It is ironic that both Garo Hills and East Khasi Hills should experience ghoulish incidents fuelled by superstitions. While a seven year old boy has been murdered under very mysterious circumstances in Tura, in another theatre three people were lynched by a mob on the suspicion that they were ‘menshohnoh’ or worshippers of U Thlen (a serpent that Khasis believe is reared by some who wanted to accumulate wealth; the serpent thrives on human blood). Of the three who were mobbed at Sohra, two have succumbed to their injuries; one of them was mentally challenged. It is unimaginable that such macabre incidents should occur in the 21st century in a state known for its educational enterprise and which has been the enlightened capital of the entire region since the time of the British.
While mob mentality is irrational and has claimed several lives in the past even in Shillong city, the culprits responsible for the death of the alleged ‘menshohnoh’ have never been apprehended. One common alibi given by the law enforcers is that it is difficult to apprehend a mob, but a thorough enquiry can very well establish who first fuelled the rumour and who started the malicious campaign. Such people should be given exemplary punishment so that similar acts do not recur.
The Tura incident involves a very gruesome killing of a seven year old boy, allegedly to appease some divine powers. But that the incident should happen inside the camp of a para- military force – the BSF, which is expected to rise above religious superstitions and to secure our borders is detestable to say the least. At the moment the perpetrator of the crime, a person who claims to be some sort of god-man and is apparently a regular visitor to that camp, is yet to be arrested. It is hoped that he is apprehended sooner than later and that justice is meted out.
What is painfully alarming in both cases is the silence of so-called guardians of society – the NGOs and other civil society organisations. Meghalaya is a state where social organisations are registered everyday. Why are their voices muted in the face of these two very gruesome incidents? Are the incidents not worth open condemnation? Or is society too a victim of superstitions and therefore hesitant about taking a stand? The Tura incident appears to be yet another case of a poor victim, ‘an outsider’ with no one to mourn his death. Society cannot remain a passive bystander in the face of such brutalities without losing its face and its credibility!