By The Editor
Friends who are sincere in their relationship grow and prosper but if doubts and suspicions manage to get in then unless they are checked and given no further thought at all what waits ahead is downfall and disaster. Mature people are aware of evil designs by certain sections who are envious of their progress and development and so steer clear of them. Human beings cannot afford to live in isolation and so they need one another be it in time of happiness or grief. William Arthur Ward said: “Trust is a treasured item and relationship. Once it is tarnished, it is hard to restore it to its original glow”. As neighbours, friendliness is indeed very important because this leads to mutual understanding and cooperation in time of need. It strengthens ties and builds communities to stand united against hostile elements who will try their best to weaken the fabrics of cordiality. Nevertheless if any tensions and misunderstanding arise, which cannot be ruled out, leaders should meet and sit together to remove the thorns before they inflict more damage.
Ruthless killing of six people at Mukroh village, West Jaintia Hills district on November 22, one of the victims being an Assam forest guard, by Assam police created an uproar among general public from both states of Assam and Meghalaya. Flames of anger would have flared up but timely intervention by various non-government organisations (NGOs) extinguished the fire before it spread further. North East Students’ Organization (NESO) chairman, Samuel B. Jyrwa condemned the Assam police’s action and sent condolences to all the bereaved families. Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) and Shillong Socio-Cultural Assamese Students’ Association (SSASA) in joint statement clarified that the incident is not ethnic-oriented and pointed fingers at both governments of Assam and Meghalaya for their failure. Both the organisations appealed to the general public to remain calm and ensure that spirit of brotherhood is maintained by both communities.
In order to solve vexed problem of passengers coming to Meghalaya and going to Assam, joint meeting of tour operators of Guwahati and Shillong was held in Guwahati on November 25 and decided to insist both state governments to bring to an end the present impasse. Meanwhile, vehicles coming from Assam are dropping passengers at Jorabat from where state’s vehicles pick them up to bring home to Meghalaya. Similarly, those going to Assam are being dropped at Jorabat from where Assam’s vehicles pick them up to be transported home safely. This is indeed a noble gesture which should be emulated and rightly recorded in the annals of history. Tour operators from both states have experienced great hardships and inconveniences due to fragile situation but problem has been solved because of mutual understanding and cooperation. Latest report is that restriction has been revoked on Sunday afternoon.