By Patricia Mukhim
I love the Idea Cellular advert because people actually talk back to their elected representative and tell him not to “Ullu Banaoing” ( Don’t make fools out of them) them. Hindi is a funny language. While most languages consider the owl to be a symbol of wisdom (wise owl in English), in Hindi, the owl is called “Ullu” and we know what that means because we use that word to refer to bozos or more commonly to idiots. But guess what? Politicians continue to believe they can fool us and that they are ordained with divine wisdom. I find this glaring presumptuousness in some of the regional parties in the State. In a world of fallible humans, it is irritating to listen to self-righteous I-specialists guillotine everyone but themselves. Not only that! They also have a congenital aversion for women who can speak without being prompted by a tele-prompter ( a male Godfather).
I am referring to the HSPDP (I am sure we are all familiar with the acronyms) a Party that is run more or less like one of our churches with a male patriarch at the top of the pyramid and where women are expected to be subservient loyalists who would say “Aye” to everything and then serve tea at meetings etc., It was to be expected that Fenela Lyngdoh Nonglait would fall out with her male peers in the Party. Their brusque manners, their chauvinistic body language and the unspoken diktat which that body language conveys which actually speaks louder than words and says, “Conform babe or remain silent. We are in charge here,” must have pushed her over the edge. A young, dynamic, legal eagle who fought tenaciously so that her Party the HSPDP could retain its symbol is unlikely to be a pushover. So one was not really surprised to see Fenella share the podium with UDP Working President, Paul Lyngdoh during one of the election meetings before the recent Lok Sabha polls. That was Fenela’s way of cocking a snook at the present set of Young Turks (if 40+ is still young) in the HSPDP.
The Lion King, HS Lyngdoh is now unable to move out of his lair and if I am correct he is already non compos mentis ( senile) hence likely to forget what he said a few moment ago. The case of Fenela Lyngdoh’s dismissal from the Party for alleged anti-party activities (sharing the dais with the HSPDP’s beta noire and KHNAM’s black beast) is the current topic of discussion. I can only imagine the expletives/adjectives that are likely to be used against this ‘crowing hen.’ Fenela though is unfazed. There is no trace of anger or frustration in her demeanour as she calmly answers the media about the allegations against her. This is how women leaders should be like. Calm, composed; their thoughts rationally organised and in control of the situation. Most often women shriek and shout to defend their viewpoints. They are loud and belligerent like some of the women activists we know who always want to be on top of things (woman-superior position) because of some adolescent baggage they carry and are unable to unload and unpack.
Fenela once narrated to this writer how at a HSPDP meeting when she tried to make a point of order, a certain HSPDP MLA pointed a finger at her menacingly and said, “Only elected representatives can speak at this meeting.”Fenela apparently walked out. Who wouldn’t after that kind of affront? Evidently she is the only woman in her Party who can actually engage intelligently in the deliberations pertaining to party politics or matters of state. It is also clear that now with Hopingstone Lyngdoh being incapable of taking hard decisions, the Party is virtually taken over by the brash brigade which does not believe in inner party democracy. The only way out for Fenela, therefore, is to exit from the HSPDP with her head held high and her self-esteem intact. To wait for April 19, to be expelled from the Party is not good political strategy. In any case, Fenela had made a calculated move when she attended the UDP electoral campaign meeting. I’m sure she knew what action would follow that move. Besides, she might be able to add value to whichever Party she joins, as a legal advisor. So much about Fenela!
My next point is about the “Ullu Banaoing” tactics of the Aam Aadmi Party in Meghalaya. No sooner was the election over when the national level AAP decided to disband its rag-tag bunch of supporters here. For one, the AAP Meghalaya looked like a Party run by one clan. The candidate is a Kharshiing (Amerington).The spokesperson is a Kharshiiing (Amos). The other leader is also a Kharshiing (Agnes) who until a month ago headed one of the most shrill NGOs – the Civil Society Women’s Organisation (which has two claimants). For one month we heard nothing from the CSWO. It seemed that the Organisation temporarily suspended its activism. Then comes the annulment of the AAP Meghalaya and lo and behold Agnes coolly steps back into the CSWO to take control of its affairs. Where else but in Meghalaya will you have an acclaimed ‘social activist’ change avatars from social to political and back to social. It could make the best among us suffer from schizophrenia for we might forget who or what we are standing up to speak for – a political party or the people cutting across party lines?
Agnes Kharshiing herself got to step into Irene Hujon’s moccasins as President CSWO when the latter contested the assembly elections in 2008. The argument then was that CSWO is apolitical so if the President is entering politics then she should hand over the baton to the next non-political person in the Organisation. Why is the same operating procedure not applied in the case of Agnes? Whether or not you contest an election, if you are in a political party you are “political” and partisan at that. Where is the fairness here? But I guess such things happen because every civil society leader holds the organization under a tight leash and does not want to be unseated. So what is so different about these civil society leaders and the politicians they so vociferously castigate? The Late Debakanta Baruah, a subservient Congressman once said, “India is Indira and Indira is India.” The same can be said of Agnes Kharshiing. She is CSWO and CSWO is her. None of her meek camp followers would dare challenge her. So we are actually looking at NGOs here that don’t have elections and who continue to rule the roost for to perpetuity. Normally if elections are held the media gets to hear of them especially since some organizations virtually have media persons eating out of their hands. To me this lack of transparency in the manner of functioning of organizations and the absence of internal critiquing is the biggest “Ullu Banaoing” exercise that we have allowed self-styled leaders to play with us.
And now enter the HNLC into the vacuum created by politicians who, like Nero, play the fiddle while Meghalaya’s border burns. In so many years why have we not built up a special border protection force which is trained to take on the cantankerous Assam Police? Or to protect our people in the borders from forces that have been unleashed on unsuspecting villagers. I am pretty sure that this is a carefully made ploy of a certain minister of Assam. Unfortunately the State is now left orphaned with the Chief Minister and all his senior colleagues travelling the length and breadth of the country to campaign for the Congress and spending more time in Delhi than in managing the affairs of the State at this critical juncture. Dr Sangma is a cool customer and at the worst of times unwilling to admit his errors of statesmanship but it is time he manages the affairs of the State first before digging in his heels to save a terminally ill patient – his Party, the Congress which, has done incalculable harm to the nation in these last ten years. How can anyone with grey matter dismiss the scams and misdemeanours of the UPA-2? We would have to be deaf and blind to do so. So let’s stop the Ullu Banaoing game here and now. We the people have to get real and demand answers from those who lead us be they “activists” of the blended variety (politics & activism) or hard core politicians. Enough is enough!