By Toki Blah
A socio-political episode in Meghalaya’s history that everyone wants to forget about has risen from its own ashes and is now primed, once again, to run out of control. Like a scene from a horror movie, the sceptre of violent agitations, bands, night blockades et al over illegal immigrants / unauthorised voters is once again looming on the horizon. Everyone is scrambling for the pause or the stop button on our apparent rush towards social mayhem and turmoil. Sadly, the efforts so far have failed to contribute in any measure towards any public confidence building and political short-sightedness has only added to the confusion that prevails in Meghalaya society
In the arena we have the three NGOs determined to put a stop to the ongoing registration of voters and the opposition apparently is over illegitimate persons being enrolled in the electoral rolls. A sensitive socio-political issue capable of igniting public emotions and with Elections not that far away, no Government wishes to be associated with this witches brew. It’s a political hot potato. Unfortunately, unlike Biblical Pilate, the state Government is unable to wash its hands of the matter because it stems from a directive of the Election Commission, and no Government or Political Party for that matter wishes to take panga with the EC. No Sir! In the process Meghalaya is once again caught between fact and fiction; truth and half truths. The usual bane of our society.
An All Party Panel has now been set up with the mandate to come up with a solution acceptable to the agitating NGOs but without belittling the omnipotence of the EC. Asking for an omelette without breaking the egg might be an easier option! One look at the composition of the Panel and its TOR and the gasp “Dear Lord help us” comes naturally to a benumbed mind. The Panel is actually composed of people who are good at burying their heads in the sand; proven experts at dodging hard options, so do we really expect them to come up with any substantial solution this time? Aside from buying time, one really cannot see what the distinguished Panel can bring to the table, unless of course it rolls up its sleeves, takes the bull by the horns; refrain from the usual shadow boxing with symptoms; call a spade a spade and take up the real issue that has been plaguing our society and state for the last 30 years- the issue of uncontrolled influx!
A question needs to be asked. A question that the Government; our politicians and the agitating NGOs themselves need to introspect upon. Election Directives are something that no Government and Administration can afford to ignore. Leaders of the agitating NGOs are educated persons who are not ignorant of this fact. So are the agitating NGOs really against the EC directives or are they actually agitating against the non fulfilment of a long pending public demand? Is the problem over the process of registration of voters or is it really over unabated influx; over the absence of an influx control mechanism; over a flawed Work Permit system; over fear that unless something tangible is put into place, Meghalaya might just go the Tripura way. Is the fear over a possible demographic tilt the real issue? Is the demand for doing away with the voter facilitation cell simply to draw attention to a long pending unsolved problem? Are we missing the woods for the trees?
Let us accept a fact. The question of unabated influx into Meghalaya has always been and continues to be, for right or wrong reasons, a concern of the common man – the electorate. Of interest is that till date, no politician or political party has ever seriously attempted to address this public concern. The Government, run by politicians, prefers instead to deal with this concern, each time it surfaces, as a Law and Order problem. Reason perhaps why it continues to fester and rankle in the subconscious. Taken from this perspective there appears to be a total disconnect between the concerns of the people and the perception of our lawmakers. The main reason why solutions to the problem have evaded the state and the reason why we continue to be disturbed by repeated agitations over the issue. It also appears that we have yet to realise that past agitations over influx have failed to yield any viable solutions. In their wake they have only resulted in discriminating those who can ill afford any further discrimination- the poor, the daily wage earner and the BPLs in our society. Surely there must be something else besides bandhs to enable us to achieve our goals?
This write-up is not to refute or repudiate the concept over the right of citizens to agitate or protest. Unlike a growing perverted trend in Meghalaya’s political thinking, most of us still uphold the right to free speech and peaceful public protest as an accepted norm of democratic expression the world over. Having said this, it is also relevant to point out that one cannot agitate for agitations sake alone. It is a ridiculous notion! Public protests must have a rationale, an objective and a goal and within a scenario where public grievances call for a socio-political solution, the agitators must identify the target group that they believe is most ideally placed to address their grievances. Once this is done, the next step would be for the agitators and the group to sit discuss and negotiate the best way towards a solution. This is the only way, whereby the general public, the perceived beneficiary of the agitation, is not inconvenienced nor made to suffer for something it is not guilty of.
Within the context of the topic under discussion, one would like to believe that the rationale behind the present agitation is the need for a workable influx control mechanism to ward off an impending demographic imbalance in Meghalaya. The objective therefore must be for legislation or laws to achieve such an objective. We have elected lawmakers. Isn’t it their job to enact such laws? During the tenure of Bah JM Pariat as Home Minister, a move was initiated to bring in the Tree Tier ID Card System as an influx control mechanism. That it was derailed by the Synjuk Ki Rangbah Shnong Shillong and that Meghalaya continues to suffer as a consequence, is another story.
The decision to set up the All Party Panel to discuss and debate on the directives of the Election Commission is questionable. It is reasonable to assume that the Panel is constitutionally handicapped to come up with any recommendations that could change or modify the current EC directives. At best, the Panel can simply indulge in political quibbling and that is definitely not what it is set up for. So why this farce? Why this attempt to pull the wool over our eyes? The most viable process over the prevailing stalemate between the Government and the agitating NGOs is for both parties to come and discuss the issue over the negotiating table. Thrash out both the short term and long term solutions to the problem. If influx indeed is the root of the problem come up with a decision that our Legislators will spend the next Assembly session debating the problem and finding solutions to it. It is what is expected of them. It is what Meghalaya wants. It has never been done before and it’s about time we got serious about the damn thing. The time to act and act on the interest of the state and its people has arrived. Let’s stop quibbling! Someone commented that perhaps the time has come for an informed and scientific solution to the problem. We can all say ‘Amen’ to that.
(The author is President of ICARE an organisation that focuses on issues of Governance)