By Paul Lyngdoh
THE events of the past weeks have convulsed the nation on a scale not seen in recent times. Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, the Babri Masjid cauldron, the Kargil intransigence and what have you- none of these events have impacted our collective consciousness the way Team Anna has managed to. And lest I be mistaken for one of the topiwallahs, let me hasten to add that, while I believe Indian politics and public life have to be cleansed of corruption, I equally believe that the Parliamentary system we have given unto ourselves, warts and all, cannot be consigned to the wastepaper bin just like that. Otherwise, the degeneration of the People’s Republic into a banana republic may well be in the realm of the possible.
I do not intend to add to the verbiage that is building into some kind of a tome on what we may call Anna-writing. instead, this fortnight I would turn the reader’s attention to what I believe is essentially a triumph of the Civil Society movement : the rekindling of the spark of hope in the people’s capacity to change the course of history despite all odds. At the risk of being labeled as an incorrigible votary of pressure politics, I believe the strength that helped the team win its current battle (it is just a battle in a long-drawn war) came from a disenchantment with the status quo and a deeply felt need to do more than crib about it. Friends have asked me why the Movement has so far failed to cause any ripples in Meghalaya despite the upheaval it caused in mainland India. It is worth regurgitating the reasons briefly.
For one, the physical- and emotional- distance between Shillong and New Delhi, despite the implosion fuelled by the Information Age. NDTV 24X7 and Times Now may have bridged the physical distance considerably, but emotionally we are light years away from each other. Second, no major NGO, Pressure Group or Interest Group came forward to champion the cause. Third- and I would like to focus attention on this aspect in this piece- is the general attitude of indifference that has marked Meghalaya’s response in its engagement with the political process. Leaving aside the long queues seen at polling booths during elections, our interest in the decision-making processes is still largely a middle-class, Shillong-centric phenomenon. The super-rich and the elite are too engrossed in their own world to really bother, apart from making caustic, sweeping comments on the political class; the have-nots are engaged in a constant battle for survival, and their engagement with the political class can be best understood as a Use-and-Get-Used cycle .Thus, the chasm and the indifference.
But let me reinforce the point: unless the citizenry puts its act together, calls for appropriate measures where called for and makes its voice heard, loud and clear, nothing can and will ever change. The issues are real and far-reaching: our dalliance with environmental disaster while a minuscule business lobby continues to throw its weight around ; the absence of visible governance in a number of sectors, including our roads and highways; our mindless obeisance to the demigods of tradition, where the future is sacrificed at the altar of the “pristine” past, et al. Unfortunately, the voice of reason, the sense of direction, the order of priority is lost in the cacophony of discordant noises. It reminds me of T.S. Eliot’s apocalyptic vision: “The best lack all conviction/ While the worst are full of passionate intensity”. But the fight must go on. There is no choice, no alternative. Dylan Thomas sums it up best:
“Do not go gentle into that good night/ Rage, rage against the dying of the light”.
Son of the soil Outlook
MUCH as I have tried to, I have failed to fathom utterances like: “We are regional in our thinking, but national in our outlook”. And vice versa. The way I see it, a national party has to have a national outlook, and a regional party ought to have a regional outlook. There are times when the two outlooks come into conflict. Let me cite two instances. As an Indian, I would reckon Partition as one of the worst catastrophes that this nation has had to undergo. As a Khasi (and this holds true of all indigenous North-easterners), Partition- despite all the accompanying travails and pains- made sure that we survived with our demographic profile and identity intact. Imagine a state of 30 lakhs having 118 millions as your next door fellow-Indians. And those neighbours are so poor and wretched that they are willing to lose their lives for a couple of boulders on which we would normally dry our clothes!
Then there is the issue of population explosion. As an Indian, nothing should worry me more than the burgeoning population statistics which negate all of our efforts at inclusive growth. As a Khasi, nothing should worry me more than our dwindling numbers and our consequent irrelevance in the decision-making process of the world’s largest democracy!
Dream on
Dreamland Gold Cinema, Shillong’s first-ever multiplex with the latest technology in place, was launched with big fanfare by Chief Minister, Mukul Sangma on September 2. Its proprietor and architect, Pankaj Agarwal, was a frequent visitor to my office as there was a lot of paper work involved in the MUDA . A point came when a whisper campaign started and I was alleged to have bought the property from him!
Way back in my teens, I had read S.J. Duncan’s short story, Phim Ngeit? (You dont believe?) on how a rumour starts, is circulated around and finally becomes the absolute truth. The motive, the insinuations in this instant case are clear. I have come to a conclusion: We believe that gossip and rumour-mongering is the staple of healthy conversation. And the damage it might cause to others can be repaired in a single trip to the church on Sunday!
I congratulate Pankaj on his latest venture. And hope it does enhance the scope of wholesome entertainment to a fun-starved city. I also hope this is the kind of entertainment that Shillong deserves, something different from the entertainment and fun one derives from sharing unconfirmed stories about who is secretly seeing whose wife, who has impregnated whom, and so on!
Parting shot
A local wag shared his insight into why the Anna campaign failed in Shillong, apart from the analysis above. According to him, the “I Am Anna” slogan had very few takers amongst the Khasi citizenry who could have added the requisite number to the Movement. Very few Khasis were willing to call themselves ‘Anna’ which, in their language, can mean anything from handicapped, crippled to cretinous!
(The writer is a former minister and currently MLA, Jaiaw constituency)