One of the memorable incidents of the procession organised by Synjuk Ki Nongsynshar Shnong Ri Hynniewtrep (SKNSRH) was the provocation by a particular Rangbah Shnong to spit on the effigy of Chief Minister Mukul Sangma before burning it. This act by a group that desires to lead the Khasi society also reveals the politics underlying this entire protest. The slogans on social media have also brought to the fore the Khasi ultra-nationalism which sees the Chief Minister as a Garo who is unfit to lead them because he has not given in to their demands for a grassroots governance mechanism that seeks to exclusively serve a particular ethnic community. The Rangbah Shnong must realise is that the Chief Minister and his cabinet as well as every elected representative swear their allegiance to the Constitution of India. It is their obligation to uphold the Constitution at all times. In the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, amongst the powers given to the district councils is the “Appointment and succession of Chiefs or Headmen.” This power was given 65 years ago when it was considered appropriate to protect the tribal community which was under the rule of a dominant non-tribal Assamese majority. Today things have changed. Meghalaya is a state where the majority population is tribal and where the non-tribal constitutes a minority of 13 %. Any governance system that further excludes the minority and gives the tribals overriding powers to conduct their governance on an exclusivist model at the grass-roots level is constitutionally flawed and not tenable in law. The Meghalaya High Court has perhaps taken this aspect of the Constitution when it struck down the arbitrary powers practised by the Chiefs and Headmen which more often than not intrude into the citizenship rights of the non-tribals. The state government is only trying to correct this anomaly by coming up with a uniform grass-roots administration bill. But this has earned the ire of the chiefs and headmen who see the state government as anti-tribal and the Chief Minister as the leader of the pack. Hence the deplorable incident where the chief minister’s effigy was spat at and burnt – an act unprecedented in the history of Meghalaya!
Spitting involves the expulsion of phlegm in a certain direction. It is considered unhealthy since it can quickly spread germs. In India people spit on chewing betel nuts and betel leaves laced with lime because swallowing the saliva that emerges out of that concoction can send one’s head reeling. But across the world, spitting on a person or his effigy is packed with the power to insult. While punching a person or calling him names can also hurt, spitting retains an offensiveness beyond all other acts of insult. The question to ask is what next? What if the CM refuses to step down as demanded by the SKNSRH since this demand is inherently political? What if he refuses to agree to the KHADC’s Village Administration Bill? What if the recently passed Act on dual posts is not revoked? What will be the next plan of action that is more pungent than spitting? Have the Chiefs and Headmen now attained the statuses of uncontrollable rabble rousers? It looks like we are in for more action from those who claim to safeguard our glorious tradition and its noble value system of basic respect for fellow human beings.