The recent press conference called by former Rajya Sabha MP, Robert Kharshiing from his hospital room made disturbing news. Media houses were flummoxed about whether or not to carry the news. The newsmaker was after all a VIP. Apart from having served as the Rajya Sabha MP, he was also the former MLA of Laitumkhrah constituency and a former student leader known for innovative thinking in politics. At one time he had proposed an all party ministry saying that the best from out of the 60 MLAs should be picked up and made ministers. He had on several occasions stated that the Constitution is silent on how to elect the chief minister. He had pointed out that the Constitution does not prescribe that the leader of the party which wins the majority seats in the assembly should be named chief minister. The same person had also sold the idea that Meghalaya should adopt the Swiss cantonment model of governance.
There are those who believe that the news should not have been carried because the VIP was probably in a delirium. But how was the media to know? These are mental conditions that have to be certified by a competent authority such as the personal physician of Mr Kharshiing or the hospital authorities. Normally patients don’t give press conferences. This in itself is a serious aberration. Moreover there was no prior report in the media that Kharshiing is suffering from this or that ailment. So there was no way of discrediting his version of the story. Bits and pieces of his one-sided conversation with the media seemed credible enough. Besides, in Meghalaya anything is possible. But several questions arise from this incident. Where were Kharshiing’s family members? If his mental condition is so fragile should they not have been with him 24×7? Why did the hospital authorities not follow procedures about privacy? Why did they not restrict the number of visitors to the Super Deluxe Room where the VIP was convalescing? Why did they bend the rules and allow a hospital to turn into a public space? The VIP’s family members cautioned the press only after the report on the press conference had appeared. Nevertheless the incident is also a lesson for the gullible media not to lap up everything that a VIP spouts out which includes political hallucinations. This single incident has put our credibility on the line.