By Patricia Mukhim
Recently the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) was declared a terrorist outfit. This has not come a day too late. The truth is that nearly all the insurgent groups of North East India started with some vague ideology which is then coolly compromised at the altar of expediency and money. Money becomes the driving force all too quickly. Militancy/insurgency cannot be sustained without money. Hence the overt and covert attempts for gaining control over certain turfs which yield regular incomes. We are all aware of the underworld Dons that operate in Mumbai. They tax all legitimate and illegitimate (illegal liquor dens, prostitution joints etc) trades. A similar thing is happening in our own State. There are allegations from big and small traders in Garo Hills that all militant groups including those in ceasefire mode are imposing a tax (‘hafta’) from them. No one is spared. Vegetables and fruit vendors, fish merchants and others running grocery shops and pursuing other trades are forced to pay in order to survive. As a result, prices of all essential commodities in Garo Hills have sky-rocketed.
But the extortion from small and medium traders in and around Tura is a small fraction of the money that accrues to militants. Their biggest haul comes from the coal trade. They tax all coal traders and trucks plying with coal. To that extent the operation by armed militia here are not very different from the underworld operations of Mumbai. So why are we giving the perpetrators the nomenclature and respectability of ‘insurgents.’ Does the Union Government or the Government of Maharashtra give Dawood Ibrahim or Chota Rajan the noble privilege of an insurgent? Or are they simply called mafia dons and treated with the severity that they deserve? To the credit of the Mumbai mafia they have never pretended to have any ideology except that of making money by terrorizing those in different trades and professions. It therefore becomes easier to deal with such enemies of society.
There cannot be a mafia raj without police connivance. Several books have been written based on true accounts of the politician-mafia-police nexus in Maharastra. The same is happening in Assam and closer home in Garo Hills. Is it not surprising that police have not apprehended any extortionists in Garo Hills? We are well aware that extortion notes are served by the cadres of the ANVC and GNLA (the former by violating all the ceasefire ground rules) to big and small traders. They also come to collect the money at a particular place and time. Are the police completely unaware of this? Or are they part of the gang? We are told that some policemen working in Garo Hills, including drivers of police officials are making a kill in this business. And how do we know that police themselves are not extorting money? Otherwise why would the ANVC and GNLA have a completely easy operating space? If traders are afraid of reporting extortion it is because they know they cannot trust the police. Simple logic!
I have asked friends in Garo Hills why they are not protesting the mafia raj there and am told that people are too scared to speak up. Fear is what terrorists use as leverage against the civilian population. The more fear they spread the better the compliance they get from victims. And while people do not spare a thought to lambaste the government for its failures we are yet to hear anyone from Garo Hills, (barring occasional letters anonymously sent to us) complaining about the heavy extortion imposed by the militia. It is learnt that even government employees in Garo Hills are now being taxed in the same manner that the NSCN (IM) does in Nagaland or the numerous militant outfits in Manipur.
One therefore wants an answer as to why the Garo Hills police are not tackling this pernicious extortion racket. One of the reasons why the HNLC lost steam was because its sources of income were plugged by a very dynamic and action-oriented Home Minister, RG Lyngdoh who took it as a personal mission to end the culture of impunity in Meghalaya. RG had ventured into Garo Hills to undertake a similar mission but could not succeed because of the militant-politician nexus and his own ill health then. At that time, those who funded the HNLC then were hounded and warned that if they did not file first information reports upon getting an extortion notice, they would be booked as collaborators of the banned outfit. This sent all the business persons scurrying for cover. And it was the beginning of the end of the HNLC. Today what remain are the dregs of the outfit who find it difficult to sustain their activities.
The only way to deal with the mafia is to launch an all out warfare against them. You do not talk to the mafia or dialogue with them. Does Government of India send feelers to talk to Dawood Ibrahim or any of his henchmen operating in Mumbai? So how different are our own mafia gangs? All that talk about a separate Garo State or a Garo Autonomous Council a la Bodoland is a cover up for the notorious activities the groups indulge in. The same demands could be made without terrorizing people or kidnapping them or demanding ransom from them. The HSPDP – a political party teetering in its last legs also wants a Khasi-Jaintia state but has not taken up arms to realize its ideology. The question here is whether ‘statehood’ is the answer to development. Attempts to polarize the society into Khasi and Garo is the strategy of petty, insecure minds who will use any bandwagon to survive in the treacherous rapids and torrents of politics. Such people, needless to say, will not get too far. But what is tragic is that they destroy the peace and progress of Meghalaya.
In 2001, the Home Department went hammer and tongs at all the sympathizers of the HNLC, including prominent politicians. Some of their names were made public. Should the Meghalaya Police not do the same today? Should those sharing the dubious ‘ideology’ of the GNLA or ANVC not be exposed? An intelligence source in the military says “If you want to nab the GNLA go to such and such politician’s home. You will find them there.” This is a telling account of the state of affairs in Garo Hills. It either means that the police are tutored to take one step forward and two steps backwards, or that the police are incapable of tackling the mafia in Garo Hills. If it’s the latter, then it’s time to revisit our security strategy.
There are other practical problems as well. In a close knit tribal society, one brother may be in the police and another brother in a militant outfit. In that case where would the loyalties of that policeman lie? With his clansman/kin or with the police establishment? There are too many familial ties within the Garo Hills police that are hindering their fight against militancy/mafiadom. The first action that the police establishment should have taken is to transfer all those policemen who are likely to inform their kin in the jungles about the next assault. It happened during the HNLC days when militants would get prior information about police operations. It is happening now in Garo Hills. But I am sure the police stalwarts are aware of this and don’t need me to tell them all this. I am only reminding them lest they forget some of the A, B, Cs of CI Ops.
