Superstition which leads to labelling of people as sorcerers or witches has claimed several lives in the past in Meghalaya. The legend of the Thlen is yet to be buried despite being superseded by another legend that the python which is a symbol of the Thlen has been killed after a red hot iron ball was shoved into its mouth and its body chopped to pieces near the Dainthlen falls – a favourite tourist destination in Sohra. There is a fine line separating legends and myths from superstition. But the incidents of the past few weeks where a person accused of witchcraft was made to eat human excreta and another was made to consume dog faeces makes this society look brutal savage. You begin to wonder what happened to civilisation and the niceties of being members of a society that used to believe in the principle of “Tip briew, Tip Blei” (Know man and know God). Also where does Christianity hide itself on such occasions? Or is Christianity in these hills only skin deep and more of a social club that lends a fig leaf of respectability in society?
These acts of brutality speak volumes about the mental state of this society. Where is the voice of reason at such times? Why does an entire crowd go insane and not a single person would stand out as the voice of sanity? What has education taught us over all these years? Smit is not too distant from Shillong where most people model themselves on the liberal west in the way they conduct themselves and in what they wear and how they speak. How is it possible that just 20 kms away from this city such barbaric acts reminiscent of the cruelties of the Stone Age be occurring? Why are church elders across denominations silent when such inhuman acts occur? Why is it business as usual in the churches and temples; in educational institutions and above all in the much touted traditional institutions? Isn’t it time to discuss these issues and put a cap on them? Should the perpetrators not be given exemplary punishment by society? If village women who raise legitimate questions through RTI on why they are deprived of their rations, are ostracised, then why not the modern barbarians?
It is time for Khasi society to reflect on these acts of cruelty inflicted on members of their own tribe. What is afflicting the society? Why is society unable to tread the path of reason and enlightenment now in the 21st century? Why is society turning on itself? Is there a larger affliction that is visiting us today and which is taking away our ability to rationalise and to exercise our human restraint? These questions are very troubling indeed!