By HH Mohrmen
Reports in the vernacular papers which appeared the day after his supporters felicitated Pynshngain N Syiem, the CEM of KHADC compared him to Syiem Tirot Sing the great chieftain of Hima Nongkhlaw, without substantiating why they did so. It is said that comparisons are odious. In this case the comparison is preposterous. While u Tirot Sing was a well known figure in the history of the freedom movement in the country in general and the state in particular, questions may be asked as to who is P N Syiem? By comparing him to the great chieftain we are also compelled to ask as to what extraordinary contribution P N Syiem has made to the state or even to his own constituency that he can be placed on the same footing as the Syiem of Hima Nongkhlaw?
U Tirot Sing gave up his life for the freedom of his hima (chieftainship) but what has P N Syiem done to deserve that honour to be placed on the same pedestal as U Tirot Sing? Are we not belittling the only Khasi hero we have? Did PN Syiem make any sacrifice worth mentioning? He did not sacrifice anything; in fact it was the other seven MLAs who had sacrificed their respective MDCs seats to usher in a new system which prohibits public representatives holding two offices of profit. The credit goes to the seven legislators who had responded to their conscience and sacrificed their seats for the sake of a better and brighter future.
It is a known fact that PN Syiem enjoys the twin benefits of being both MLA and MDC and that he is also the CEM of the Council, which means he also enjoys all the perks of the office of CEM. Now the question is whether he even sacrificed a small portion of the benefits from the two offices he holds, with the public. Or if he at all made any sacrifice, how much of his income did he share with the people of his constituency? Leave aside the MLA and the MDC schemes which the constituency is entitled to, we are talking about the two salaries that he enjoys. Did he even share that with his constituents? If he is giving away part of the that benefits he enjoys with the public, perhaps we can call that a small sacrifice, but when he still keeps to himself all the benefits, except the MLA and MDC local area development scheme then that is not a sacrifice. That is giving to the people what rightfully belongs to them!
One newspaper even had a screaming headline which praised PN Syiem for having the courage to challenge the Meghlaya Pradesh Congress Committee and stating that he is one hero who can be compared to Tirot Sing. Have they forgotten that many politicians before him had challenged the MPCC? In my humble opinion the likes of RG Lyngdoh have achieved more than PN Syiem, yet no one compares him to any great personality let alone giving him the title of u Tirot Sing the second or the third. If by simply challenging the MPCC then the person is entitled to the honour of the title of u Tirot Sing then rest assured we will have a long list of such people because many more politicians will rebel against the party as the election approaches.
PN Syiem has only indulged in empty rhetoric without achieving anything and people still worship him as hero. A section of his cronies even claimed that since he is the only one who dares to challenge Dr Mukul Sangma then he is a hero. Patricia Mukhim challenges the Chief Minister almost on a regular basis through her writings. That does not make her a hero or a heroine, does it? The two main contestations between the Chief Minister and the CEM are the issue of office of profit and the Village Administration Bill (VAB). The court has vindicated his stand and on the former and the latter is not in the hands of the state Government. Hence it is imprudent to blame the CM for it. If Syiem has succeeded in anything at all then that is making those who hate Dr Sangma hate him more. Dr Sangma was his punching bag and he blamed everything on him, but isn’t it true that Syiem is only being used as a stooge by somebody who has an axe to grind? Just because he routinely makes veiled verbal attacks against Dr Sangma does not make him a hero. Every responsible editor or columnist considers it their duty to challenge the powers that be because that is how functional democracy works. They are at least objective in their approach and do not let hate or even emotions play any role in their decision making or distort their objectivity.
Yes, we agree that all politicians play with public emotions, but there should be a limit to it especially if one considers himself a contender to be the hero of the community (jaitbynriew). One would expect PN Syiem to stop or at least correct the speaker who compares him to U Syiem Tirot Sing or who called him u Tirot Sing the second in that meeting itself, but no such thing happened. This means that he not only enjoys being called so but he legitimises the claim and by not correcting the speaker. Thereby he belittles the sacrifices made by u Tirot Sing Syiem. Syiem is basking in false glory by bringing down the stature of the Syiem of Hima Nongkhlaw who is remembered for his resistance against British rule.
The other pertinent question is also about the credentials of a person or the speaker, who in the meeting compared PN Syiem to the great chieftain. Is he any kind of a scholar who has done a study on the life of Tirot Sing that he has the authority compare the KHADC CEM with him? Is he somebody who really knows about Tirot Sing? If not, why did the media lap up his statement so unquestioningly? If such type of unfounded statements make it to the front pages of newspapers then what does this say about our media? Can the press (without any questions asked) carry a serious and unsubstantiated statement like that made by any Tom, Dick and Harry?
And by the way the honour of being u Tirot Sing is not a kind of a race or competition that people will compete and then they will subsequently be given the second, the third position and etc. This is the hounour that u Tirot has earned for himself and there will be no second or third but one u Tirot Singh Syiem the one and only chieftain of Hima Nongkhlaw. As for the pretender PN Syiem, let us leave it to history to decide if he is indeed a hero of the community. My fear is that rather than being remembered as a hero, he will be recalled as the last of the politicians to enjoy two offices of benefits at the same time and that is some kind of history that no one in his/her right mind would like to leave for posterity.