By H H Mohrmen
Slavery is familiar term to the Khasi Pnars, or at least to the Pnars of the Jaintia hills. In the past the Pnars did have a tradition called ‘chong-bro’ which literarily means stay as a slave or becoming a slave of a certain family. A person mostly a boy’s service was bartered with goods. It could be a sack of rice or sometimes even animals in exchange for a service for a period of time. And once the contract was agreed upon the individual became a slave but the only difference is that slavery in the Pnar context is not for life. Slavery in the context of the Pnar is usually a contract for a certain period of time and after the time of the contract lapses the person is released often with blessings from his former owners. Slavery is one of the evils of human kind that the modern world has been able to get rid of. Sadly, in Meghalaya despite our political and religious freedom, mental slavery still persists in our state. We may think that we are free but as is obvious from the many bandhs and strikes called by pressure groups, our freedom is denied to us by the organizers of these bandhs and strikes. There are many bandhs and strikes than we care to count, called by numerous organizations and all the strikes have been successful. The question is why do we reluctantly observe these bandhs without questioning?
Dr Robert Scotts Gassler a professor of economics who spent a year doing voluntary teaching at a school in Jowai, while speaking at a meeting organized to bid him farewell remarked that it was a challenge trying to organize one’s teaching schedule in place like Jowai. It is a challenge because out of the blue the schools can have an unscheduled holiday because of a strike. These spur-of-the-moment holidays are upsetting because whatever they have planned for weeks or months can suddenly go haywire if a pressure group decides to organize a protest. These strikes have adverse impact on the academic life of the learners; their lessons are disrupted and more importantly they lose the day’s learning which they will never be able to regain. Yet we obey these bandhs unquestioningly. It was the second time that I travelled despite a bandh called by NGOs and I defied the October 2nd bandh called by the HNLC too. I do not respect bandhs because I think they infringe on my right to disagree and my fundamental right to move freely as a citizen of this country. But before that, on October 1st my wife suggested that I make a black flag because we were due to travel to Shillong the next day which coincided with the bandh called by the HNLC. I disagreed because I intended to travel despite the day being a bandh as a mark of protest not only because the bandh was undemocratic but also because it denies a section of the population their right to freely worship and celebrate an important festival. Besides, the organizer of the bandh also does not provide those who are against it the opportunity to air our voices against what we consider undemocratic and illegal. I travelled despite the bandh not only because I am against the organization(s) but most importantly because it was my way of protesting against the bandh culture that is eating away the vitals of this state even while the majority of the State complied with the bandh without asking any questions.
The media is also to blame for thrusting the bandh culture in the state. They allow the pressure groups and militant organizations of every hue and colour to use them as the mouthpiece of the organization without asking any questions. It seems like all kinds of media in the state are competing among themselves to publicize any information from the organization particularly from the militants. Questions can be asked as to why the media gives so much importance to an email or a facebook account of a person whose identity they don’t even know. Or how can the media trust a person whose presence even in the cyber world is on a fake identity? But the most important question is why the media never questions who the militant outfit represents. Or at least what is the strength of the organization and who are their leaders? Right now HNLC is represented in the cyber world only by one fake entity ‘Sainkupar Nongtraw’ and everybody even the press knows this is a fake entity, yet so much importance is given to a person who has no identity. Isn’t it true that press publicizes all bandhs and strikes called by the HNLC based simply on the emails and facebook post of this fake identity? Did the press at any point of time ever even try to verify the press statement(s)? Or is there any other source(s) to verify the organization’s statement? Or is the HNLC becoming a one man show now? Did the press even ask any question about the group before giving them publicity? Media is like air to these organizations. They will die a natural death if the press does not give them the platform. Hence the onus is also on the press to prove the organisations’ existence. If the press collectively checks these organizations which thrive on media space only, these organizations will be like fish out of water and they will not survive even for a nanosecond without the media. But by giving the group(s) undue publicity without even confirming the strength, the objective or even the existence of the organization, the media is partly to blame for enslaving the state to the bandh culture. By carrying unconfirmed or one-sided reports, it has only helped create fear in the minds of the people, thereby mentally enslaving people to the bandh culture.
The Government is also to blame for the bandh culture in the state, because it has failed on its duty to protect the rights of the people to move freely. In the recent bandh the citizens’ right to worship and celebrate religious festivals was jeopardized. Has the Government done anything to stop the bandh culture in the state? Is it not true that Government’s double standards in treatment of pressure groups which called bandhs has only encouraged them to organize more bandhs? The government is yet to take any legal action against the Movement of Indigenous People Right and Livelihood (MIPRL) in spite of the fact that properties both private and public were damaged and two precious lives were lost due to the strike called by the organisation. In a way the Government also encourages pressure group(s) to organize bandhs; hence it is also party to the enslavement of the people of the state to the bandh culture. Initially even Government officials welcome bandhs as additional day off, but now that has changed. Government employees have realized the adverse impact of bandhs on their performance and the development of the State. But this change of heart is little too late because the bandh culture has become a mental bondage that enslaves the minds of the people. It became a success because it was initially supported by government employees. The public are also to be blamed for the state of affairs. How many of us ever question the organization that calls a bandh? What is the HNLC? What does it stand for? Who are the organisation’s leaders? Who is the chairman and who is currently the chief of the HNLC? Nobody knows. Many a times we do not even ask why a bandh is called. Just because the press has carried a story that there is bandh on a certain day, everybody readily accepts it as gospel without asking any question. We blindly believe the press and with a media that does not even question about the organization that called the strike we are becoming like the blind following the blind. The bandh culture is making us afraid of the unknown. Fear of the unknown is a dangerous situation to be in because it makes us mental slaves. People who visited bereaved families had to put black flags on their vehicles because they are afraid. Afraid of what? This fear of the unknown turns us into slave of our own making. Nobody has put us on sale; no one has ever made us stand on the platform in the market with a price tag around our necks. We, by our own choice have sold our courage, our principles and put our souls on sale. It is time that we liberate ourselves from this mental slavery and protest against bandhs by defying bandhs. It is time we reclaim our rights and freedoms as guaranteed in the Constitution.