Editor,
A friend rang up the other day and after all the usual formalities of questions and answers on health, family and general well-being of all, the rather stale but yet ever present drama of politics popped up. Just look at the headlines of all the local newspapers, three fourths of the news is all about the subject under discussion. Yes we love to talk, hear about and gossip about politics , the juicy scandals; the name callings; the stabbings ( either frontal or in the back). The latest is the public lament of a patriarch of one of the so called Regional parties of being betrayed by his party and office bearers whom he himself had groomed to their present day status in the party. His claim, whether true or false, is that he had been backstabbed. Some in his own party say it’s simply Karma) Yes politics is dirty , no doubt but it is that filth; that foul, putrid, loathsome moral corruption is what makes the subject so attractive to a society that brands itself as “ka Jaitbynreiw tip briew tip Blei. ( a community that believes in both God and man). We just love to talk about politics because most of it is made, created and committed by honourable members of our own society; by people we love to kowtow to; for whom we love to bend over backwards for; by persons we rush to for personal favours; by stalwarts, loyal and faithful members of the various churches that dot the countryside. Yes Politics is such an attractive subject simply because of its repulsive hypocrisy.
So the corollary that follows is what has politics done for us, as a community as a State? Have we benefited from 50 years of statehood? All of us have indulged in politics (everyone has cast votes, discussed politics and elected politicians present and past) for the last 50 years and so the question is justified. What do we have to show for it? Well if reports on the development index of states in the country are to be believed ( all governments of Meghalaya have discarded such reports as outright lies) then Meghalaya just happens, and surprisingly without much effort, to always figure last in almost every aspect. If we happen to have any index on governance then the State has also managed to cover itself in dishonour, embarrassment and shame because of the regular ( never periodical) scams and scandals by our elected high and mighty. If the truth is told and accepted we are talking about a failed state and failed by the very people we have elected to uplift us.
A current video post of the sort of activities that was allowed to happen in Khyndailad on Christmas eve is really shameful. Are we living in some govern-less banana republic or is this Shillong? Can any decent society tolerate such lawless behavior? The most important question is – Where were the police that Christmas eve? Now this is the latest and most frequent question being asked in polite society? Where are the police when most needed? Most people believe the Home Department has failed the public but the party the Home Minister belongs to, vehemently denies such accusations. Not surprising because accountability is not the forte of our political dons. The utter shamelessness in one’s inability to perform is condoned . What a mess we have created for ourselves!
How have these things been allowed to happen to us? If we care to answer truthfully then we must admit that Meghalaya has discarded governance and if governance is for the good of the people, then those responsible for governance, our elected politicians have abandoned the people who elected them. The charge made in this letter against the political system; the political class ( to whichever party they belong to) and our individual politicians is that they have turned their backs on the very electorate that elected them; left the people high and dry and that their main interest is simply in self interest and self preservation. To cling on to power, come what may. Our worst enemies are our politicians and the system they follow. We are in the mess we are in because of this class of people. They have let the state and its people down. We have been betrayed by the very people we put our faith in. There, it has finally been said and said in the open. Unfortunately it happens to be the truth and the continuous political drama that used to entertain has now become a poison that no longer amuses but a parasite that sucks the strength and vitality of the state and its people.
All of this is because we have allowed politics to be played solely to elect politicians and parties to power without tasking them with their ability to govern. Elections are being contested to bring people to power while how they intend to carry out that power has never been asked. As an electorate we have forgotten that accountability, fairness and transparency is the blood that sustains democracy. It seems that 2023 will follow the same trajectory. For some of us its so sad to see a state that we fought for with might and soul be sold down the drain by power hungry maniacs.
Yours etc.,
Toki Blah,
Via email