By Patricia Mukhim
There is a section of youth in Meghalaya that suffers from an irrational fear and even hatred against those who don’t look like them, speak their language or practice their culture. Some letters had appeared in the columns of this newspaper questioning what role the non-tribals played during the Hill State Movement. This assumption comes either from not reading history, a selective reading of history or conveniently choosing to forget the history of how Meghalaya was created. While it is true that the collective ire was directed against the Assamese rulers of the time (we were then part of the state of Assam), there was a also a collective voice from all who lived in these hills and they included Khasis, Jaintias and Garos, (lest we forget) and also the non-tribal gentry who had settled in Shillong for several generations. So for some greenhorn to be saying at this juncture that only the Khasis fought for a hill state is impudent to say the least. I was surprised that no one responded to the letter.
Every society has its wise elders. They are supposed to guide and lead and mentor the young. They are supposed to caution the youth from becoming xenophobic or parochial by reminding them from lessons of history. It was xenophobia triggered by a megalomaniac Hitler that led to the Second World War. No one dared question Hitler’s audacity or his extreme cruelty because they all saw the Jews as their enemies. Instead of fair competition the Germans took the easy way out which is to eliminate the competitor and thereby flatten the playground of ideas. But history tells us how destructive that era was. We are told that if we forget the lessons of history we will be condemned to repeat its horrors. It seems to me that we in Meghalaya are doing just that.
The clamour for an anachronistic Inner Line Permit (ILP) as a double edged sword to control influx from across the borders and also to sanitize the State from fellow Indians, for instance, springs from deep-seated fear that we will lose something; that someone will be taking away what belongs to us. Not once have we evaluated the gains of living in a multicultural society and the resilience that we have developed as a people and also our ability to compete with the best in the world. We can forgive the young for not knowing what they do and for often not having the benefit of hindsight to make informed decisions. What is pathetic is when the elderly who should know better, instigate the young to go on a path that constricts the movement of people, goods, ideas and progress. The present world is one where learning is synthesized. We learn from others and combine that with indigenous wisdom to bring out the best module of education which is both dynamic and progressive and which is what we need in order to cope with the present challenges posed by the market. We cannot shut out the forces of globalization. They are already here and they determine our choices in ways that we have never experienced before. The point is to learn to cope with these challenges, not to shut ourselves in and shut others out.
I was sitting with an elderly, straight-talking non-tribal gentleman. He told me that the Khasis are asking for far too much from the system and that it is not sustainable in the long term. He told me that we already have protective mechanisms by way of our scheduled tribe status and our Sixth Schedule. He said that we should have left out some areas of life, particularly education and health from the oppressive bind of reservation. He pointed to the politicization in appointment of teachers in schools, colleges and universities where the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) would put pressure on the authorities about which teacher to appoint instead of allowing merit and only merit to take precedence. When merit is debased and populism is rewarded then what we have is mediocrity. Do we wonder why there is so little quality but so much quantity that is churned out by our educational institutions? When my generation was growing up, we were fortunate to have been taught by some of the best teachers (not all Khasis) and they came from all over the place. Such is not the case today. And that is precisely the reason why so many parents are packing their children off to the metropolises of this country for education. Our ministers, MLAs, MPs and bureaucrats send them abroad for education. It’s because they believe their kids would be exposed to progressive ideas and learn from the best. Then why do they succumb to NGO pressure when it comes to appointment of meritorious teachers or doctors or technicians?
The anomie that afflicts us today is of our own creation. We have politicized every institution; we have succeeded to demonize the other and blame them for all the ills that visit us. We discuss politics throughout our waking moments but have not developed the acumen for rational thinking and for holding our politicians and government to account. We prefer street fights to discussions and deliberations. And seeing that governments are so pliable we have perfected the art of holding the state to ransom. But are we getting anywhere? Have we made progressed? Have we developed indicators to measure our achievements as a state, as families, as individuals. And yes, no one can beat us at the blame game. But not a single person will stand up and own up to the wrongs he/she has committed. Our NGOs are al holier than thou. Change they say can begin from one person and Gandhi is a good example of that. He started with himself. We may or may not agree with Gandhi’s methods (some iconoclasts are finding fault with him today) but he gave us our freedom through a different kind of resistance movement that was indigenous and non-violent and has become the model for many countries struggling against racism and for independence.
It is not as if the tribes of Meghalaya are devoid of role models. The problem is that there are so few today and their voices have been muted. They don’t stand up boldly to speak the truth even if it means being unpopular. We are today led by NGOs whose credentials for leadership are suspect because they hardly walk the talk. Most of these NGOs are led by the young. Have you ever seen a 20 year old son carrying a 50 year old father on his back unless of course the father is too incapacitated to walk? But this is happening to us in Meghalaya. The wise elders are abdicating their duties and throwing all responsibilities to the young instead of being their mentors.
It is time for the elderly to play their roles and inform the youth of the lessons of history. If we continue to demonize the non-tribal residents of Meghalaya and use that as a fig leaf for camouflaging our own governance deficits we will soon reach a dead end. Then no one can save us from ourselves. That is a one way route to self-destruction.