By Babet Sten
In the main news outlets of the state, the length and breadth of almost all the articles/items that are published every day feature one category most prominently: the sengbhalangs or pressure groups. The news worth of these groups is something we must always contest. They generate a lot of materials which are readily covered by our news agencies who have somehow decided that these ‘outfits’ are heroes and rebels with a cause. The truth is they are more Robbing Hoods (pun intended) than anything else. The politics they swear by is the vilest and most retrograde sort that finds similar echoes within the various factions of the Shiv Sena et al. They have consistently shown us that they are not to be trusted. In fact, I imagine that these pressure groups are nothing more than vents for us – the ksan Rympei middle-class – to relieve our pent up angers and frustrations because of our own lack of political agency which in fact is engendered by our fear. We seem to have everything to fear – we fear what our families will say, we fear the Church, we fear political backlashes on our soft office bottoms – and so we have decided somewhere down the line of History to “outsource” problem solving and corrective measures to these people. This is our great sin. The thing about pressure groups is that they have their own agendas. They are like political parties (though they claim otherwise) with separate hierarchies of their own. You can never know why pressure groups take up a cause – is it the cause itself or something deeper that is hidden from the public? Are they really aiding the Jaidbynriew or their sponsors/politician friends? Even though the KSU and their ilk have consistently tried to chase away every single major non-tribal group from Shillong (Assamese, Bengalis, Nepalis, even Chinese) they have remained oddly quiet about doing the same to the merchant class of the city (I am treading dangerous ground here!).
Honestly, that would not be something that I personally desire to see occur – though I do want to see more Khasis in positions of financial or commercial importance. But anyway, let us spill the beans/milk/tungrymbai – it is an open secret that the pressure groups take “khajna” (tax) from the non-tribal merchants/businessmen. My question is not about the legal or ethical ramifications of this, even though they might be the most important considerations to bear in mind. It is a rather simple rational one – these self-styled soldiers of the Jaidbynriew wish to protect the Khasis from non-tribals by taking money from non-tribals? How does that compute? When you pay for something/someone, aren’t you their owner/employer? Maybe it sounds like I am simplifying them and their politics but isn’t that essentially what is happening here? Whenever there has been a threat to the Khasi middle-class in particular the pressure groups have answered the call. They of course draw strength from a whole range of socioeconomic backgrounds (rich and poor, rural and urban) but they have been their most ferocious when it comes to backing the claims of the middle-class. When the Assamese and Bengali dominated politics and middle-class occupations, they answered. When the Nepalis wanted space and a louder voice, the sengbhalangs answered the bourgeois clarion. Those who can afford to pay them “protection money” (mafia lingo) have been accommodated. That is the bottom line! The police know it, the government knows it. Everyone knows it but no one does anything about it. Maybe this newspaper can offer a cash reward to expose this extortion racket in an investigative ‘sting’ operation? If you look at these three resources: limestone, coal, uranium. Why is it only the last that is opposed? Of course, it is more dangerous and less stable to handle, we hear from experts. But I claim, that the reason for these pressure groups taking up the fight against uranium mining is only because it is a “strategic resource” i.e. out of (middle-class) tribal hands, that is, very little of the vast sums of money that it could generate will ever flow into their pockets. They have been very quiet about the massive pollution and devastation caused by coal and limestone mining – “wat tuklar ia ja kpoh jong kiwei (don’t interfere with how people earn their rice/living)” they scold back. I wonder what would happen if more plump and wealthy Khasis from Shillong got behind uranium mining. The disease of the sengbhalangs is infectious. They have exported their brand of hate and venom into other spheres of public life as well. Many of our ‘great’ political stalwarts (I use the term humorously) arose from the furnace fires of the sengbhalangs. They are probably trained to lie and steal within those training grounds. How can we trust politicians who, in their youth, were part of any organization that extort and, on occasion, murder people? This isn’t some castebelt in UP or elsewhere. Many are very proud of their past memberships as though it is a sign in their political resume that they are better suited for the job. Every once in a while, they say the most horrible racist, sexist, ahistorical things from public platforms but no one bats an eyelid: such is life in this “love thy neighbour” society. Look, I do think that right now, more than ever, we need politicians who are riew madan(who have experience in activism, community organizing) not officertypes who have no touch with reality, but it seems to me that instead of challenging power, pressure group leaders subscribe to a certain vision which is not that different from that of their opponents. This is apparent. In trying to challenge the “legitimate” sources of authority which can be corrupt, arrogant and destructive, they imitate a similar hierarchy outside the main system. The point being to open up the circuits, to open up democracy further; in fact our reliance on the sengbhalangs is undemocratic and exclusive. Jaidbynriew politics has failed to produce any results. Our society is stagnant, our villages fearful and superstitious. It is a bleak picture and this brand of politics has contributed to it. Into this already corrupt and nepotistic state, we have flung in fear and loathing. It is the easiest thing in the world to divide people and vilify differences especially when they are all clambering for the same resources. Instead of critiquing class and other paradigms within the Khasi society as the sources of oppression, these fools run around quarrelling over someone’s “race”. They refuse outright to see anything wrong within the Khasi society and therefore cannot fix anything. They instead train our crosshairs on the other “nuisances” which crowd our streets, that threaten to enter our homes, our wombs. We may be protesting about how dangerous Donald Trump is for the world but we should listen closely to how his words have similar voices here. What will these thugs do about the awful unemployment levels among the state’s youths or general poor conditions of employment they have to endure? Nothing, of course! Khasis after all dominate middle-class occupations so no amount of bandhs or rallies against outsiders can resolve that one. This can only be solved with the creative involvement of various fronts especially government. The sengbhalangs cannot use the Jaidbynriew card for such situations which are perhaps the gravest and most dire problems besetting the Khasi people today. The Jaidbynriew card is almost exhausted. (The writer is a research scholar, JNU)