Time to break this conspiracy of silence

By Patricia Mukhim

The spate of arson and attempts to burn people alive suggests a new low in a society hitherto known for its respect for human lives. What do we call this present evil? A pogrom of some kind? Is this a calculated attempt to intimidate the “other” in an insidious manner so that it cannot be labelled as communal violence? There is a pattern emerging here and it is one that is so predictable. There is arson or attempted murder every second day. A few people are rounded up and released for want of evidence. Then it’s back to business as usual. None of us bothers to keep track of the cases. But what’s worse is that society has got used to this cycle of violence. There is no condemnation from any quarter; there is no pressure on the police to nab the culprits; there is not even any pressure on the government to make good it’s warning of booking the pressure groups for the loss incurred on account of the agitations. It looks like a societal collusion whose logic is that since the pressure groups are working in the interest of the jaitbynriew we give them a free rein to do whatever they think is best even if that amounts to a systematic attack on people and their business premises.

Fabian Lyngdoh in his article of Thursday October 9, took the readers through a philosophical journey about human frailties and why evil happens. As a pragmatist who does not understand philosophy and also does not believe in philosophising evil, I say that evil in whatever form must be stopped in its tracks. In a democracy we the people elect a government and hand over some of our liberties (such as taking the law in our own hands) with the fond belief that the government we elect will protect our lives and property. Again and again the government falls short of its mandate and citizens are left to fend for themselves. One begins to wonder as to what would happen if this state of lawlessness continues and the government’s own helplessness is exposed. Who do the citizens turn to? Would we all need to protect ourselves then? Would only those who can afford a private militia have the right to feel secure? Are we not heading towards this scenario? How many convictions does Meghalaya Police have to its credit?

The primary duty of the police is not just to arrest suspects but to build up water tight cases leading to their conviction. Here the statistics are appalling. In the Assembly session of March last year NPP legislator James K Sangma listed out the crime statistics in Meghalaya. In 2007 out of 180 murder cases only 1 person was convicted. In 2008, 216 cases were registered against which only 6 were convicted; in 2009 of 241 cases registered, 18 were convicted; and in 2010 out of 262 cases registered only 7 were convicted. Similarly, in the case of rape, in 2007 out of 82 cases registered only 8 were convicted; in 2008 out of 88 cases registered only 11 were convicted; in 2009 out of 112 rape cases only 7 were convicted; and for the year 2010, the cases registered were an astonishing 149, out of which only 4 were convicted. Based on these figures the NPP legislator had observed that the rate of conviction was less than 1 percent in Meghalaya. Where then is the rule of law? Are the police accountable to anyone? Do they recognise that they are created not to guard the lives of VIPs but of the ordinary, powerless citizen? If so-called miscreants can enter a shop in a busy part of the town in broad daylight and try to burn alive a human being and still get away with the crime then what do we call this? In simple terms it’s a complete failure of the law and order machinery. Some citizens ought to drag the Government to court for its sheer inability to provide security to citizens.

The present situation is also the outcome of dystopia in a section of youth who can now be used as mercenaries to carry out subversive acts on payment of a certain sum of money. Those we term as miscreants could be contract killers hired to eliminate business rivals. The fact of the matter is that all the dark and evil forces take advantage of the current fluid situation to achieve their evil designs. But that is precisely why we have an intelligence wing in the police department. Evidently this wing is not as intelligent as it should be. And crime investigators too don’t seem to have the wherewithal to take investigation to its logical end. Think of the number of rapists who are roaming free to commit the next crime, knowing full well that they can get out on bail for want of sufficient evidence.

Police are often heard saying that they need the support of ‘civil society’ in their quest to prevent crimes. But would they like to define what that civil society is? The word is highly problematic. Those who use this term “civil society” to define themselves have never been circumspect about their own dealings but have been busy pointing fingers at others. It requires an evolved society to become the real civil society standing up against state reprisal; pointing out state failure and taking on powerful vested interests of which pressure groups are one. Since pressure and interest groups like KSU, FKJGP, HNYF have partisan political goals, the first two having spawned political parties and politicians over the years, it would be wrong to consider them civil society groups. Talking about civil society, the advisors to the US Government said, next to the state and the market, civil society is the ultimate third way of governing a society. A former President of the United State said a civil society demands from each one of us goodwill and respect, fair dealing and forgiveness. Authoritarian societies and those where the rule of law is absent do not and cannot produce a civil society. They only spawn despotic groups. Hence Meghalaya with its abysmal law and order record cannot speak of a civil society.

Civil society moreover is not ethno-centric. It is not exclusive but encompasses those with the spirit to bring about a better society. If Meghalaya had a vibrant civil society, that society would have come out as one to vehemently protest against the selective targeting of individuals, their business establishments and the spread of a fear psychosis in the city. This civil society would have brought enough pressure on government to book the criminals. Alas! Till date we have not heard a squeak from any quarter. There has been no collective meeting of minds on the current issue. People are doing what they do best – discuss these issues privately in the comfort zones of a funeral house or their sitting rooms. Not even faith-based institutions have made any noise. The only noisy sounds are heard on Sundays when preachers thunder about a heaven that we can only hallucinate about, since not even those who have left this world before us give us any indication what that heaven is like. The rest of the week everyone prefers to go back to their ethnic cocoons and nurse their grievances against those who are different from them or worship differently.

In a state that many define as “Christian” it is tragic that Christianity has slid into a zone of genteel insignificance. The Catholic Church with its new reforms-minded, no-nonsense Pope Francis who recently said that if the church is lacking in love it becomes only an NGO, should take the Pope’s messages seriously. Perhaps that is what the churches have become today; mute NGOs only busy with their sustenance and no time to engage with current issues and dilemmas.

As the majority in this State we have pushed the minorities into a ghetto of fear and caricatured them as evil and the cause for our ruin and malaise. Perhaps it’s time to take stock of our collective psychological health because the blame game does not work beyond a point.