By Shanbor Mukhim
I sit in my cool air conditioned classroom, oblivious to the teacher’s lecture, as my mind and my thoughts go to my people in Meghalaya. What are you people doing down there? What is going on? I know that Meghalaya suffers from an Outsider Influx syndrome. It is not a new thing. It is an issue that has haunted the state for the last 30 years. It is an issue that has served the cause and interest of many a politician and apparently we have not learnt anything from the past for the present agitation over the ILP will serve no one but the wily politician and his political interests.
Most Meghalayans living outside hang their heads in shame over the Rajuram Rajan Committee Report where Meghalaya has been tagged as the Least Developed State. We now pray for the ground to swallow us up as reports of agitators burning down Government vehicles and offices make it as headlines in the national papers. What answers do we give to sneers of “Hey, you guys are supposed to be the least developed in India. Why then do you have to burn down your own offices and vehicles? Is this some kind of a death wish, huh?”
Meghalayans living outside have only one prayer- “Dear God please, please do not let the hotheads in Meghalaya do anything to cause harm and unnecessary risk to any of us living outside”. Let me assure the people back home that this is no idle unfounded fear. What happens in the NE can have serious unpleasant repercussions in the rest of India. The panicked exodus from major Indian cities last year still remains fresh and traumatic in our minds. Though we sympathise with the NGOs who are fighting for a just cause, the worry is that that things may just slip out of their control.
The concern of many of us is over the tactics adopted by the agitating NGOs. Anti social elements might take advantage; violence might erupt; things spin out of control- then who takes the blame? The NGOs who started the agitation can’t simply wash their hands then. They have a responsibility in whatever happens. A leading and spirited female NGO leader was heard to have observed that ‘freedom can only come from sacrificing blood’. Madam, with all due respects, What Freedom? And please, we beg with folded hands, not with our blood!
A question needs to be answered. Why this standoff over a genuine need of the state? We have to trace and analyse the genesis of this face off between the Government and the NGOs that is causing so much of hardship and apprehension for the common man. It all started with the NGOs demand for implementing the High Level Committee recommendation for the Inner Line Permit system as a control over unabated influx. This write up is not about the ILP which the 10 NGOs have flagged as the answer to influx. A genuine question that needs to be answered is, what made the NGOs adopt “Its only the ILP or nothing” attitude and what made them believe that the Government would succumb to NGO pressure over such a stand?
The NGO agitation is on and the Government hasn’t blinked and is not likely to do so anytime soon. Have the NGOs miscalculated this time? Apparently they have! Pressure tactics from bandhs and road blockades that worked earlier against a coalition headed by a weak CM, are proving to be flawed tactics against a CM secure in the knowledge of his party majority. Why should the Government listen to a bunch of agitating NGOs who appear to have bitten off more than they can chew. The NGOs have certainly been ill-advised by who so ever advised them. A more important question is, why should the common citizen suffer for this NGO slip up? Why should I and many like me be chased out of our colleges and workplaces simply because our NGOs are so intellectually deficient and can’t see beyond their noses?
Then there are the political parties, the politicians and so called intellectuals. What is their role in this whole sordid affair? Sitting from Delhi, watching Meghalaya from a bird’s eye view, the only picture that is becoming clearer by the day is of a confused, irresponsible collection of individuals. Some are out to fish in troubled waters; others running ineffectually from pillar to post; intense panel discussions are held that lead to nowhere while the rest of society educates itself on the ILP from unfounded rumours and gossip. Seen from far off Delhi, the state of Meghalaya today is similar to a gunpowder keg just waiting to be lit. If there are irresponsible idiots itching for this explosion to happen, there are also many Meghalayans outside the state who demand that such a catastrophe should never be allowed to happen.
Then of course there is Dr Mukul Sangam the CM and his Government, firm on not yielding to NGO pressure tactics and who has offered the Tenancy Act as the answer to the influx problem. What has tenancy got to do with influx is something that needs massive explanation. Tenancy laws are more about protecting and empowering tenants than disenfranchising them and therefore in our case the antithesis of what we want! A Tenancy Act basically addresses the rights of a tenant with tribunals to ensure no violation of such rights. The onus of proof will be on the landlord. The right to complain and sue with the tenant! Is it the intention of the Government to make Influx Control stand on its head?
For most of us living outside what is happening inside Meghalaya makes no sense. Our worry is over outsider influx that has the potential to upset the demographic balance of our state. It’s a danger that threatens all of us. So in trying to arrive at a solution we end up fighting among ourselves! Does this make sense? For Gods sake we have become the laughing stock of everyone. Why can’t we forget our misplaced pride; why can’t we put aside our inflated egos; why can’t we overcome our political prejudices? If the political and NGO leaders are incapable of leading let others take the lead. It is time for this stupidity to end; time for Meghalaya to set its house in order. Voters please remember that you now have the power to press the NOTA button. Legislators who speak nonsense; who mislead; who appeal only to the emotions; those without vision deserve no less. Have no mercy!
(The writer is a Research Fellow, JNU, New Delhi)