By Patricia Mukhim
To say that Meghalaya society is today experiencing a societal tsunami is an understatement. On the one hand are those who have craftily introduced metaphors of tradition into politics and packaged it to look like governance, ‘as it was in the good old days.’ In a clever yet manipulative manner, the Khasi’s fear of the ubiquitous other is now conflated into a demand for an exclusive form of governance ostensibly to protect the exclusive Khasi identity. This unique Khasi identity and the threat to it from non-Khasi, non-tribal ‘others,’ has been the fulcrum around which the politics of this state has revolved.
On the other hand, the carefully constructed ‘other’ is what has financed politics in Meghalaya since its creation. Was any election post 1972 won purely on the merit of the candidate? So what was it that helped win elections? Did money play a big role? How many tribals had the money then to splurge on politics? Was it not the business class which is largely non-tribal with the financial clout that finally invested money to ensure that those who would provide them the economic space they enjoyed were elected and re-elected? If that is not the case then why did we hear stories (that were only whispered for fear of retribution), that before every election, the non-tribal business class would be summoned for a special meeting to solicit/demand their support? So did the non-tribals actually have a dedicated vote bank? Perhaps some had. They include those we pejoratively refer to as ‘sweepers’ (Mazhabi Sikhs) and who our politicians (in whose constituencies they reside) rub shoulders with only a fortnight before elections and treat with disdain at other times. The other non-tribals were merely taps from which money flowed and which money sustained the month long election campaigns.
Let me be candid here. I have yet to encounter a Khasi or non-tribal who did not have a motive while financing politicians. The motive is clear – after the elections they want all the major businesses/ contract works to come their way. Earlier there were few Khasi business magnates. Now they have grown and that space is therefore contested. Hence the non-tribal business person is slowly losing clout.
The Khasi businessman/woman however is one of a kind. Those who have observed them would agree that they don’t believe in long term investments. They will only invest in ventures with short gestation periods and will take short-cuts to arrive at that objective. The sense of philanthropy is absolutely missing. The idea of doing ethical business or of creating durable public assets out of profits made is alien to the Khasi mindset, as it has become to the non-tribal today. Earlier the non-tribals community in Shillong donated generously towards hospital construction, schools etc. Now that philanthropy has dried up. Why?
This is because prior to 1972 the non-tribal thought he had a future in this place where his forefathers had arrived from (the far western regions of Rajasthan, Sind etc) to settle and do business in. Today he knows it is useless to invest in public infrastructure since he has no stake in the state. His earnings from here are invested in real estate elsewhere – a second home as it were should violence recur. A person without a stake in a place develops an antipathy and detachment and tends to exploit the place. A non-tribal born and brought up here might wax eloquent about how he misses Shillong but it’s an imagined emotion, romanticised and linked to the imagery of the place as he knew it then- before the rude violence of 1979 – 1992. The moment he is jolted to reality he knows that life is never the same in idyllic Shillong. There are no avenues for income generation. Employment in the government sector is all but sealed and the idea of having a home in this place is a dream that was killed by the Meghalaya land Transfer Act. Ironically this Act is absolutely impotent, a dud in fact, when it comes to protecting the legacy of the poor Khasi who is today landless (being landed today means having some document to claim your inheritance either from the community or the person you brought land from if you could afford to). So when people contest the latest socio-economic survey that shows 76% of rural Meghalayans as landless by retorting that not having land documents does not mean not having land, may I ask anyone if they can lay claim to any land without documents?
Now coming to the crux of the matter, in their enthusiasm to protect themselves the Khasis have alienated all others from the shared vision of a Meghalaya that is pluralistic and inclusive and where every citizen enjoys equal rights with responsibilities. Alas! Today there is a huge section of non-tribals (migrants) whose own identity is in a flux and whose idea of citizenship is ambiguous. They are the new vote banks of Meghalaya. The Khasis thought they had scared off ‘the aliens’ (mynder) since 1979 but what they succeeded to so was to chase out the best brains (gentry) including some of the best doctors, lawyers, college and university teachers, all of whom had added their expertise to enhance the quality of life here. No religious group at that time came forward to protect those who had to leave their hearths and homes, sell off everything overnight and run for their lives. Some who survived carry the scars and are now in a comfortable position to strike back. What goes around does come around.
