By Toki Blah
The other day I had taken my grandson for an outing to Wards lake. As we watched the pleasure seekers rowing and paddling their boats along the placid waters of the lake, it suddenly struck me that I was watching the parody of Meghalaya politics being replayed right there before my eyes. Another election is staring us in the face and politicians are gearing up for it. They are busy pushing and displaying their respective boats (read political parties) to the electorate. We are expected to board such boats to be rowed to our destiny. Only trouble is that the political boats have, for the last 45 years, been going round and round; in ever despairing circles; going simply nowhere and this writeup is all about 45 years of Meghalaya politics! The nursery rhyme ‘Row ,row, row your boat, merrily down the stream’ comes to mind. Only in our case the rowers have no idea where they want to go. Their only desire – to row the boat; they know not where nor do they care; satisfied to row in circles; rowing only within the placid waters of their own small lakes; the larger deeper challenging waters of the outside world, that call for a vision and a road map, are shunned. The state continues with its slow circular boat ride to nowhere. Meghalaya is stuck!
The 2018 Meghalaya Assembly elections are coming. What do they mean to the common man? If one were to by the declaration of our politicians and pressure groups, the need is for change. Beautiful! Spot on! Only trouble with this political perception of change is that it is strictly limited to a change of guard; a change of faces. The current Govt is to be replaced by a new dispensation, thats all. Aside from that, status quo will remain. Corruption will continue; vision for the future a non starter; wasteful MLA schemes will continue; non productive posts of chairmen, vice chairmen will continue. The environment will continue to be abused by unscientific mining and mal governance will still be a priority. To cap it all this change of guard theory is suppose to be the panacea for the common mans troubles. Let it happen and alls well with the world. Most disturbing is the fact that most politicians openly subscribe by this theory. The Meghalayan electorate is seen as a dumb, mute, illiterate non thinking entity that will enthusiastically swallow the above piffle. The author with all humility begs to differ from such an arrogant and brainless perspective and has no hesitation in declaring that such a preposterous suggestion is designed simply to protect a morally corrupt and intellectually bankrupt political system! It has nothing to do with the welfare and wellbeing of the state and its people.
So what do the coming elections really signify? If the truth be told they are an opportunity for the people of Meghalaya to elect leaders who will serve and lead the state and the people. Nothing more nothing less! The problem however lies in the choice of leadership available. Going by media reports, every street corner has a potential leader just waiting to be elected. Such leaders share three common traits. Firstly they are there to save the people. From what, God only knows. Secondly, they are there to preserve tradition and culture. Outdated District Councils therefore need to be protected. Thirdly, these leaders represent a paradox. They are people who swear by the past as they see the future as dark, gloomy and uncertain. Change for them is dangerous. Yet in the very same breath they promise to bring in a rosy future (lawei ba phyrnai). How, has never been logically explained and they represent the very antithesis of visionary leadership, but unfortunately they still manage to form the majority of those returned to power. (People might belong to different parties but they think alike).
The State Assembly also has other types of elected representatives. These unfortunately are increasing by numbers with every election. This class of MLAs comes with no ideology, no vision and no sense of commitment to anyone but themselves. They come with one singular objective – to further their personal business interest by capturing power in Government. The intention is the unscrupulous exploitation of public funds for personal gains. To achieve their objectives they invest heavily to get themselves elected. Money and muscle power are freely employed to mobilise votes in their favour. It generally ensures victory at the polls. An octogenarian President of a National Party has lovingly called such mal practitioners as ‘Winnable Candidates’. He encourages their entry into politics. Their increasing presence in the Assembly and in the Government has played havoc with the Governance of the state. Meghalaya continues to slide downhill primarily because such people have been encouraged to see themselves as leaders. The 2018 Assembly polls might see an increasing number of such people who will enter the political arena because it has become a market for the highest bidder. The darker side of mercenary politics might still have some nasty surprises for us all.
We have contended above that the emotional call to save the community from some vague unidentified danger, is still considered a vote catcher. When danger is presented it invokes fear and fear is then used to drive the electorate. Danger compels us to build barricades and defences. It calls for confrontation rather than cooperation. Danger is the wrong use of terminology. Actually there is no danger to the community. Instead there are ever increasing challenges for us to overcome. Challenge calls for building bridges of opportunity instead of barricades and defensive walls. Change is a challenge not a threat. The challenge exists to replace old useless institutions with new workable ones. The challenge to bring in new relevant technology becomes a livelihood priority. The biggest challenge before Meghalaya however is the ability to elect leaders who can serve rather than exploit the people. This is the greatest challenge we face and we need new thinking and a new vision on how to overcome it. 2018 is the opportunity to bring forward these changes.
The 2018 polls will call for a paradigm change in our perception of leadership. The profile of a good person who distributes money and goodies at election time will have to be substituted with that of a criminal out to steal and rob us and our children of what is rightfully ours. We will now have to call a spade a spade. Civil society, NGOs, traditional bodies and faith based organisations will have to gear themselves and rally together to spread the message of redemption to the electorate. So far they have remained silent; they have ignored the porblem because of their loyalty to the dispensers of free money. Their silence has resulted in the rot and decay in our system of governance and directly damaged and harmed the very society these organisations profess to uphold. We all have a duty before us – to challenge a corrupt and dishonest political system. We need to expose and ridicule the merchants of mercenary politics however mighty and powerful they might be. Force the political parties to setup candidates who will serve the people not setup looters of the public exchequer. This is our only chance to bestow our children with the future they deserve. We can no longer afford to go round in circles. Elect leaders who will help steer the state with a vision for the next 50 years. 2018 is the opportunity, let us not waste it.
(The author is President, ICARE)