By Patricia Mukhim
I am not a taker for armed revolutions. And I guess there are many who share my views. When the GNLA abducted R Syngkon, a transport official, in September last year, they claimed they did so because he was utterly corrupt. Those in the know believe that he was abducted because he refused to pay Rs 60 lakhs demanded by the GNLA from him. There was no one to certify Syngkon’s credentials and it is largely believed that he is indeed a corrupt official, which in the Transport Department is the rule rather than the exception. So many without driving skills get their driving licenses pronto on payment of a fee! But that is only one small part of the problem. Even rickety vehicles no longer road worthy continue to ply on our roads because the District Transport Officers certify them to be ‘fit.’ The opportunities for corruption in the Transport Department (beginning from the top) are too many to mention here. (Why, for instance do we have high security registration plates (HSRP) when there is evidently no advantage to vehicle owners in paying through their noses for this nonsense? But this issue requires a separate article).
Syngkon was released after his family paid a heavy ransom. None of the family members of abducted persons will ever admit that they paid the price for their kin’s freedom. There is the fear of retribution and that is understandable. The very fact that someone who has been in the custody of militants is released unharmed is in itself a big relief. Money paid as ransom can always be earned but life is precious. That’s how the Khasi logic goes.
On 21 November this year the GNLA abducted PK Boro the Block Development Officer of Dadenggre sub division. If the GNLA has set the benchmark for probity in public life and because of which they abducted Syngkon, the question is why did they kidnap Boro who is known to be honest to the core and whose upright nature is not lost on the outfit. What was the reason for kidnapping Boro? Was he the fall guy? Alva Sangma a senior journalist of Garo Hills and editor of Achik Songbad had apparently spoken to Sohan D Shira the GNLA military commander after Boro was abducted. She told him that Boro is an upright officer and his abduction is likely to turn even the closest sympathisers of the outfit into their worst critics. After that, by about the third day of the kidnapping Sohan Shira had asked Jack Marak the area commander who had masterminded Boro’s kidnapping to release him.
But the GNLA is not a solo operator. There are other vested interests from which the group draws sustenance. And it would not be pure conjecture to say that some politicians who plan to use the GNLA in the 2013 elections also direct the activities of the outfit. In fact, the real story is that some politicians are using the outfit in some sort of benefit sharing enterprise especially in the extortion rackets along the coal mines of West Khasi Hills and East Garo Hills. So Boro later became a pawn in the hands of the GNLA and their demand for his release was that Government should withdraw the SWAT team that was launching its unrelenting attacks on the outfit. Before that the GNLA had considered calling a 300 hour blockade in Garo Hills to push its demands for the withdrawal of forces. But someone must have pointed out that the blockade is a bad strategy as people of Garo Hills would ultimately suffer from the economic blockade. Boro therefore became a convenient tool.
But it must be said to the credit of the MUA Government that it did not capitulate to the GNLA demand. In fact, Chief Minister, Mukul Sangma was on record saying repeatedly that the GNLA must first give up arms before the Government even considers withdrawing its operations against the outfit. He reiterated this stand several times and was criticised by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) which said that the government cannot kill its ‘own’ people; that it should create a conducive atmosphere for talks. Personally speaking, and again there are many who share this viewpoint, talking to anyone who holds the government at gun point is not going to solve the problem of militancy/insurgency. It is like covering a festering wound with some anodyne, hoping it will heal. Unfortunately, a wound that festers is usually cancerous and most cancers are fatal.
In India’s North East all forms of criminal activities today go by the euphemism of militancy/insurgency which is predicated upon vague, unrealistic ideologies. Making an ideology unrealistic and therefore difficult for the government to concede to, gives the armed outfits a sort of legitimacy to strike at soft targets and to put pressure on the government by ruthless acts of vengeance. All the while they support their activities by extortion and abductions. Even in Maoist affected areas, armed assaults and anti-state stances become a habit, so much so that even if the government were to bring development to an area the Maoists would halt such development. The way of the jungle despite its discomforts often becomes the easier option for those who are used to it.
It is unfortunate that the Government of India, to be specific, the Home Ministry is adopting short term measures in dealing with these disruptive forces. I cannot see how people who can kill without mercy to achieve their goals can be called ideologues of a greater vision such as the Garo State and that they be given the respectability to sit at the high table of peace (political) talks. These are the attributes of a soft state which is what India has become insofar as its policy of dealing with militancy in the North East is concerned.
I also refuse to believe that lack of development and unemployment is the raison de etre for militancy. It’s just that taking up arms has become a profitable venture because the Union Home Ministry has demonstrated that it is so. Everyone who enjoys the status of ‘talking’ with some interlocutor of the Government of India enjoys a charmed life. They don’t have to work because they are well looked after. No wonder they have all become obese! And these were they same guys who had delusions of liberating all of us from some sort of slavery imposed by the Indian Constitution on this part of the world – a world we are told was ruled by traditional chieftains who believed in egalitarianism. Are we even sure that such a world or such a rule existed? Were we ever egalitarian?
To all who are misled by the notion that violence will beget a better world, I would say that history is the best teacher. Those who hold the gun to win us freedom are no better than dictators and we know how dictators rule. The Arab revolutions are a good indicator of how despots finally end but how people suffer for as long as dictators rule the roost. Those who dictate terms to us by the power of the gun are no better than dictators. How can people believe that they can show us a better world? Can mercenaries ever change their spots?
Since Government of India has a tentative policy on addressing ‘insurgency,’ the anti-insurgency exercises are also lukewarm attempts at defanging the rebels. It’s like a pot that is kept simmering even while ordinary people suffer the consequences.
To the GNLA I have this to say. There are plenty of corrupt politicians and officials in Meghalaya. These work with the business lobby to loot the public exchequer. So why kidnap a benign officer like Boro? How bad can your intelligence network be? Or are the corrupt paying you to remain silent about their nefarious activities? It would be instructive to hear Sohan Shira’s take on this baffling issue!