By Barry Roy Lyngdoh Mawlong
Most of us, if not all, who were brought up and live or have lived in Shillong, love Shillong for its beauty and its gentle people. The British who ruled over the land in the past, were so enchanted by its beauty, cleanliness, peace, tranquillity and graciousness of the Khasi Pnar jaidbynriew that they called Shillong – ‘ THE SCOTLAND OF THE EAST.’ Over the years, however, due to neglect, inept town planning, lack of foresight on the part of past Governments and the sharp decay in the values of its people, Shillong seems to have lost its right to claim itself as the Scotland of the East.
During our last visit home a couple of months ago, my wife and I visited Police Bazar one late afternoon we were glad to note that some of the much needed development in the area have taken place and the Pedestrian Walkway with interlocked bricks was also finally nearing its completion. But 3 things that struck us most worryingly were (i) the dirt and the filth all along the Walkway (ii) the myriad of unlicensed (?) hawkers encroaching on the Walkway and (iii) an unending sea of non-indigenous people ( who did not seem to be genuine tourists ) that left us wondering for a while if were really in Shillong ! Later that same evening, when we were driving back from Motphran, we were shocked to see people unashamedly throwing heaps of rubbish all along G S Road – the prime shopping street in Shillong.
Considering the above revelations, it is only understandable that ten pressure groups (Sengbhalang) are spearheading the current agitation for re-introduction of the Inner Line Permit. The influx of foreigners and non-indigenous people seeking to settle and take roots in the Khasi & Jaintia Hills is very real and should never be allowed to take place. But the ILP is an archaic law that cannot find a place in today’s world of globalisation.
Tourism is today a cash cow for all developing economies and we in Meghalaya too can ill afford to place hurdles restricting the movement of genuine tourists – be they from within the country or from overseas. Look at North Korea and Myanmar that brought untold miseries and poverty for so many years to their own people by the closed economies and outdated ideologies followed by their military leaders. Can we in Meghalaya live in isolation ? Have we forgotten Newton’s Law that states for every action there is an equal and opposite re-action ? What happens to the common man if Meghalaya re-introduces the ILP and affected parties in Assam and other states impose an economic blockade of Meghalaya? Where do our people run to for food and other essential commodities, including petrol and diesel? Not to Bangladesh, I am sure. Is our memory so short that we have forgotten the mass exodus of our students and workers who had to flee for their lives from Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune etc in August last year amid rumours of imminent retaliatory attacks ? Can anyone guarantee that such retaliatory actions will not take place ?
The Government (with all the resources at its disposal, including a full fledged Information & Public Relations Department) and, to some extent, the churches with a huge influence on their huge congregations have perhaps failed to educate the people on the futility of the ILP and to win their hearts and minds. They have failed to pre-empt the current meaningless agitation from continuing for so many weeks – tarnishing the image of the State and Shillong, in particular, disrupting the lives and livelihood of its people and sending a very wrong message to our children and grandchildren that resorting to bandhs and blockades at the drop of a hat ( ala Bangladesh Style ) is COOL and throwing stones and other missiles at passing vehicles, damaging and destroying both Government and private properties and setting people on fire are OKAY. Are our elected representatives ( barring a few ) also so scared that they may not be re-elected in the next General Elections that they are shying away from coming out of their cocoons and speaking out honestly against the ILP ?
As mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs, the influx of foreigners and non-indigenous people seeking to settle in our hills has to be checked. But this must be done systematically, keeping in mind that migrants will only flock to a place where they can easily find employment and shelter. Otherwise they cannot survive on fresh air alone. It may therefore be worthwhile for the Government of Meghalaya and all concerned to take a leaf from Singapore’s success and adapt the Singapore system to overcome the present impasse.
As per the latest statistics, Singaporeans constitute only 61% of the population of the country. The rest are professionals (commonly known locally as Foreign Talents ) and thousands of migrant workers from the neighbouring countries. The average Singaporean today shuns menial work and therefore it is these skilled migrant workers who have really helped to build Singapore into the coolest city in the world – amazingly clean, orderly and green with beautiful buildings, world class expressways/ transport systems, ports and airport that only a few can emulate. Mind you, Singapore gained its independence only 6 years before Meghalaya attained its Statehood and all these developments have taken place right in front of our eyes ! The Influx problem that we are presently facing in our hills has never been allowed to rear its ugly head in Singapore because of an incorruptible, strict, no-nonsense and efficient enforcement of the Immigration and Employment Rules. ( The same scenario exists in Dubai, the other Emirates, Doha and Qatar where the population of migrant workers exceeds that of the locals by 3:1 or even more ).
Everyone is welcome into Singapore. But no one can afford to break its laws and work and stay illegally. Every individual in Singapore is tracked through a hi-tech system of Identity Cards. There are very strict laws which require employers to apply and secure beforehand Employment Passes / Work Permits for their migrant workers and in most cases furnish Bank Guarantees that these workers do not break the law of the land. Hefty fines and penalties (including jail sentences ) are imposed not only on the illegal migrant worker, the errant employer but also on any landlord who is found to harbour an illegal migrant. The onus for checking the authenticity of the Work Pass of a would be tenant lies entirely with the landlord and no excuses whatsoever are acceptable for failing to do so.
Like Singapore, Meghalaya also needs to permit suitably qualified migrant workers to help us build our homes, offices, educational institutions, hospitals and roads & bridges etc and uplift the living standards of our people. But herein lies the problem as all good rules and regulations can work if the Government and its officials on the ground are honest, hardworking and above corruption. I do realise that this will not be an easy task to achieve as corruption seems to have seeped into the blood of most Meghalayans today. I was very sad to hear the other day that a certain religion is reportedly offering cash incentives for people to convert to their religion and quite a few of our Khasi Pnars have recently accepted this bribery. This is most shocking and only shows how deep the corruption malaise has got into our lives that we need a bribe to communicate with God !
It would therefore be in the best interests of the jaidbynriew and the state at large if all concerned, especially those blinded by prejudices and selfish political ambitions, start ‘ laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and all evil speaking and deeds ‘, start thinking out of the box and put their heads together to find a fair, equitable and lasting solution to the present problem according to the laws of the land. It is only by doing so that we can manifest our TRUE LOVE for the Jaidbynriew and for Shillong.
(Barry Roy Lyngdoh Mawlong is settled in Singapore)