Living Root Bridges. They are not constructed in haste. They require patience, cooperation and vision, taking decades to mature while growing stronger with each passing year. They connect villages across rivers not by cutting down nature, but by guiding it towards unity.
Our politics could learn something from these bridges.
The challenge before Meghalaya is not to build ever more bureaucratic barriers between its people, but to cultivate the patience and wisdom to grow bridges of trust. Future generations will not judge us by how many licences we created to separate communities, but by whether we had the courage to build institutions that united them as equal citizens.
Yours etc.,
Narottam Subedi
Shillong – 2
CPR Training a Life Saver
Editor,
The recent initiative of the Office of the District Medical & Health Officer, East Khasi Hills, in imparting training on Cardio-pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), Basic First Aid and emergency response skills to traffic personnel, Home Guards, teachers and students in Shillong deserves wholehearted appreciation. Such programmes are timely, practical and have the potential to save countless lives. I sincerely hope that similar training initiatives will also be extended to Tura and other parts of Garo Hills.
The region frequently witnesses medical emergencies arising from road accidents, heart attacks and suspected stroke cases, where the first few minutes are often crucial in determining whether a patient survives or suffers permanent disability. While CPR is primarily administered during cardiac arrest, public awareness campaigns should also educate people about recognising the initial warning signs of a stroke.
The need for such programmes is becoming increasingly urgent. India records around 1.25 million new stroke cases every year, accounting for nearly 10 per cent of the global stroke burden (World Stroke Organization Global Stroke Fact Sheet 2025; Global Burden of Disease Study 2021). Stroke remains one of the leading causes of death and long-term disability in the country. Studies further indicate that almost 90 per cent of stroke cases are associated with preventable risk factors, including hypertension, diabetes, tobacco use, unhealthy diet, obesity and physical inactivity (World Health Organization, 2025; Global Burden of Disease Study 2021). These alarming statistics underline the urgent need to equip ordinary citizens with basic life-saving skills.
In remote regions such as Garo Hills, where reaching specialised healthcare facilities often takes considerable time, the ability of ordinary citizens to provide immediate assistance can make the difference between life and death. If Village Heads, teachers, students, drivers, police personnel, Home Guards, transport workers and community volunteers are trained in CPR, basic first aid and emergency response techniques, many lives can be saved before professional medical help arrives.
If the District Medical & Health Office, Tura, in collaboration with educational institutions, the police, transport authorities, voluntary organisations and local bodies, organises regular CPR, first-aid and stroke-awareness training camps across the region, it will help build a network of informed first responders capable of providing timely assistance until professional medical care arrives.
A few hours of training today could save many precious lives tomorrow.
Yours etc.,
Jairaj,
Via email
