Friday, March 29, 2024
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20th century thinking in a blazing 21st century

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Patricia Mukhim

The demonetisation of higher currency notes did not elicit any opinion from any of our elected representatives barring the only mouthpiece of the Government – the Chief Minister. Don’t our  legislators have views on what some have termed a “financial emergency?” Are they with Modi in this assault on black money or do they see only a looming catastrophe? I met two legislators at a popular grocery store in town. Both were shopping there because they could pay by card, but what about their constituents? Silence on critical issues is hardly golden!

Two articles which appeared this week from seasoned political thinkers have created quite a buzz and exposed the uneasy disjuncture between the elected and the voters and we suffer a visceral sense of that sad knowledge. Fabian Lyngdoh analysed the fatal flaw in the Khasi DNA – an imperfection that we have perfected, which is fragmented thinking; the selfish triumphing over the collective good. Lyngdoh also reminded us Khasis that because we were so divisive and petty, we needed someone outside of our tribe to govern us and craft out our political destinies. This is a very sobering reminder that unlike reptiles which constantly shed their old skins and give themselves a new look and a new attitude in their reptilian lives, we haven’t been able to shed our larger than life ego (read PN Syiem, CEM, KHADC, who stated at a public function that not a day passes without him being mentioned in the media). I am not hinting here that we should be self effacing. Ego, as long as it is within the realm of self esteem, is a motivating factor.  Leaders must and should have personality in order to lead. But leading is no cakewalk because it means walking the talk. We see too many gaps between the talk and the walk in our leaders. Hence the credibility gap! Young people are therefore confused about leadership roles!

 Toki Blah ruminated over the leadership vacuum in Meghalaya and the complete lack of vision in politicians who have held the reins of governance, so much so, we cannot recall a single landmark legislation in 45 years, other than the one moved by late MN Majaw, namely the Land Transfer Act which arrested the sale of land to non-tribals. This brings us to the point of leadership. Most politicians are self-styled leaders. Leadership is not bossiness or one-upmanship. Leaders consult and confer because they know that wisdom is not a proprietary asset. Much before Donald Trump emerged, we have seen self – styled leaders of his ilk here who physically assault the powerless and bully their way through. That even urban elites accept that kind of boorish leadership in the heart of Shillong should not make us cringe when a sexist, motor-mouth like Trump now rules the over the most powerful nation. There are, of course, enough people who make concessions for such bullies by saying that they deliver and dole out patronage. If an educated electorate in the heart of Shillong city can make such vacuous arguments then why should we blame the rural voters for electing contractors and wheeler-dealers? And then we expect those to come up with enlightened policies when they cannot even spell the word? But then, even those with doctorates don’t seem to bring to bear their educational attainments when it comes to articulating enlightened policies in education, urban governance, health, the economic roadmap of the state or in envisioning an industrial policy that is transparent, progressive and affirmative and has enough venture funding for budding entrepreneurs as opposed to the one where government is quick to write off the loans of the wealthy.

That large scale corruption built by a nexus of politicians, bureaucrats, engineers and big business continues to thrive is mainly because our education system does not encourage questioning and analytical thinking. The education system we continue to follow and perpetuate is non-liberating and like Noam Chomsky says, helps in manufacturing consent. Whose consent we might ask? Well, while in school, teachers expect compliance. Any student that asks too many questions is censured. In college students don’t bother to question anymore. By the time they reach universities, students simply mimic the thoughts and language of their professors, never questioning the curriculum, the research topics they are asked to take up and the quality of education they are peddled. You realise when you talk to these young people just how shallow their worldview is.  There are of course noble exceptions who would, anyway, stand out from the crowd! Those are essentially products of an encouraging home environment. That some youth manage to find their voices after passing through this crushingly obnoxious sieve of a system is a miracle. This system manufactures thousands of robots year after year whose minds are easily manipulated by rabble rousers. These young people believe it is sacrilege to question government spending on events designed to keep them lulled into a sleep-walk. Meghalaya has thus specialised in what Ravish Kumar of NDTV India fame mocks as ‘Eventocracy.’

Event management is fairly new to our vocabulary. Many young and not so young entrepreneurs are managing events quite well in our city. But when Government gets into event management and contracts event managers only after it has worked out its non-creative action plan then the real event managers are left with little freedom to innovate. So Government imagines that young people here are only interested in fashion, music and film festivals where films are curated by nondescript directors and the Soso Tham auditorium is hardy full. It’s a complete waste of public money that could have gone into activities that nurture creative thinking, debates, discussions and thereby producing thought leaders for this challenging century. That’s what the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs and the Directorate of Information and Public Relations is meant to promote. But you would need equally vibrant minds to lead these Departments, not pedantic file pushers.

Some of these youths whose only forte is rabble rousing and riding on the popular sentiment of saving the great Khasi Jaitbynriew will jump into the political fray come 2018. What can we expect from them? What is their expertise? Have they proven their worth in any other field before joining politics? Have they sharpened their skills in the crucible of grass-roots service to understand that politics is not about feathering private nests? Is politics so commonplace that you need no experience except inciting young, mindless people to quickly flex their muscles over non-issues? And yet these are the kind of people we have elected to occupy the August House and to represent us.   What a sacrilege! Such people therefore don’t understand the nuances of good governance, pro-people policies, accountability, efficiency etc. Neither do they have the political acumen to balance their populist stances with the larger good of the state.

In this grim scenario it is only natural that the likes of Mukul Sangma have emerged as the TINA (there is no alternative) factor. The only guy who had enough spunk and financial wizardry to give Mukul Sangma a run for his money has decided to jump out of the murky pond into the bigger sea where his skills will be put to better use. Conrad Sangma is the only guy we know who can crunch numbers and bite and chew at the budget and completely demystify it. A senior member of the national executive of the BJP astutely commented that the Garo people are much more politically vibrant and progressive. He has already summed up the politics of this state. The Garos know their leaders and despite the occasional squabbles they are, by and large, united for the larger cause. Is it any wonder that we have had many more Chief Ministers from Garo Hills lasting their term than we have in the Khasi Hills?

In Khasi there is a term “hati-saw-kuna” meant to appropriately define a rogue elephant. There are leaders amongst us who are not amenable to becoming followers in the larger cause. Hence repeated attempts to bring regional party unity in order to defeat the Congress, has become a non-starter and a political joke. It started with HS Lyngdoh not wanting his Lion Party to merge with the APHLC and later the UDP. The curse continues and now we might even have one more party started by PN Syiem and his cronies. So while we fight and have our petty bickering others are consolidating their positions. Mark my words, this part of the state will deteriorate even further and its roads will turn into junk yards post 2018 if we have the same set of legislators and the same Congress-led Government. If the voters here vote for a 2000 Re note they are going to have to spend 20 lakhs or more in the next five years as they pay for health services which will degenerate due to the bad roads. And they will have to pay also for the decrepit education and other services. What then is the solution? Those who care would have to sit together overcome differences and push for change.

We need to inject fresh blood into politics and allow more capable and experienced people to lead us. I am sure we can find 60 of such youth from a population of 3 million.

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