Forty seven years ago, the state of Meghalaya was carved out of the composite state of Assam. The demand for statehood was led by ordinary men and women of this state and a few leaders. It was a non-violent movement that lasted several years. What triggered the statehood demand was the passage of the Assam Official Language Bill, 1960, which declared that English and Assamese would be the official languages of Assam. The tribal people felt marginalized by the elevation of Assamese over their own language. Under the banner of the All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC) they started the agitation for a separate state to be created out of the United Khasi & Jaintia Hills and Garo Hills. In 1971, Parliament passed the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganization) Act, 1971, which conferred full statehood on the Autonomous State of Meghalaya on January 21, 1972.
Participants in the statehood movement had genuine aspirations that the leaders who spearheaded the Movement would craft out a roadmap that would kick-start the process of development where the tribals would govern themselves according to their own genius. What merits mention is that the APHLC also included many non-tribal residents of Meghalaya who were part of the Hill State Movement and who genuinely felt that they needed to support the tribes in self-governance. Forty seven year down the line the same non-tribals and their descendants are treated as second class citizens in the only homeland they know. So while the tribes revolted against Assamese chauvinism, forty seven years ago, today they exhibit the same traits over the minorities in Meghalaya. This state can only develop when every citizen is treated with respect and given their due. Tribal chauvinism demonstrated every now and again and which is directed at the “other” is a poor alibi for bad governance. The governance failures we experience cannot be attributed to the “outsider.” This is an internal problem created by an electoral system that rejects capable candidates and elects those with money power. Each time a new government is elected new hopes are raised. The irony is that they expect change from the same set of non-performing politicians whose only objective of being in politics is to further their private businesses.
Statehood Foundation Day is not about celebration. It is about serious stock-taking. The State of Meghalaya cannot progress if its people have fallen between the developmental cracks and are today worse off than they were when Meghalaya was born. Today the human development indices particularly in health and education are nothing to write home about. Malnutrition has increased; so has extreme poverty. Statistics says that 76 % of rural Meghalaya is today landless and voiceless. Common property resources such as water sources, catchments and forests have been appropriated by the affluent tribals. This gives rise to a new set of problems. Unfortunately there is no serious reflection on these key issues. It serves everyone’s interest to blame the ubiquitous “outsider.” But for how long?