Then there is the case of the non-tribals who still live here but know in their hearts that in the order of things today and perhaps in the emerging Meghalaya they will always be third class citizens. I would be understating the problem if I said that they have got on with their lives and that the worst is over. It is not. The non-tribals who suffered then and their children now, do carry a persecution complex. They see themselves as victims of a system in a country that promises every citizen equality before the law. To those who see the Sixth Schedule as some kind of a ‘unique’ law to protect the Khasi and his inheritance, those who are non-scheduled are also equivalent to non-citizens and their claim to justice and equity is tenuous. Ironically the Sixth Schedule is touted as the Law that should allow callous exploitation of minerals and murderous quarrying. – murderous because it has killed our forests and rivers. Because of the Sixth Schedule some tribals (the wealthy) are more equal than others while the non-tribal is a non-citizen.
It is in this context that the recent display of bravado by the RSS cadres in Shillong seems to have been taken as an encroachment into an otherwise comfortable place for the Khasi (Christian) gentry. The rise of Hindu nationalism is attributed by Jyotirmaya Sharma (Hindutva: Exploring the idea of Hindu Nationalism) and others to the perception that Hinduism as defined by Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Dayananand etc was tolerant, benign, reformist, weak and therefore feminine in its attributes while Vinayak Damodar Savarkar saw Hinduism as having little to do with faith. Sharma says, Savarkar politicized religion and introduced religious metaphors into politics. Savarkar evidently pioneered an extreme, uncompromising and rhetorical form of Hindu nationalism in Indian political discourse. His was a life dedicated to the pursuit of a Hindu nation. Sharma’s book recounts how the 12 year old Savarkar led a march of his classmates to a village mosque to revenge the atrocities committed against Hindus during the Muslim-Hindu riots in Bombay and Pune in 1894-95 and earlier in Azamgarh in 1893.
Human history is rife with revenge but very little of reconciliation even though pacifists like Raj Mohan Gandhi and others work relentlessly towards that cause. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh which in English means National Volunteers, models itself on the philosophy of Savarkar. Sharma writes that Savarkar greatly admired the Muslims because for him they represented all that was deficient or missing in the Hindus. He admired the political and religious fervour of Islam. Savarkar believed that the principle of theocratic patriotism was the underlying strength of Muslims. His belief was that all those born in the Indian soil are indigenous to India and hence Hindus. To him all other faiths are non-indigenous implants since they did not emerge from India. Hence the Ghar Wapasi programmes of the Sangh Parivar.
Bhogtoram Mawroh and Albert Thyrniang have elucidated the dangers of the NiamKhasi- Niamtre adherents joining the RSS bandwagon as a bulwark against other organised religions. Frankly speaking, no one raises an eyebrow when Christians shut down all roads because they are taking out a religious procession or are having some evangelistic programmes. No one raises a voice when Christian institutions single out their own for admission into schools and colleges, throwing merit out of the window. Well, there was bound to be a reaction. The NiamKhasi Niamtre followers feel boxed in by the dominant religions. They perceive themselves as victims in states that are labelled as “Christian majority states,” such as Meghalaya. I write this piece as a participant observer of events and not as belonging to any religion. Over the years I realise that faith in God is not what religion is. Religion is excessively loud, obtrusive and exhibitionist in its character, at least in how it is practised here. Do we believe that people don’t get angry when they hear words like ‘pagan’ non-believer and “not born again and therefore destined for hell” narratives drilled into their ears? Food for thought for the pious!
Albert Thyrniang’s was an impassionate attempt to defend the space occupied by Christianity thus far. Mawroh’s was an appeal to the NiamKhasi Niamtre to reflect on their origins and refuse to ride a readymade bandwagon merely to garner political voice. Both have the right to articulate their views and RSS bhakts have no right to intimidate either of them for holding those views. We cannot allow a Taliban like grip on our thoughts and ideas.