By Avner Pariat
The ways by which the rich rob us of our future are numerous and multi-pronged. Everyone is affected in different ways and to different degrees. And the ones that are the most affected by their machinations are the impoverished majority, in particular the rural poor. Why it is then that we have had no outright revolt against these people? Shouldn’t we be appalled by their crimes and sins? Where is the indignant mob when you need one? Oh, I forget: we only lynch poor people. Well, you have to hand it to rich people, they are very clever and they can hide in plain sight. After all, in order to rise to their position, one needs powerful defenses that will shield them from the gaze and barbs of scrutinizers. And the two most powerful tools that any rich person has in their repertoire are the government and the numerous pressure groups.
That government is the plaything of the rich should come as no surprise. Just a casual look-through at the membership of political parties within Meghalaya is enough to prove my point. All of the political parties are tainted by rich people who use them as tools to carve up this state a little finer among themselves. This is not nearly debated enough in our society perhaps because we are always distracted by something that dkhars and other outsiders are doing to us; we, the “perennial victims”. So going on this, it is now my firmest opinion that ILP should be imposed on the entire state. In fact, I am not going to stop there. Let us go further than entry and exit points! Let us expel all the non-tribals from Meghalaya (sorry guys, no hard feelings). After that has been done, maybe then we will know peace and all Khasis shall kiss and hug and love and fondle and squeeze and grope one another in ecstatic euphoria. All our problems will be resolved … Except no, they won’t be. Rich wankers will still control everything BUT at least then we will see things clearly and have no one else to blame but the actual culprits. We might just find out that it is tribal politicians and tribal businessmen, not the alumuri walla and malli who are the biggest threats to our society and its future.
But government is not the only way to control people. Rich people also use a number of non-governmental actors to get their way. Pressure groups and similar organizations like that are used to further vested interests. Every single Pressure Group in Meghalaya has a business man (or a group of business men) “helping” them out. They listen to these moneyed people attentively because one of their salient goals is to ensure that already rich tribal businessmen get more slices of the non-tribal wealth-pie for themselves. The rest of us need no advocacy nor assistance from them because we don’t pay them for their “services” unlike the rich tribal businessmen. Just to be clear, I am of the opinion that lobbying for our tribal products and businesses is a necessary and positive measure, however, if it were up to me I would stand on the side of sustainable and egalitarian practices like those espoused by many cooperatives. I would not be busy running around, trying to ensure that a few Khasi, Jaintia or Garo businessmen profit while the rest of our people are left by the roadside, manually breaking boulders into gravel for under 300 rupees a day, with no holidays ever.
The rich have vampirized our futures and handed us a cancerous shell instead. The manner in which they have converted public property into private has got to be one of the most tragic events in our communal history. Consider how many coal barons made their money in the late 90s and early 2000s. Many of these urban-based brigands already came from positions of comfort and power: many worked in the government, had some professional training or came from trading families. Upon hearing about the emerging coal trade, many of them made their way to Jaintia Hills and there proceeded to exploit the poverty and educational paucity of the villagers by offering them some money for leasing out entire hillsides. Many became millionaires through this manner and made crores from handing over measly sums of money to the actual owners of the land. They exploited the generosity and openness of the villagers, most of whom are still poor, undernourished and uneducated. The terrifying consequence of this has been the privatizing of vast tracts of community land where coal and limestone are found. Do the Pressure Groups protest against this outright abuse and exploitation? No. Because they do not interfere with the “pliang ja jong kiwei” (means of livelihood). As long as the looter is a tribal, there is no problem at all. They have never fought for community ownership and sustainable models for growth. They have always been on the side of the powerful.
With the wealth gained out of the systematic theft of community resources, the rich have been able to shape the economic landscape in more exclusionary ways. They have altered Shillong for the worst by propelling the price of land into such high levels that none but their own ilk can afford to buy. Young people are hard-pressed to find decent and affordable options in the real estate market of the capital city. Speculators have destroyed any chance of a home for an entire generation. If you didn’t buy land 10 years ago, you’d better be a millionaire in today’s market. Government has never stepped in to control this dangerous trend. Precisely because many in the government stand to benefit directly from high land prices.
Another popular way by which the rich have altered the economics of this state is through the rerouting of public resources sent by the Centre into their own private bank accounts. Since the 1990s, corruption within the government has grown tremendously. Many “heroes” of that era are now either dead, dying or semi-retired. I do not weep for their absence from public life; they were and will always be ordinary no-good petty criminals in my eyes. Even today several crooks, some who served as officers or engineers in previous governments, continue to oppress our people as their elected representatives. Yet many people still pretend like corruption is OK, as long as it is to “a lesser degree”, as long as it doesn’t hurt the Jaidbynriew (Hynniewtrep “race”). Let me be blunt: you cannot love your people, while tolerating even an iota of corruption. The whole concept is absurd. Corruption harms our people. It is the reason why roads get washed away after a light shower; it is the reason why bridges collapse, why village people die in badly maintained district hospitals. You cannot claim to love the Jaidbynriew while turning a blind eye to corruption.
How do you resist these rich jackasses you might ask? You start by denying these cretins the legitimacy which they so desperately desire. These characters are ordinary criminals and in an attempt to whitewash their sins they clamber towards any public podium, church service or social cause. These make them out to look noble and benevolent but you must never give them the respect they seek. Stare them down: Ia kito kiba khlem burom, wat ju ai burom (those without honour, do not deserve respect)
NB: Ex-legislator Ardent Basawiamoit recently came out in the media saying he wanted to start a “revolution”. God knows what he meant. But my advice to him is this: If you are serious about it, you MUST confront corruption and the powerful business interests behind our domestic politics. NOTHING ELSE WILL DO!