By Patricia Mukhim
As a society we have some congenital disorders that defy any attempt at correction, Every society has these defects but unlike us, people either laugh at their flaws or correct them through societal conversation. We prefer to be silent or in denial of the wrongs that merit hasty correction. So we have just celebrated the putting up of a sculpture of Tirot Sing in Dhaka. Think about it! Tirot Sing died in 1835 which is 189 years ago and we have not produced another person of such heroism who can take on the present day rulers under whom we are under another form of mental and intellectual slavery. I often wonder what if Tirot Sing were the Syiem today. Would he sit with folded hands and allow a reign of corruption to flourish and even be part of it? Can the Syiems of today not unite the people under their jurisdiction to elect responsible MLAs who will not buy votes? Have we ever heard a single Syiem publicly counselling the people to work at cleansing the electoral process because it is the dirty process of buying votes with money that has ensured that the least competent, least educated, most self- serving men and women with money to blow have been elected?
What is the result of such elections? People are abandoned while the elected feather their nests. This has been stated ad nauseum but it bears repetition. The education system which is represented by dilapidated schools, badly paid teachers and teachers who join the profession because they have nothing else to do is in complete shambles in rural Meghalaya. The educated elite, especially the privileged lot teaching in colleges and universities couldn’t care a damn if the state and its people go to the dogs as long as they enjoy their charmed lives with assured pay and perks. How many universities care enough to do outreach work in villages where teachers are in need of better, more effective pedagogies. There are too many schools in the rural areas where students are taught not just English as a subject in Khasi but also the other subjects such as Social Science etc., too in the local lingo. This is because school managing committees don’t have the luxury of appointing qualified teachers because there aren’t any! Hence they have to take in what’s available from the pool of resources. The teachers themselves are products of teachers that didn’t know the simple art of communication.
We are also a very selfish society. The urban populace hardly know the plight of those beyond Shillong. We are cosy in our own little worlds while rural Meghalaya continues to slip into a situation of depression – yes depression in terms of livelihoods; too many children to look after; too many young, abandoned mothers; too many children with no fathers and therefore not knowing what it is to experience a father’s tough yet caressing love. We cannot feel the treacherous situation of the average rural folk because we don’t experience them ourselves. Many of us have hardly traversed beyond Sohra and other tourist destinations but have been to the best locales in the world.
We also have self-proclaimed NGOs whose members travel abroad more frequently than they do within their own state and then make tall claims about their achievements. Often it’s insufferable to listen to these self-sung paeans of glory which a blind world led by a shallow desire to applaud anyone who orates well with a twang is gung-ho about. The trouble is that such individuals are applauded without them having provided any evidence of life-changing situations on ground as case studies. How many lives have such rockstars helped change for the better? It’s pointless trying to heal the whole world when your backyard is replete with the ugly picture of stark poverty.
In the 21st century Meghalaya, there are many in the rural outback who will not get an Aadhar Card because of some religious belief that the numbers on the card are those of Satan. Of course, this paranoia has been ably propagated by some from the urban locales who perhaps themselves own the Aadhar card, else how would they access anything or open a bank account in this day and age? Those already bedevilled by poverty in terms of access to basic needs and who feel things are spinning out of control, conspiracy theories are an effective emotional tool. David Brooks the American writer says, “For those in low status groups, conspiracy theories provide a sense of superiority. Those who feel powerless derive some agency from conspiracy theories. They can say, “I have the power to reject experts and expose hidden cabals.” It is difficult to argue people out of their paranoia. The only solution is to reduce the distrust and anxiety that is the seed-bed of this thinking. But how do we build trust and assurance? And who will do that if not the more enlightened and privileged amongst us? But it has to be done with empathy and over a period of time. If we don’t do this now and ensure that the thousands of school drop-outs are reclaimed and sent back to school or are given some skills training, we will have another bout of militancy and this time things may not be as easy to deal with as it was in the past.
The level of obscurantism in Meghalaya is appallingly high. Imagine people willing to forgo the Meghalaya Health Insurance Scheme with a cover of Rs 5 lakh for medical treatment just because they don’t want to register for an Aadhar card. Since the Aadhar is now a compulsory identity card many have decided to do without government assistance rather than register for the Aadhar. Some Christian religious denominations have been propagandists here and telling people that the Aadhar is a sign of the end times mentioned in the Bible. The learned have other issues. They claim that Aadhar is intrusive and allows the government to spy on individuals. I wonder what there is to hide from government surveillance in this day and age. Sadly, now the poorest are also the ones who cannot avail sundry government schemes because they cannot establish their legal identity.
Quite a good number of the rural populace also don’t have an Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC). No amount of convincing people that voting is a fundamental right and that it is also what establishes one as a citizen is in vain. We have not as yet developed the communication strategies that are locally relevant to convince people that documents like the Aadhar, PAN Card and Voter ID card are not satanic but intrinsic to our existence today since every government scheme demands that we have these documents.
Recently when the Cancer Conclave happened in Shillong, several instances of people not able to avail subsidised treatment for cancer for want of the MHIS card, had come to the fore. Cancer treatment is expensive yet people prefer to die than avail the Insurance scheme. How backward are we in Meghalaya that people still link such integral documents to either witchcraft or satanic powers? And when will we get out of the trap of these conspiracy theories?
In April 2022, the Hindu Businessline did a story which said that over 40% of adults in Meghalaya (out of a total population of about 33.6 lakhs) do not have the Aadhar Card. It means that these 40 % don’t have bank accounts and do not avail any government schemes including MNREGA, subsidised rice from the ration shops and of course no health insurance which is most critical.
The present is dismal and the future bleak for so many in Meghalaya. Our society has become a zero-sum war where conversations are stilted and keep revolving around love of Ri and Jaidbynriew (country and people) and nothing beyond that. How that love for the people is actually translated into action is of course no one’s brief. Instead of pursuing change through conversations and negotiating the rough paths together, we tend to veer towards isolated paths. And because the future is so intimidating we need to rely on the past far too much for our own good. Since there are no heroes in the present we keep turning back to the past. But we know the dangers of clinging to a constructed past and living in illusions.
This world is present and real and we need the wherewithal to face it. Those who have a generous dose of this resource – have a bounden duty to share the resource with others who are deprived. Only then can we call ourselves a society and community. Otherwise, we are all just individuals placed in this state called Meghalaya. Every once in a while we think we are one people and get together to celebrate, nay to dance, but once the celebrations are over we are back to our cubicles. This is a reality we are living. A self- deception of sorts. Unless we are ready to open up our wounds to be healed by addressing the sore parts of our being we will be trapped in this hell here on earth!