By Janet Hujon
The outbreak of party-hopping capers clearly signals the arrival of election fever. For no matter what we hear from the various candidates this definitively tells us that politicians become politicians because they are investing in themselves and no one else. A career in Meghalaya politics has much to commend it ensuring that not only you and your children but also your children’s children, can live happily ever after. So why bother to change course.
Already we have been treated to various photo opportunities and plans, telling us that our future welfare is the government’s concern. Meanwhile the opposition, desperate to get re-elected, pronounces loud and clear on government neglect and coal-mining issues, conveniently forgetting that it did nothing to stop the rot when in charge. If nothing else you have to admire their nerve. Amnesia is very handy because it woos voters who fortunately enough for the candidates are equally amnesiac and do not mind a diet of more lies and broken promises relieved now and then by the occasional cash softener. Welcome to the Meghalaya Road Show 2022 -2023! You will not be disappointed.
Party hopping is not new – it is as old as Meghalaya. Yet while we endlessly criticise this pathetic piece of opportunistic performance, we still choose not to carry our denunciation to its logical conclusion. We do not punish those who betray us. Instead we reward them with the Assembly-seat-Oscars they are looking for. Why, despite the criminal wastage and exploitation of government and natural resources, are we still willing to entrust our futures into the same hands? Surely no one in their right minds could possibly enjoy this replay of the previous five years. Yet history repeats itself with alarming regularity.
Why, is the electorate so unwilling to take on change? And don’t tell me it is only about the money. Most voters are educated and therefore one would hope, critical and discerning. Moreover not everyone is so poor that they need financial inducements. So let’s quit pretending. Is it because we are promised a share of the celebratory cake and we don’t want to pass up on this opportunity, even though we know full well that such transactions are not exactly above board? Perhaps we want the old guard to return so that we can then sit in judgement over them, feel virtuous – ‘it’s all their fault’ – and ignore our own complicity in the whole sorry state of affairs. Or are we still clinging to the traditional belief that the older, familiar politician is ‘experienced’ and therefore somehow more qualified than anyone new. Really? That may have been true a long time ago when elected politicians were fired by ideals to serve the State and not themselves, when they listened and empathised, instead of walking around deaf and blind to everyone’s needs except their own outrageous cravings.
It also seems to me that there are also those who believe that if someone comes from a ‘political’ family, then that is enough. But best of all (or worst depending on your perspective) if candidates can flash their material wealth around, then that means they have power. It means they have the cojones to smash through glass ceilings that have long barred the tribal from saying he or she can be as good as any other rich Indian tycoon, and now with a Lamborghini negotiating our pot-holed streets we are now as ‘good’ as anyone anywhere. Yes in the corridors of power what it means to be good, no longer has anything to do with the original meaning of the word – that which is morally right. Those in high places have created their own (a)moral climate and it is defined solely in material terms. Do not go to such a universe to look for the old qualities of integrity, honesty and hard work for such standards have long been out of fashion – you will only find a life of ease. “Greed, for lack of a better word, is [seen to be] good”, for it can provide us with all the opportunities and trappings of life sans struggle and boy don’t we all want that. This is the Achilles heel that those in power are only too aware of and that is how they lure recruits to their camp setting a dangerous precedent.
Dazzled by this life of plenty, aspirants wait in the wings, learning the rules of engagement in readiness to ascend the throne of ease. What a misuse of intelligence. This will only ensure that the future of Meghalaya continues to remain in the hands of a navel-gazing few and you might as well kiss goodbye to the pursuit of a greater good (‘good’ as in welfare). Or if we cannot attain the top job, we readily cosy up to the ‘powerful’, believing that somehow in the glare of reflected glory we will end up looking and living like them. Strangely enough the latter saddens me more than the shameless wealth-grabbing tactics of the powerful. It is as if we are admitting that in ourselves we are not worthy but can only acquire some significance when in the presence of the rich and powerful. Why have we allowed a tiny minority to brainwash us in this way? There is more to us than we dare to imagine.
Yet after decades of bitter disappointment perhaps there is hope. We now increasingly hear the voices of those who champion the politics of compassion and inclusiveness. Here I am thinking of courageous challengers like New Dawn represented by Avner Pariat, and of Reverend Kyrsoibor Pyrtuh who are willing to put their heads above the parapet. Some may label them as ‘inexperienced’ but their arguments are informed by lived experience – their own and the plight of those around them. Theirs is a passion to improve the lives of others and not themselves so that everyone especially our youth can start believing that the future belongs to them and is not wholly reserved for the wealthy and their offspring.
Their words pulsate with an urgency born of a painful awareness that only a worse predicament awaits us if once again we allow ourselves to be led by those driven solely by naked ambition. That is why these newcomers into the fray do not waste time talking about grand, insane projects like turning our wildernesses into a zoo or damming the Umngot. Instead they rightly focus on issues long ignored by the ruling dispensation like the urgent need for job creation, harnessing local potential, a response to the plight of teachers and ASHA workers, the marginalized, the poor and a halt to environmental vandalism. They know no fanfare can accompany such projects but the beguilement of a show is definitely not on their agenda. They are not afraid to court controversy, they do not shirk the awkward or the ugly for they know what we should all know that the work of any government is to ensure opportunity and justice for all.
The time has come to revise the way we think, see and act. Time to admit that Meghalaya is and has been dysfunctional for a long time and only we can reinstate the land of promise that our homeland once was. By saving Meghalaya we are also saving ourselves. So sticking with the devils you know should no longer be an option.a