The gunning down of innocent people in Garo Hills by militants on mere suspicion of their being police informers is shocking. So is the resurgence of groups like the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) which had been brought under effective control some years ago. Extortion is on the rise and the general sense of security is fast disappearing. While there are any number of NGOs in Meghalaya they all seem disruptive in nature and add to the sense of unease among citizens because of their propensity to dislocate normal life with whimsical bandhs and road blockades. Increasingly it seems that the Government is unable to contain lawlessness. The gunmen who opened fire at a police station in the heart of the city are still at large. They have now struck in Jaintia Hills and promise to carry out more of such escapades. The police meanwhile are only mumbling excuses. There is no visible sign that they have got their act together. And leadership is evidently lacking. By leadership here we mean the person sitting in the Home Minister’s chair. He should be demanding some accountability from his force. If someone is not performing that person should be hauled up. At this rate there is only a great deal of fumbling and very little of real policing.
That the HNLC is now spelling out its diktat on how society should and should not behave takes us back to the dark ages. The problem with militants everywhere is that they expect people to live by the rules they impose, even while they themselves break all the laws of civilised society. The proclivity to target women and impose a dress code for them is revolting. Why are women always seen as custodians of culture? Why not men? And now there is a warning on pubs and bars. All this while the Government is trying to sell the State as a tourist destination! Why would tourists want to visit a State where they cannot even breathe free? For all intents and purposes we seem to be slipping back to those dark days of fear and insecurity. It took one Home Minister with guts to tackle the situation then and give us back our liberal space. Alas! Now our short-sighted Home Minister has plunged the State into chaos.