By Patricia Mukhim
All of us have bought a plot of land from someone else. This is because in the Khasi system of land ownership, some clans own swathes of land and others don’t. Not without reason does we call those from the Kharkongor, the Nongkhlaw, and the Mawri clans etc as ‘Zamindars.’ Then we have the ‘Ri Raid’ (community land) which are under the custodianship of the Khasi chieftains (Syiem) and Sordar. They allocate housing plots and farmland to members of the Raid. As long as the land is in used and developed it remains in the custody of the persons given to. If and when they move away then the plot reverts back to the Raid. The reality today is that not every Khasi owns land, reason being that poverty forces people to mortgage or sell off their land. It would be interesting to conduct a research about how Ri Raid in different parts of the Khasi Hills (particularly Ri Bhoi district) is now converted into Ri Kynti owned by the urban elite. Did anyone rise up to shout “treason” when that happened? And believe me it happens everyday!
Is it wrong for the Government to acquire any kind of land for what comes under the broad rubric of ‘development?’ If this is wrong then would we have NEHU or NEIGRIHMS or the reserved forests that continue to sustain our water reservoirs? And if land acquisition is wrong then the reserved forests should revert to the communities. Let the community then decide how to parcel off those rare forest areas and turn them into bald, rocky hillocks or use them for building homes. Why not? What’s wrong if the rich do not get any more water to drink because the catchments in those forests have become someone else’s front or back yard and all water sources have gone dry? And no, we will also not pay for water. It’s a gift of nature to us. The PHE is duty bound to subsidise everything, water included and we don’t care where it gets its money from. It’s none of our concern. We are Leftist ideologues and we are proud of protesting for the rights of the poor at the cost of the rich….After all the rich have enough resources to look after themselves. This is the logic that drives a section of self-styled custodian of society. And frankly speaking the discourse is getting very boring and predictable. The daily menu looks something like this …..Scan the newspapers…. Scan public documents….Scan the internet and look for something suspicious…. who has just bought a house and how much it could cost…in fact some busybodies among them even get to scan the bank accounts of politicians, bureaucrats etc in collusion with bank clerks. Then make quick phone calls…get together and get out an action plan….
There are quite a few flag bearers for Maoist ideologies here, even if they practice the ideology in the breach. In private their earnings/incomes bear no light-shedding since there is more of load-shedding in that area. ‘RTI is for everyone else but not for us, for we are clean as choir boys’. The conversation goes something like this….. “The Sorkar is planning to acquire more land in the New Shillong Township and will be paying a pittance for agricultural land. That’s where the conversation stops. How much of agricultural land, what crops are grown there; is the yield sustainable and what improvements can be made on the land; what are the problems faced by farmers etc., is not part of the discourse. NGOs are not seen during such farm crises because they are too commonplace to make news. NGOs parachute in only when the issue looks like it could embarrass the Government and when placard holding for photo-ops with the media is possible
I would join the bandwagon of rag-tag protestors if the idea is to get every blue-blooded Khasi of Meghalaya a plot of well deserved land for building a home. After all, this is our land and every son and daughter of the soil deserves to have shelter. Why should a Khasi be staying in a rented accommodation? Only the Poi-ei, Poh-jait Poh-rati should be staying in rented houses. Why, they should not even be entitled to that! They are not even full citizens and we don’t care whether they are Bangladeshi, Bihari or Nepali… They are all Poi-ei. If possible we should drive them all back. Period. Of course in private we can have our own wheeling and dealing with the Poi-ei. He has to be exploited for wanting to come and settle in this precious land of ours. No one has the right to point fingers at us for what we do in private. Who helps to liquidate our huge outstanding loans; who pays for our daily subsistence and all that mumbo-jumbo is none of anyone’s business. After all, we are fighting for the rights of the poor and downtrodden in the New Shillong Township! Even the churches and temples sanction us that right! And mind you…only those in the payroll of the Government and its cohort of bureaucrats are the ones who dare question us. The rest of the Jaidbynriew think we are the only saviours left. And indeed we are! Those who point fingers at us are the doh-labs (traitors) of society. They should be hung from the first lamp post!
I love Edward Bono the proponent of lateral thinking for he tells us what is so needed for this society which is starved of thought leaders. In the book “How to have a beautiful mind,” Bono says, “Protest marches shown on television usually show each party with their traditional slogans confronting each other. Each party has its fixed and usually conventional views and each party confronts the others and seeks to make its views prevail. This type of argument or debate is not really interesting. An exchange of views is interesting – but only if each party is genuinely interested in the views of the other. The difference is between ‘battle’ and ‘explore’. Most pressure groups here choose to do battle especially when they perceive that Government is weak. No one is interested in exploring alternatives to resolve what is being perceived as the problem.
De Bono says of those who have a rigid mindset and who wish to impose their views on the rest of humankind…. “If you never change your mind, then why have one? Exploring the subject honestly and thoroughly and coming to a conclusion is probably more important than just proving your point”
I am not in a popularity contest and can therefore get away with this. Amongst the conglomerate of pressure groups protesting the NST, not all have all the information needed. One group has done the spade work and has the information. Information is power. Most of those who have joined the bandwagon believe they are doing so on behalf of the voiceless poor because, the rich, according to them are inherently evil and exploitative.
I wonder what are the views of the Syiem of Khyrim under whose jurisdiction the NST falls. Why do his “Ki khun ki hajar” go to pressure groups instead of taking up the matter with him and his Dorbar in Council which includes the Syiem, Ki Mantra and Ki Sordar who represent the Raid? Have the ‘Ki khun ki hajar’ approached the Syiem in the past and has he failed them? Who has greater say in this matter? The Khasi Hills District Council, the Syiem of Khyrim, the NGOs or the communities? Has the entire community been allowed to speak up? Has the Syiem of Him Khyrim lost his legitimacy? If not why is he not speaking on behalf of the people? And why is the Government here seen as the demon? Is the Government not all of us? Why are governments suddenly seen as incapable of doing any good at all; of being ruthless and mercenary? The pressure groups have accused the Meghalaya Urban Development Agency (MUDA) of acquiring land to hand over to companies? If that is so, the Government should clearly share with the public how it plans to deploy the 2000 acres of land proposed to be acquired. Why is Government silent and behaving like a victim? Why does the Urban Affairs minister who is otherwise articulate and sensible, not meet with the “real people” of the NST who will be affected by the acquisition and address a public meeting there? Why the silence? Unfortunately governments always repeat mistakes. If they wanted land for expanding the city they should have met with the communities and engaged with them. After all, Shillong needs to expand. We don’t want the Government giving another order for increasing the height of buildings to seven or eight floors, for want of horizontal space.
When Governments bungle and are perceived as venal they lose the legitimacy to speak. In this case even the views of David Nongrum, the elected MLA of the area have not been taken. He represents that constituency and he has just been elected. Have people already lost faith in him after five months? Will they go to NGOs for the next four and a half years for all development work? Why is David Nongrum silent? What do the communities actually want from the Government? Is there no room for discussing this matter? Why the stand-off? Why give us in the media space to speculate and opportunities to fill our pages lazily with NGO-speak? It really is puzzling!