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Redressal must be robust
When fear becomes the price of belonging to one's country, governance has already missed the boat. The Centre's renewed bid to reinforce a redressal mechanism for the grievances of people from the North-East is therefore timely and imperative.
The decision to ask states to appoint nodal officers in metropolitan cities, particularly where North-Eastern populations reside, deserves applause. The existing monitoring committee, constituted in 2018, has yielded some dividends, yet recent incidents show that discrimination, harassment and violence have not been consigned to the past. The alleged killing of a Manipuri musician in Delhi is a chilling reminder that institutional safeguards cannot remain merely ornamental.
What is needed now is a more robust, expeditious and accountable architecture. Nodal officers must not become ceremonial functionaries. They should possess demarcated responsibilities, authority and direct access to senior police and civil administrators. Complaints should be registered promptly, investigated impartially and monitored until their logical conclusion. A time-bound grievance-tracking system, public reporting and stringent action against dereliction of duty could further buttress public confidence.
Moreover, metropolitan police forces should receive sensitisation training on the cultural, linguistic and social particularities of the North-East. Civil society organisations and community representatives should be brought into the loop so that grievances do not fall through the cracks.
India's federal ethos cannot flourish when any citizen feels alien in a city. The Centre must therefore take concrete action to ensure that this mechanism serves as a living shield rather than a mere bureaucratic fig leaf. Equality must not merely be promised; it must be felt on every street.
Dipen Gogoi,
Teok, Jorhat
History should
be as it is
The ongoing debate about deleting Mughals' history from our academic system certainly creates a lot of confusion, differing opinions, and chaos. Mughals invaded India, ruled our country for around 300 years and gradually brought many changes in the society, culture, traditions, religion and demography as a whole. Hence, it is a fact that India has gone through the tyranny of these rulers over a large period of time. So far as we have known, since ancient times, India has been primarily the centre for the vast richness of flora, fauna, textiles, varied climatic regions, traditions, cultivationary riches, cultures, knowledge, scriptures, various art forms, architecture and various sciences, due to which invaders have always viewed India as a lucrative deal. Hence, it was Babur, the first Mughal who aimed to invade India, who originally belonged to Central Asia and was a descendant of Genghis Khan. After Babur, subsequent emperors continued their tyranny in various forms for centuries. Invasions have always caused destruction, dictatorship, atrocities, forced conversions, and dominance. Every Indian should take pride in the various kings, rulers, and warriors who fought battles with the Mughals from time to time to protect the motherland. These are facts and hence cannot be changed, but the upcoming generations should be made familiar with the actual facts instead of just glorifying the Mughals with false claims on how peace-loving they were. The destruction of Nalanda University, which was a prime centre of education and scriptures, occurred centuries before the Mughals arrived. Therefore, similar to Germany, which includes the Holocaust in its academic curriculum without glorifying it, Indian education should also present the facts about what actually occurred during various invasions, whether by the Mughals, the British, or others. Right knowledge can only empower the new generations, and it can be the real eye-opener. "In the time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act," as quoted by George Orwell.
Moushumi Acharjee
Kahilipara, Guwahati