Editor,
I am glad that Patricia Mukhim has come out with an article in Khasi on whether there is still need to have the District Councils. This was published by the newspaper “Mawphor” (10th Feb2014) . The newspaper has vast reach in Khasi and Jaintia Hills and the article can now give its readers sufficient basis to reason amongst themselves on the subject and hopefully may judiciously apply their minds particularly at this juncture. When this State was under the erstwhile Assam government it was explained to me in simple terms that the District Councils with elected members from our own tribes necessary in order to ensure that our unique tribal identity is not swamped out of existence by the predominantly non tribal society of Assam; to ensure that our traditions, culture and our customary practices are sustained and also to ensure that the abundant natural resources in the areas we inhabit would not be exploited wantonly by the major constituents of the state. It did make sense to my very young mind then as the Khasi-Jaintia people and the Garos were minorities then within the vast population of the state of Assam . Subsequently Meghalaya was created with the intention of meeting the aspirations of the three tribes and we are now in the 42nd year of our statehood and we are in the majority. Several decades have passed by and one would think that with our own tribal dominated state government to govern us, the District Councils would naturally fade out of existence.
Strangely the Councils still continue and are now more assertive than before. In fact they are so alluring today that some of our sitting legislators strive to be voted into the respective Councils as well, despite the fact that no positive outcomes emerge out of these Councils. But it seems that the conscious citizens of the state are either sick or tired with the Institution now or are least bothered about the upcoming election as evident from the lack of responses and feedback in the local newspapers. Contrast this to the Assembly elections and the vibration in the air months before the voting day. In fact, in the panel discussion recently organised by Mawphor at Shillong, it was reported that the majority who attended felt that after Meghalaya became a State, the Councils have become redundant. More so when they have not delivered on expected lines. The politicians in the panel, however, feel that if the right people are elected the Councils can still be relevant. Now there is a catch here. Can we get the right people in any public organisation where there is an old and narrow institutional view of democracy that characterises it mainly in terms of elections and ballots but less of the exercise of public reason? I may be pessimistic and even cynical but the practical aspect is that there is every possibility that even in future, the number of wrong people may far exceed the number of right people in the Councils because at present, the demand for public balloting far exceeds public reasoning.
Ultimately, vested interests can exercise greater influence over primary objectives leading to many already manifested adverse effects such as the threat to our ethnic survival, rapid destruction of our vital natural resources , infringement on our traditional values and customs and loss of many other valuable resources if our District Councils are to continue under the present electoral representation system Alternatively, a Department of the State Government to look exclusively after the State’s tribal issues other than development and natural resources conservation may deliver better on the objectives which the District Councils profess to claim exclusively as theirs. But then this is a thought which if translated into action will require a courageous decision from our political leaders. But when will our political leaders have the courage to take such a decision? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.
Yours etc.,
K.LTariang,
Via email
