By Toki Blah
“Not surprising therefore for cheery greetings to cut across all political parties or from that creed of individuals who see themselves as popularly elected leaders of the people.”
Our state of Meghalaya is going to be 50 years old on January 21, 2022 and everyone is expected to sing Meghalaya’s birthday song; wishing the state and its people a bright and prosperous future; wishing it “All the best”. Amid the din and fuss over this celebration, the loudest and most buoyant voice will be that of politicians and others who live off politics. They are celebrating 50 years of uninterrupted easy pickings off the fat of the land. Not surprising therefore for cheery greetings to cut across all political parties or from that creed of individuals who see themselves as popularly elected leaders of the people. Ordinary citizens though on the other hand might not share a similar enthusiasm. January 21, to the ordinary man might be just another day for getting pushed aside by supercilious siren blaring VIP vehicles. Perhaps other priorities occupy his mind than celebrating birthdays. Perhaps uppermost in his mind and occupying his inner most thoughts is how to make ends meet; how to make a decent livelihood; how to keep body and soul together; wondering how to bring food to the table; simply put – how to survive from one day to the next!
I can already hear the howls of protest against such insensitive, cynical remarks. I can foresee the trolls that will haunt my Facebook page for days to come, the most common perhaps will be the question as to who is this Doubting Thomas who dares challenge the inalienable birth and growth of our state? Famous Historical personalities have extolled its democratic institutions; Subhas Chandra Bose had observed “those who want to know about Democracy should come to the Khasi Hills”; the scenic beauty of its hills and waterfalls legendary; even its Capital Shillong described as ‘The Scotland of the East’; Prof G G Swell had famously versed it as “a patch of beauty and grace and a shining outpost of India”; it has unlimited natural resources such as coal, limestone and uranium. It’s God’s own paradise and to claim ownership over this Garden of Eden, both Tribals and Non Tribals, in the 1960’s fought and struggled, side by side, for their own Hill State. We wanted to control, administer, manage and govern it ourselves and on that note came up with the slogan “No Hill State, No Rest”. Bro, that’s how the State Meghalaya came about and there is no reason why its 50th anniversary should not be celebrated. Yes, I most humbly acknowledge these counter charges. I, however sincerely wish I can erase the doubts, the unease and skepticism that continue to dog my mind. But I am simply echoing the sentiments and feelings of this generation of Meghalayans about their state. I am simply reverberating the frustration of our youth when this 50th anniversary is made mention of. They are asking where has that Patch of Beauty and grace disappeared to; how did that harmonious aspiration of Hope and Pride shared by both Tribals and Non Tribals, fade away; who allowed that corps of self sacrificing leadership to degenerate into the despicable trash of opportunistic political leadership we suffer today? These are the questions our own people, especially our youth are asking as Meghalaya’s 50th statehood approaches. I am concerned because they question. Disturbed, because we have no satisfactory answers to offer.
As a member of an indigenous community who once ruled themselves with value based tenets of governance that ensured a harmonious relationship between nature and man, I and many like me, anguish in silent despair at the speed with which we bartered away our value based Tribal identity, our lands and our eco-systems for a piece of paper called a currency note. 70 years ago a newly independent India recognized the merit of our customs and tradition and gave us the 6th Schedule of the Constitution to help us preserve and safeguard our indigenous identity. The irony is that all its beneficiaries then worked diligently to ensure the failure of this experiment of a Mini Constitution within a Constitution. In 1990, through exemption from the 73rd and 74th Amendment to the Constitution, we were allowed to retain our traditional institutions of governance, in the belief that we had the astuteness to bring in a better, modern and more inclusive grassroot system of governance than the Panchayati Raj. Once again we rebuffed the gesture with contemptuous scorn and today, 32 years down the line are still stuck with the ludicrous poser as to whether our women should participate or not in Village Dorbar meetings! Bereft of modern concepts of democratic and inclusive governance, how different are our grassroot institutions from the Khap Panchayats of UP? The High Court of Meghalaya has challenged the legal status of our village Dorbars, but sadly Dorbars still await a legislation to legitimise their existence. A birthday is also an occasion to review our past while simultaneously sketching a roadmap for our future. Meghalayans, love to glorify an imagined, undocumented, mythical past but for the inevitable dawn of tomorrow we have nothing but trepidation and Fear. So will this 50th anniversary celebration be just another event to glorify an uneventful past; squander on an uninspiring present or will it be used as a platform to plan for a sustainable future for our children? I leave this question not to our nonchalant politicians but for the anxious, worried citizens of Meghalaya to answer.
The other day I had a chance to talk to a young budding politician who had a rather different take on politics. He was worried at the nature and contour the profile of politics was shaping up in Meghalaya. It was a candid sort of discussion and he clearly was not in tune with the sentiment of his seniors that the end game of politics was simply to capture power. He frankly admitted that party manifestoes were never discussed (and this supposedly applied to all political parties) as it was clearly understood that it was money that produced electoral results and not policy nor guiding principles that brought in votes. This young person (a rare specimen among politicians) was perplexed over the emergence of an elite business cum political class that has nothing to offer but ploys on how to plunder the public exchequer. It is an elite power cartel; an oligarchy that believes in a few dominating the rest; feeding the masses with crumbs from the high table (he termed the MLA funds as one such crumb). Everything of course is done in the name of the public; a wretched writhing, squirming mass of poverty ridden humanity that has been led down the garden path for the last 50 years. It is an ignorant mass that continues to see elections as a sort of public entertainment. It is an electorate that is unable to connect politics with governance of its own welfare. It is a population led to believe that EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) are ATMS that disburse money based on an EPIC card.
His words led me to think. If elite political conmen exist then where is the rest of society that has allowed itself to be led like sheep to the slaughter? With quite a shock it dawned on me that it is us, you and me – the very same electorate who voted these con artists to power, who now grumble, moan and whine about our future and our fate. The Church, the conscience keeper of most, has always been most articulate about the Good Shepherd who looks after his flock. The church however has been most remiss in not warning the people of present day wolves dressed in a shepherd’s garb who come calling for your votes!
It is also most distressing to note that our over-reactive pressure groups,(in Khasi they call themselves Sengbhalang) whose self-declared objective is to save and protect indigenous society, themselves running after Government contracts and supply indentures, in the process rubbing shoulders with those most answerable for the pits we find ourselves in. The dismal performance of Meghalaya in the education and poverty front has led many to suspect that it is a secret deliberate policy of the political system to keep the people uneducated and poor so as to make it all that easier to fool them. True or not it is a poor reflection on the state of health of Meghalaya after 50 years of statehood. The 2023 State Assembly elections are not that far off. Statehood centenary celebrations will be an ideal occasion for many wolves in shepherd clothing to emerge from hibernation. Many will soon come calling; extending their hand in friendship; begging for an opportunity to once again be of service to humanity. Well, shake the hand if you must, of those who promise you the moon but as you do please be careful and ensure that the limb you are shaking is a human hand and not a ravenous wolf’s paw!
Author is President of ICARE