By Aristotle Lyngdoh
The greater challenge for a country, state or a community is when there is a state of lawlessness and lack of good leadership at the top levels of governance. And this is exactly the situation that we are facing today in our Khasi-Pnar society. And who could possibly feel the direct threat and impact of this situation are the innocent citizens who are not politically or materialistically ambitious in life. From various incidences that have happened in the state recently and during the past few years, we see the breakdown of the rule of law and flouting of the law despite many prohibitions that are in place which I need not elaborate. Even though we always stake claims on customary laws that govern our society, they are mostly in oral form lacking the appropriate authority and power of modern jurisprudence. And the fact that the Khasis never had their own scripts is just another analogy to indicate the nature of hesitation of the people to come under any contract law or agreement but to rely solely on the conscience and conduct of the person, which is not suitable for the administration of justice in a modern state.
On the issue of leadership crisis, this is not a new development but is as old as the community itself. The primary reasons are perhaps that the Khasis have migrated to these hills not as a whole bunch of community or tribe but as individual clans in different times and seasons. And if this is the case then obviously there were frequent conflicts and misunderstandings on governance, land for settlement, etc. Hence, in some instances, these problems have percolated to every subsequent generation and its nature is also being inherited by many individuals and groups till date. But the prominent among these was on who should be the in leading roles because all clans are equal in status. Therefore, the most ideal situation is to have a third person to preside over them such as the ‘Chieftain’ or the ‘Syiem’. Thus in most cases the Syiem is always from outside their circle or an outsider.
As a community we have not been able to raise good leaders for the society because we are so divided politically and culturally into various groups of different thoughts and ideologies which is a result of that crisis. And the reason why I am saying this is because I do not see any capable Chief Minister from among the Khasi-Pnar community as of now and in the near future. The root of the problem lies in the fact that people at large have never understood the basic principles and values of leadership. And those who think and see themselves as leaders are relying exclusively on external factors such as finance, qualification and strategies which can be easily acquired but yet are not intrinsic human characters that will define true leadership. Self-styled leaders may be plenty but genuine and systematic leadership comes from the system within. We have therefore failed as a community and the state as a whole in this aspect.
Apart from this traditional nature, another major modern factor that has contributed immensely to this ongoing leadership crisis is the exemption of this topic from the entire educational curriculum. Right from the very inception of our educational system, this issue was perceived as academically irrelevant and unnecessary. The reason I am saying this is because nowhere in the past, during our school and college days have we ever come across the term leadership. And the primary goal of education was and is to get a government job at any cost in any capacity be it technical, clerical, secretarial and teaching as a security for life. Leadership is such a term which is strange and unfamiliar to the learning community during the past generations and in the present as well. Therefore, there is a lack of leadership skills in every department and sector of governance to ignite the mechanism of growth and development. Leadership et al is only learned in other courses of higher studies and prominently in the Management Institutes. Thank God for such institutions that are now available in our state but how many students from the native state are getting the privilege to enroll in these institutions. The CBSE on the other hand has gone much ahead by introducing leadership right from the primary level. This is outstanding because the opportunity to experience and taste the idea, concepts and challenges of leadership should begin from a very early age. Here again we can question the wisdom of our education policy and the competency therein in the mission and vision to shape the lives of our children and the future generation.
Look at the political parties that are functioning in our state and their leaders. Do we have any hope on any of them? They are there only for the sake of power and position during elections and when they lose the elections they just vanish into thin air. I just happened to watch a programme in a local TV channel attended by our Deputy Chief Minister as Chief Guest on the anniversary celebration of one local church where he unfortunately said, ‘Katba nang bun ki balang, katta nang bun ki jingsniew’ (the more churches, the more the crimes). What a silly statement from the Deputy CM! Does he mean to say that churches are propagating crimes? As a responsible person he should have put things the other way round. Just because he is in a position of power he has no authority to define things lavishly. It is here that leadership is also like an image that reflects the entire quality of an individual because a simple statement may ruin and damage the whole community thereby hurting the sentiments of many sincere adherents.
We always blame lack of unity for the sorry state of affairs, but in fact unity is the synchronization of each and every effort where we are all components of that effort. The concept of leadership as perceived by many especially the rural population is the strength of financial muscles. What a pathetic situation when money decides who gets elected and who forms the government. So what can we expect from people who pay money for votes? Nothing much, except that they will do all they can to recover their investment in the next five year.
Therefore, there is an immediate need to inculcate the values and qualities of leadership right from the primary level of schooling in order to build the state and community for the future.