Pressure groups have taken up various issues in Meghalaya but nearly all of them are politically nuanced. Most social issues such as rapes and molestation are left to women’s organisations to pursue as if they are women specific problems. Not much is heard from these pressure groups on illegal coal mining and transportation when this issue has actually been the hallmark of venality and lawlessness. In fact, this act of lawlessness is more acute and demands as great a vigilance as that of curbing influx or checking the documents of people crossing the entry and exit points. The question then is why this selective interest in some issues and not in others.
As a matter of fact there are many issues that are skirted by these pressure groups because most of them are petty or middle level contractors by profession. The whistle blowing will not happen in those area that serve their interests. The fact that three rivers of Jaintia Hills have been completely killed by acid mine drainage from the coal fields has never figured in the agenda of pressure groups thus far. The absence of roads and the severe communication bottlenecks have not received their attention. In fact, the Khasi Students’ Union had even stopped the construction of the Nongstoin- Mawthabah highway on the vacuous plea that uranium from Domiasiat and adjoining areas would be transported through that highway. In doing so the KSU has put the lives of the people of West and South West Khasi hills in jeopardy.
There are groups today that are demanding the Inner Line Permit to be enforced in Meghalaya as if this regressive colonial instrument can check infiltrators from entering the State. Those wanting to enter illegally will not use the formal entry points. Only those coming to Meghalaya on work or as tourists will take the trouble of applying for the ILP. And if the ILP does materialize the number of tourists coming to Meghalaya will dwindle because of the mental and psychological impact it has on the average traveler and which is the reason why tourists don’t visit Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland or Mizoram as much as they frequent Meghalaya.
To say that ILP will reduce footfalls to the state and hence help conserve the environment is a facile argument. Meghalaya’s tour operators and stakeholders in tourism should, instead have better pricing mechanisms for their products (tourists destinations, sights and sounds) and not short-sell then as they are doing today. It is surprising that the pressure groups demanding ILP have never even consulted these key stakeholders numbering over 1.5 lakh in all, whose livelihoods come from the tourism sector. Time to hold the pressure groups accountable too for not everything they do is above board.