The beleaguered militant group – Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council’s (HNLC) call to the pro-ILP NGOs to join hands with them and to take up arms to push the ILP agenda is a call of desperation. The HNLC has lost the confidence of the people. It is trying to rejuvenate itself by fishing in the present turmoil-ridden situation. That a group operating from distant shores by a single entity – the publicity secretary who raves and rants over social media should call a bandh and expect it to be successful is wishful thinking. The 36 hour bandh call by the HNLC would be testing the nerves of an already very disgruntled citizenry held to ransom by intermittent bandhs and road blockades which disrupt their daily lives and livelihoods. A civil society group the Informed Conscious and Responsible Existence (ICARE) has organised a public gathering to provide a platform for an embattled citizenry to come out and speak their minds. There is hardly any opportunity in this State for the public to air their views. And yet we call ourselves a democracy! Time and again, small exclusive groups which do not believe in the democratic process of consultation and listening, have imposed their diktat on state governments and on the citizens of this State. Minority voices have stalled the coming of the railways to Meghalaya. All such mobilisations have been premised on the notion of fear. The people of Meghalaya have been conditioned to live in a perpetual state of fear and this is doing harm to their psyche.
On the other hand those from amongst the tribes who have to compete and move out have learnt that every fear can be conquered and that living with fear is no life at all. There is a growing population of youth from Meghalaya who today hold responsible positions outside the State. They are perturbed by the propensity of the pressure groups to spread hatred and violence and do harm to the minority communities in Meghalaya without differentiating the permanent citizens and other professionals whose claim to reside in Meghalaya is as legitimate as the claim of a tribal from here to reside in any part of India. The rhetoric of hatred is spouted, unfortunately, by a section of the vernacular media whose promoters perhaps believe that parochialism sells and catches eyeballs. So far, this aspect of the media has never been studied by those empowered to do so. The media has operated in a laissez faire environment. While freedom of the press is an unshakeable claim from media practitioners, the responsibility to tread the fine line of objectivity is not discussed. It’s time the media introspects on its role and asks itself whether it is fair to take sides in a conflict. For starters, is it a good practice to provide free publicity to a militant group that has been the cause of much grief to many in this State?