By HH Mohrmen
Like every other years that has gone by and the years to come, this year too is no different. It has been both good and bad. And at the fag-end of the year and the threshold of the New Year, with the benefit of the hindsight we can only look back and reminiscence of the time gone by.
In the state of Meghalaya, 2018 started with fun and fervour because election to the state Assembly was round the corner. Then as expected after the February election, the outcome was a fractured mandate and the only option was a coalition government. The National Peoples’ Party (NPP) under the leadership of its national president formed the government which is supported by the BJP and the three regional parties. Christened the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) the government started on a high note with people expecting the new government led by a young, suave and savvy leader would deliver. Unfortunately, now that the government has been in power for nearly nine months the public is yet to see the common minimum program that the coalition partners have promised.
The MDA government is therefore working without a roadmap as every minister is given a carte blanche by the Chief Minister. Of course the government can claim that within a few months of being in power, it was able to come out with a State Education Policy. But what use is the Policy if the teachers have to strike work every time because they are not paid regularly. And what change can a Policy bring if LP school buildings in the villages are in a dilapidated condition and basic infrastructure is lacking in the schools? Education policy without motivated teachers and basic school infrastructure is like a body with an unhealthy soul and a weak mind.
The 2018 election outcome is that there is a general consensus across party lines that money has played a major role in the election Some even said that this has corroded the moral fabric of the society. Money has indeed had a big influence in the last election and this can be seen from the fact that candidates organised election rallies are estimated to cost a bomb.
The election also ushered in a new era in Meghalaya politics with the rise of several political dynasties in Meghalaya. The state not only witnessed the rise and rise of the two Sangma dynasties in the Garo hills region of Meghalaya, but there is also the Dhar family which have won three out of four seats they have contested. And of course another dynasty in the making is the father-son duo of Charles Pyngrope David Nongrum.
The next issue that had hit the headlines of newspapers in the state for quite some time was the Punjabi lane or Them Iewmawlong imbroglio. The skirmish between few people had unfortunately escalated and took a different turn, leading to a serious law and order situation in the state. This was then followed by the clash between the police and the mob which also brought a bad name to Shillong in particular and Meghalaya in general.
The issue compelled the Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to send few Congress MLAs to meet Chief Minister Conrad Sangma. Manjit Singh Rai, member of the National Commission for Minorities also visited the state to assess the situation. Before that, Mohinderjit Singh member of the United Sikh Organisation led a five member delegation to meet the Home Minister, James Sangma to take stock of the situation.
The High Level Committee which was instituted after the conflict is yet come up with a proposal to solve this chronic problem, once and for all. Instead it was reported that the Punjab government has sanctioned rupees sixty lakhs as compensation to the victims affected by the conflict.
The other issue which has captured the eyeballs of the people in Meghalaya was the Bill introduced by the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council. The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) (Second Amendment) Bills, 2018 which is an amendment of the Khasi Social Custom lineage Act passed by the KHADC denies a woman who marries a non Khasi-Pnar and her offspring the right to be a Khasi.
The Bill which was hurriedly passed and sent to the governor for assent had to be recalled and passed again in the Council. But the pertinent question is its implementation because it is of course easy to make law,s but difficult to implement and this particular Bill will meet the same fate if at all it is enacted.
This year the State also witnessed interesting twist and turns in its politics. The much hyped story of a man whom the Congress had allegedly dumped into the gutter, was retrieved by the NPP. DD Lapang who had decided not to contest the last election, felt humiliated about the way the Congress treated him and joined the NPP irrespective of the fact that age is catching up with him. Lapang no doubt is a fighter difficult to beat, but the one thing that he will not be able to beat, is time. However he may wish to win over it, his spirit will very soon have to bow down to the dictates of time.
The most interesting of all the political developments in the state, is the story of P.N. Syiem. The Congress leader who earlier quit the party started his own party just before the election and contested the election on the new People’s Democratic Front (PDF) ticket but lost his seat. But in politics nine months is a long time; a lot of things can happen within that short span of time. And before the party could even celebrate its first anniversary, the President and the founder of the party quit the party he founded. On a lighter note, some Facebooker suggested that if ‘PDF’ is not working with PN Syiem, then he should try the MPEG and JPEG format.
Then came the dastardly attack on the two women activists by a group of 30 to 40 people led by leaders of political parties became a cause for concern. The statement of the State NPP President that the Party would take action against the alleged culprit only if the absconding politician is found guilty, is nothing but patronizing crime. WR Kharlukhi must have forgotten the saying in Khasi ‘U nongtuh u phet khlem don ba beh.’
Last but not the least we unfortunately close this year on a sad note. The unfortunate incident at Ksan in the Lyteiñ area under Saipung Block of East Jaiñtia hills District in which an unknown number of people were trapped inside the coal mine caused by the water from river Lyteiñ which flooded the mine, is a sad commentary on the dangers of rat hole mining. This is a major accident waiting to happen. God only knows how many incidents of mine collapse or death of miners due to falling from the more than 200 feet ladder or the case of a miner crushed to death because a steel cart use to lift coal from the depth of the pit to the ground fell on him. Many of these cases were not reported.
If readers of my column would recall, after the NGT ordered the ban on rat hole mining and transportation of coal from Meghalaya, the government came up with an argument that mining in Meghalaya is no longer done vide the rat hole system, which prompted me to counter it by writing an article on the following Monday with a title, ‘A hole by any name still smells a rat.’ The box cutting method is equally or even more dangerous than the rat hole mining and the incident only proves this point.
And like a bolt from the blue Shillong MP Vincent Pala instead of pleading in the August House for the early rescue of the trapped miners and their families, instead argued that the accident is the reason that the government should allow mining to continue without regulations. This is like suggesting that after a major road accident on the highway, the government should instead stop regulating traffic and allow the drivers to drive on their own freewill. Whereas any sane person would understand that we need to make rules and regulations to prevent such incidents from recurring.
It must therefore dawn on the Congress, the NPP and all the regional parties that the only way is to come up with a Mining Policy which will regulate all mining activities. The Government needs to come up with a mechanism which minimises damage to the environment and also ensures the safety of those who are engaged in the activity.