Dear Hon’ble Chief Minister,
With all due respect, I, the concerned common man, would like to voice through this letter to you today with a heavy heart, to express a deep concern that many of us share across the state. While I do not wish to be a voice of criticism against any celebration or a programme that brings people together, there is a fundamental question of fairness that must be asked. It is a question of right and wrong, and it is a question of priority.
Not long ago, the news was filled with images of people demonstrating, with tears and frustration, shouting for their unresolved due salaries in Tura. They were crying out for their salaries, for their basic right to be paid for their hard work, who toil without salary for years under your leadership and Governance. And these were the staff of the GHADC, who have not received what is due to them for so long. We hear testimonies about their families, their children who cannot go to school, pending school fees, staff’s hardship under the sun, their lives turned upside down because of this simple, profound injustice.
And then, just a few hours away, in Williamnagar, we see a different picture. A picture of celebration, of a grand programe with lights and speeches. I am not saying a celebration is bad, no one is against it. But is it right for some to have a party while others are crying? Is it a just thing for a government to be celebrating while its own people are in pain and suffering? Are you and will be happy to celebrate, while the people who make you today, to become in the position to be their CM are in despair tears crying out for their basic rights. The same people who voted for your MDCs and MLAs are crying, their children are in need, the people who trusted you and in your leadership are now voicing for the GHADC staff. Lo! Here you are getting ready for the grand celebration, that would be like, while they suffer I will be celebrating, let me fulfil my desire.
Unfortunately, the people of GHADC who are appointed as an employee are not asking for a favour. They are asking for their rights. They are asking for what they have earned. A government is elected to serve its people, and to ensure that no one is left behind. When the people who are part of the government’s own system are left to suffer, it makes us all question the very foundation of our state. Hey! What is going on with our Government system? Despite brouhaha here and there about the agitation which will be going to organise a rally about the non-payment at Tura, Alas! Another news of a proud announcement of a programme at Williamnagar, with decoration and beautifying, lighting to divert the people, I guess and advertising various activities, concerts, inviting some local bands, A Common man Puzzled!!!
I am a common Meghalaya citizen who is trying to sort out the problem for myself by perceiving from different statements from different wise and able leaders of those who are standing with the GHADC staffs on their side for the basic right, thereby trying to raise my voice through this letter for the countless individuals who have suffered, the families who have endured hardship, and the leaders from different NGOs, Party, community etc, who have tirelessly stood up for them. They have become the voice of a society that is tired of this cycle of neglect and of the system. This is not a political matter, sir. It is a humane matter. It is a matter of empathy and justice.
I hope, believe deep in my heart, that you will take these words not as an accusation, but as a sincere request from a common and just citizen. Please! Please! Please! Listen to the pain of your people. Their tears are more important than any celebration.
Kudos to the leaders who are standing by their side.
A concerned common citizen of Meghalaya
