By Patricia Mukhim
Another year is upon us. The advent of 2014 was loud and noisy, much more than in previous years. Some of the crackers that were let loose on the environment were of a decibel that stunned our ear drums. People spent thousands on fire crackers while around them many live in abject poverty. That’s the irony of Meghalaya today. The fire-works are just so much of clap-trap let loose by a generation that knows neither the value nor the price of anything. There is too much of easy (unearned) money floating around. This money is literally used to ‘burn’ crackers.
At this point in life New Year ceases to be about noise and senseless chatter. It is more about silent reflection. I came across two quotes which made a great deal of sense for a community that is all the time exhorting about, “unity of thought and purpose” often without reflecting on whether the thought is logical and the purpose uplifting. No society has progressed by riding on the wave of populism and collective thinking. In fact a society that discredits free-thinking as being subversive is a society that will never progress. Mark Twain says, “Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” On the same note Nietzsche says, “The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher regard those who think alike than those who think differently.” Indeed there is very little free-thinking in our society because the need to conform is so overwhelming. Conformity is equated with love for the community (jaitbynriew). The word ‘jaitbynriew’ has been used extensively in 2013 in the columns of this newspaper, so much so that even non-Khasi speaking people know its connotation.
As we step into a new year there are many who wonder what 2014 will be like. Will the agitation around the issue of the Inner Line Permit mar the first month of the year? What would be the outcome of the talks this month? What does the Chief Minister mean when he says “come for talks with an open mind?” Does he mean that the groups demanding an Inner Line Regulation in Meghalaya revise their stances and think of better alternatives? The year that went by saw violence being perpetrated on defenseless citizens. They lost their lives but we were not ready to offer a collective apology as a society. We never apologized for the deaths during the communal conflicts of 1979 onwards. And why did the violence happen? It happened because some in the society had radical ideas that violence would teach, “those who usurp the rights of the indigenous people,” a lesson and they would leave.
There is an old Hebrew proverb which says, “Opinions founded on prejudice are always defended with the greatest violence.” I find this so appropriate to our case. Those who believe they fight for our rights have used violence as an instrument for achieving their goals. But we know the law of nature too well even without getting into religion. “What goes around comes around.” The violence we wreak on others will visit us sooner than later. It will visit the innocent members of our families; in fact it often visits the most vulnerable. And the manner in which it visits us need not be what is expected. It could come in ways we least suspect. Could this be one reason why we have such a glut of sexual violence in this society known as the last vestige of matriliny? Maybe we need to pause and reflect.
I have a helper who is very wise. Whenever we speak of injustice in society she would quickly say, “Those who perpetrate injustice don’t know that what they do is stored in the memory disc and cannot be deleted.” The mobile revolution has revolutionized our vocabulary but it is intuitive that even the less educated understand the wisdom of the ages. Sadly the more educated don’t seem to perceive these simple truths.
Coming back to the ILP issue, a journalist of the New York Times who is currently on a visit here and had earlier gone to Arunachal Pradesh, says he found the process of getting a Permit long winded with files having to go from table to table even while dealing clerks took their own time to clear the files. He spent one hundred dollars to pay for the Permit (s). He was told he could only travel with another person. Since there was no one to undertake the travel with him, the clerks in the Arunachal secretariat in Delhi decided to pair him off with another visitor who had already reached Arunachal Pradesh without a permit (don’t ask me how this is possible, but anything is possible). So the 100$ included the Permit fee for the other visitor as well. But at someone else’s cost! Weird is how one would describe this system but such is the system!
Is this what we in Meghalaya are looking at? A system which will demand another lethargic and corrupt bureaucracy, much like those already in place such as the Transport, Taxation and Directorate of Mineral Resources check gates! These check gates/toll gates have created very rich individuals who have turned this hitherto egalitarian society on its head. Once this system is created it will not be possible to dismantle it. Hence I disagree with those who suggest that we introduce the ILP on a trial basis. And if people can enter forbidden territories without a permit what makes us believe that we will succeed? I am pragmatic enough to believe that sealed borders whether national or international have no utility. As long as there are livelihood opportunities people will venture here. The way to seal borders is to ensure that economic opportunities are non-existent. That would mean we would have to do everything ourselves! Can we do it? Several lives were lost in the coal mines in 2013. There is no hue and cry because those who died were not “our people.” So would “our people” venture into these dangerous mines? If not, then should we close up all the coal mines then? Will the coal barons agree so easily?
I find it rather annoying that we do not delve into the realities that stare at us so starkly but only demand things that have no permanent solution. It would be a pity if the pressure groups maintain their adamantine stances and harp on the same old insoluble thing. But as I had said earlier a new year is supposed to bring new hopes and new beginnings. So we hope that the festive spirit has also given these individuals enough time to steer away from opportunistic politics and to rise above the need to be right.
This being a reflective article I will end with Goethe’s wise words. He says, “I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration; I can humiliate or humour, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.” On this note I wish all readers a very Happy New Year and hope we have more to celebrate about this year.