By Patricia Mukhim
Most of us were secretly delighted when a young Sikh slapped the agriculture minister, Sharad Pawar recently. When shoes were flung at some of our worthies we felt it was a well deserved act. Indeed, across India there is rising public anger at rising prices caused by inflation; at the seeming paralysis of the UPA government at corruption et al. However, the opposition is no better. They have decided to reduce parliament into a theatre of the absurd where shouting and clamouring is the order of the day. Is this why we elected our MPs? The aam aadmi is angry and this is visible in the Anna Hazare movement. Hazare was simply a catalyst for the pent-up anger of a public that has been messed around with by articulate politicians, many of whom spend the most part of their active lives running from one television studio to the other to spew their wisdom on a people they believe is impotent and unable to act; only to react.
In Meghalaya we now see sitting MLAs and wannabe frequenting homes of bereaved families. After all elections are only a year away. When they enter such homes they do not do so alone and unobtrusively. They insist on making their presence felt by taking an entourage of camp followers in tow. To say that this is disgusting is an understatement. When such so-called eminent personalities (that’s what the poor and lowly still think of them) enter a hamlet where the seating capacity is inadequate, those who are already seated must make way for the entourage as if all others are lower in esteem. Is this the egalitarian Khasi society or have we become what we ourselves say in our moments of frustration “Mane ia ki lei san snem” (worship the Gods who come to us once in five years). What is objectionable is the behaviour of the members of the Dorbar Shnong. In some constituencies it seems like the entire Dorbar is sold out to some MLA or a prospective MLA candidate. The obsequious body language of the Dorbar members is nauseating.
But there is a growing constituency of youth who are unwilling to be patronised by politicians. They are asking hard questions and they want answers. And I dare say that people of my age group no longer have the right to speak because we have bartered away our rights. We did nothing for decades when politicians squandered away development funds. We kept mum when politicians played their dirty games of musical chairs year after year. Our silence meant we were complicit in that toppling game. Otherwise we could have come out to the streets and protested. We never elected MLAs to play around with our mandate. We elected them so that they use the public resources from the treasury judiciously. We elected them as part of a social contract that they would ensure our safety and security. We had high hopes that they would construct roads where needed, provide clean and safe drinking water; provide education to the poorest and above all provide easy access to health care. Do we have any of the above? I am not asking the urban voter who anyway does not vote but only engages in meaningless cacophony. I am asking if our villages have all of the above. The answer is a resounding “NO.”
And are we angry about the manner in which politicians have let us down every five years? No we are not. If we were angry would we elect the same people? So the very fact that in Meghalaya nearly all of the MLAs are “has beens” (meaning not first timers) means that we are (1) averse to change (2) we have voted for those people because we accepted personal favours from them or because they paid us money before the elections (3) because we are too lazy to come out and make a noise (4) we are a selfish community and do not really care if the state goes to the dogs. If 60 guys can get the better of 3 million people there must be something very wrong with us. Why is it that we cannot muster enough anger to raise our voices if not our fists against politicians? The guy who slapped Sharad Pawar has done all of us a favour. He has expressed our collective anger. But like someone said, the Khasi society is too genteel and too obsessed with the “akor Sohra” (overly good behaviour) and this obsession has become our undoing.
Some politicians are so smart they have even kept a list of assured voters whom they claim are in their pockets. These types are not too bothered about campaigning. They have their own calculus and know that 3000 votes are enough to win them the seat. They ensure that those in the pocket borough are humoured enough so they do not jump fences. I speak from experience for constituencies like Nongshken, Nongthymmai, Sohryngkham, Pynthorumkhrah, Mawlai, Nongpoh, Umroi, Mawhati, Jirang and all the 7 constituencies of Jaintia Hills and of course Garo Hills, by whatever name these constituencies are called now after the delimitation. Most of the MLAs from the above constituencies have made their private wealth creation project a huge success. They have done it by indulging in rent-seeking activities which have recently been exposed by the Leader of the Opposition in the present Assembly and his team when they unearthed the can of worms in the taxation check gates at Byrnihat and in Williamnagar.
The rent-seeking behaviour of some former ministers is blasé and utterly shameless. Out of nowhere and with virtually no assets before joining politics they have now created mansions (complete with luxurious swimming pools) in the heart of Shillong city. Do we dare question where these people have got their money from or how they have earned it? On the contrary we applaud their roguery and give them place of pride in our social milieu. Our churches too seem to collude with the corrupt by giving them undue importance like asking them to preach on Sundays and accepting huge donations from them. This is true of all churches. Do we wonder then why the young are so disillusioned? It is this disillusionment that is frightening.
It has been my good fortune to meet and interact with young entrepreneurs, legal eagles, musicians, management professionals from Meghalaya who are spread out across the country. Some of course have doggedly stuck on in Meghalaya and are still idealistic enough to believe they can change the world. Hats off to those with such extraordinary courage of conviction! But sooner than later if things don’t look up and the avenues for honest earning are not to be seen because of our sluggish economic policy (that’s if we have one), then they too will leave for greener pastures leaving the state poorer than it should have been. Is it not surprising that this exodus of human resource is not even a talking point in the Assembly? What a joke that the Assembly meets precisely for 16 days as if there are no issues to take up!
Isn’t it also strange that we have never discussed economic policies in this state? What are our economic strengths? Which are the resources that can usher in a sustainable economy? Or do we perennially have to depend on Delhi for all our needs? I hope we have listened to Pranab Mukherjee muttering under his breath at the Congress party meeting to discuss the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and its implications for the retail trade in India. “I need money to run this country and there is no money,” is what the notable Finance Minister said. We also must be painfully aware that the economy today is on a downslide. We would if we checked the Sensex which is fluctuating dangerously. The Sensex is the barometer of a country’s economy. What happens to Meghalaya when the Delhi taps are closed? Can we allow our politicians and their business partners to continuously steal public money to invest in their personal projects? No we cannot allow that to happen anymore. 2013 is about change. If change does not come and we bring back the same old tired, tried and tested politicians to power – politicians who refuse to discuss the budget in a public forum; politicians who don’t even have a vision for Meghalaya; politicians whose five year rule is only about, “how much will I make and how much property will I acquire”; politicians who consider the voters complete dimwits, then we are indeed dimwits. And there’s only one place for idiots – we should either join the circus as clowns or enrol ourselves in a puppet company where someone will pull the strings and we act out our foolishness. Period!