By Arr Kay Dee
There is a lot of hot air being let out by a section of intellectuals ( and they seem like a growing breed) about “common property resource.” This is a western concept unknown to the tribals of these hills. Here things are different. If I own a piece of land, never mind how big or small it is, I actually own and control its use. And that means I can do just about anything on that land. Show me an instance when any of the Dorbar Shnong or the Syiem or Sordar was able to stop any land owner from doing what she wants. If I don’t quarry on my land, then do I do it on someone else’s land? And it’s all about demand and supply. I am quarrying because there is a demand for boulders and sand by building contractors the several construction works happening in Meghalaya. From where will people with the money to construct houses and commercial complexes get their stones, sand and cement from if the intellectuals and self-proclaimed environmentalists have their way?
I was at that Conference in Hotel Pine Wood on July 25, where Brian Kharpran the man who loves caves more than anything else made an impassioned plea to make Sohra a no mining zone. Will the mine owners listen to him? Can the Government force the coal mine owners of Sohra to shut down their rat holes? Let the Government try and see the fun. Man we are the owners of our land and we have the right to use it for commercial purposes. Will Government provide alternative livelihoods? The youth are without jobs and some of us have taken mining as an honest livelihood. So why quarrel with us about pollution, about loss of water sources, about loss of caves. These are non-issues as far as we are concerned. As I said earlier…land belongs to us. We have absolute rights over our land and there would be a war if anyone tried to take away those rights from us. So learn to live with it.