Prashant Kalidhar/Indore
The surrender of Sonam Raghuvanshi and the arrest of the four youths in connection with the murder of Raja Raghuvanshi in Sohra has cleared the image of Meghalaya as a tourist destination. Raja’s family has apologised to the Meghalaya government and police. The Indore mayor, Pushyamitra Bhargav, has also apologised after nationwide criticisms besmirched the image of the state.
Social media and several national media houses called Meghalaya “crime-prone” and “unsafe” for tourists following Raja’s murder. However, many have apologised after the arrests were made. The Bhopal edition of The Times of India published a corrigendum correcting its usage of the phrase, “crime-prone hills”.
Meghalaya Monitor had earlier reported on the misinformation and slander on social media.
Even several Indore residents came out to support the Meghalaya police and congratulate them on their work. They apologised for earlier criticising the police here.
“The Meghalaya government supported us, and the police solved the case in 17 days,” Sachin Raghuvanshi, Raja’s brother, said.
“I thank the government there and apologise for the denigration that it had to suffer owing to Sonam,” he has added.
Madhur Navlani, a renowned dental surgeon in Indore, wrote on social media, “The criticisms that your beautiful state and its people had to face in connection with the Raja-Sonam case were unjust and offensive. Apologies to all the people of Meghalaya. We are grateful to you.”
Shivakant Bajpai, another prominent figure in Indore, wrote on social media that he would soon visit Meghalaya with a placard reading “Shillong, we are ashamed”, and he invited all like-minded residents of Indore to join him.
“The North East is safe for tourists. If the Raja-Sonam case has hurt the sentiments of people in Meghalaya and the image of the state, then I apologise for that… We should be mindful of the tourism in the state and that it is not adversely affected by this incident,” Mayor Bhargav has said.
(The article was first published in Prajatantrik, an Indore-based Hindi news daily)
(With inputs from Shillong)
