By Aiborlang Nongsiej
The father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘There is enough for everyone’s needs but not for everyone’s greed.’ It is very unfortunate for the 46 year old state of Meghalaya, to hear politicians pointing fingers at one another at the slow pace of development in the state. Of course, as an educator I do understand the language of the politicians during the election campaign. However, as the election is approaching it is the duty of us common citizens to make them realize their fundamental duties when they capture the seats as rulers or law makers in the State Legislative Assembly or in the Parliament. It is interesting to hear similar ideas and issues being repeated in most of the election campaigns but which are never fulfilled till date. For the last two elections (2008 and 2013) similar issues and agenda were repeated by the candidates. Someone rightly said that politicians are people who promise to build bridges even when there is no river.
Since 21st January 1972, when Meghalaya became a full-fledged state until date it is still lagging behind in infrastructure, roads, cleanliness, education, and health. At the same time it is shameful for the state not to have it own Legislative Assembly building till date. 46 years are over and the golden jubilee of statehood is approaching but where is the State Assembly building? We the citizens of Meghalaya are happy, if at all the money sanctioned for making the State Assembly were to be used for the development of the state, but sad to say that even in terms of development we are far behind compared to the rest of the states. We the voters have trusted the politicians but till date these promises are unfulfilled. Sorry to point out the reality about our politicians, but I feel this is the best time to wake them up.
I was surprised when reading the different newspapers especially the report of your paper (ST 14 Feb, 2018) about the election campaign of the former Union minister Agatha K. Sangma who stated that, the failure of the state government in bringing development in the state has pushed her to return to politics. Moreover, she added that, South Tura cannot develop with just an MLA scheme of Rs 2 crores. Even though I do not favour any political party yet as a concerned citizen of Meghalaya I can’t digest such statements from the former MP who was once had the privilege of being a union minister in the central government. I am not against her but I just want to question what she as a young politician was doing for Meghalaya particularly for Tura constituency when she was the Union Minister? Where was the MP scheme in her tenure if MLA scheme is not enough for Tura? Why is she realizing only now that the state government is failing in all spheres such as health, education, road condition, and infrastructure? I am sure that these issues are also the same when she was in alliance with the UPA government in the centre, and so, why was she closing here eyes to these issues when she was an MP? Likewise there are so many politicians who long to bring development but never make it happen while they occupy the seat as MP or MLA.
Having travelled and stayed in most states in Northeast India I feel ashamed at the low literacy rate in Meghalaya compared to other states like Mizoram, Tripura and Nagaland. In bringing education to the state I salute the missionaries who worked heart and soul leaving their own comfortable countries, to spread education in our region. Several times I used to reflect, why our state literacy is very low in spite of Shillong city being the educational hub of Northeast India. For all these lacunae I blame our politicians who never foresee the development of education in the state. It is surprising to see that books keep on changing but the syllabus and the contents of the books are almost the same, just cut and paste. We continue to point fingers at one another and one party condemning the other party especially during elections. As a result nothing is done for the state.
We believe that this coming assembly election of 2018 will bring many changes in developing the state, however, we detest any move to disrupt the religious practices, tradition and culture of the people. Frankly speaking we are not happy with any party that works with the religion as an agenda be it a national party or a regional party because the preamble of the Constitution of India plainly declares India as a secular state and the Fundamental rights Art. 25-28 speak clearly that any Indian citizen is free to follow any religion because India has no state religion. I mention this because of the anti-minority stances of some right wing fundamentalists and the attack on some of the churches recently in Bangalore as reported by the different news channels especially CNN IBN. According to the news report the attack on the churches is led by the Bajrang Dal, who are Hindu fundamentalists. Therefore, any party that comes to power in Meghalaya must work entirely for the development of the state and not interfere with any religion that the people follow or believe in at present.
As far as my knowledge is concerned, most of the candidates for the upcoming election in our state have also been MLAs in the past. This make me surprised at the way they are canvassing for the election and blaming each other for not bringing the development in the state, while they are have been in the hot seats in the past. As a result, who do we blame for the lack of development in the state of Meghalaya, be it the road conditions, infrastructure, health, water problem and many other social issues. At the same time the voters should be prudent enough to vote for the right candidate, or else these same issues will be repeated in the next state election 2023. We the common people are also surprised to hear the same politicians, since the last two or three state elections promising to bring change in the state if voted to power. Five years are over but where are those changes? At the same time the BJP has placed a beautiful quotation around the city, ‘Time for change, time for BJP’. Though the BJP has is using all ways and means to form a government in Meghalaya, but frankly speaking from where will the change come if the leading BJP candidates like AL Hek, JA Lyngdoh, Robinus Syngkon, Sanbor Shullai who were sitting MLAs but have done nothing for the state.
Having said so, I am not against any party and Article 19 of the Indian constitution assures of our freedom of speech. Hence, as a concerned citizen I wish to make my voice heard after having had several conversation with my friends. Lastly my wish and prayer for the state is that any party that comes to power must fulfill the promises made and work for the growth and development of the state in all spheres.