Sir
Petrified is the correct adjective, perhaps. I am a pedestrian, and I walk the streets of Shillong every day, every evening from my workplace to my dwelling. The fondness and wonder of walking are remarkable, endless thoughts, and all the time to reinspect my life, my surroundings, and myself. I walk and take the road less traveled with no fear. The joy in walking is best known by all pedestrians. Shillong in itself is a walk-friendly city hence why take the four-wheelers or two-wheelers, right?
In recent times, there has been a number of news fed to our fingertips about assaults. It happened to many, let’s not talk about the community, the innocent victims belong to, forget that and let’s give our heads towards humanity. We are but humans, personally to me, your community, religion is all secondary. I am now scared to walk and I think I am bound to take public transport to reach my destinations (to-and-fro).
Let us all ask ourselves. What has the fifteen-year-old boy done to a bunch of twenty young men, that they mercilessly assaulted him? Why can we not live in a society filled with love and brotherhood? Where is the Shillong you and I know? Why don’t we understand the right definition of peace and co-existence?
I am scared, I am scared to run from pillar to post searching for the right product I need which is not at a stone’s throw of my house. I have to give up on certain things which are not available within a 500-metre radius of my house. I am speaking on behalf of everyone here.
I am confident, everyone in Shillong, in every household, there’s a conversation happening about the safety of you, me, our brothers and sisters. In conclusion, we are then informed and perhaps warned by our elders to come home before it gets dark.
I pray for everyone’s safety. I pray for justice. I pray for peace. Most importantly I pray for peaceful- co-existence.
I will definitely miss the walk I always take back home.
Emidao Shylla
Shillong