Editor,
Why the Meghalaya’s first State University should be named as ‘Captain Williamson Sangma State University’ and not ‘Meghalaya University’ to make it truly inclusive. Can legislators from Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Ri Bhoi districts explain? It is located in Garo Hills, is that not enough that it has also to be named after a Garo leader?
Was it a ploy to first pass it in the Legislative Assembly as the ‘Captain Williamson Sangma Technical University Act, 2011 and then amended through the ‘Captain Williamson Sangma Technical (Amendment) Act, 2023’ to make it a State University, replacing the word ‘technical’ with ‘State’.
I can’t imagine how our elected legislators, all 36 of them, fully endorsed the nomenclature without application of mind. Or perhaps, they were all charmed and outwitted by the Garo friend heading the coalition government of MDA-2.
The problem is the name and not the location; the State University can be located anywhere in the State. None of the institutes such as NEHU, IIM, NEIGRIHMS, NIFT, NIT, CAU, etc bears any State leaders’ name, be it Khasi or Garo, then why should the first State University be named as such. It should look inclusive by the name itself.
Prof. Lakhon Kma
Shillong-4
