By Albert Thyrniang
Lately three primitive incidents have brought shame to Meghalaya – the killing of two non-tribals at Ichamati, the murder of a labourer in Shillong and the mob lynching of two men at Umthlong, Eastern West Khasi Hills. We take pride in being modern citizens of the twenty first century but we still exhibit the faces of the early ages of existence and development. We have to acknowledge that we are still ruled by primeval passions and not reason. We better admit that often we are influenced by uncivilised behaviours. We should recognise that we still have to work on ourselves to stop the out-dated tendencies.
One of the defining characteristics of civilization is the advent of law – the rule of law to be precise. Before the origin of law humans were purely guided by survival instinct. It was a freestyle, uncivilised existence precisely because there was no law to govern human behaviour. With the advent of law, human actions are reined in by law. We have come a long way from the Code of Hammurabi of ancient Mesopotamia. We have advanced from Roman law of the ‘Twelve Tables’ and moved on from feudal laws of the Middle Ages. We have further refined the seventeenth century law of legal thinkers. We have accepted constitutional laws concretised in laws like the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The test of civilisation is the ability to abide by the rule of law. Everyone is subjected to the law and everybody is equal before law.
Ichamati, the village along the Indo-Bangla border flared up again, three years after a KSU member was killed there in February 2020 following the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 protest and the demand for implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the state. The killing of the two limestone quarry employees in March appears to be a revenge act. The backdrop yet again was the anti-CAA rally. A tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye is the rule of the past. It is discarded now. But is it?
Following the twin murders at Ichamati the police apprehended suspected KSU members. What was shocking is that the KSU members and family members stormed the Sohra police station pressuring the law enforcers to leave its members alone. When more arrests were made in Shillong the top KSU leaders sternly warned the police not to pour fuel into the fire. The student body thinks it is above the law.
A fortnight later, on April 10, a daily wager was brutally beaten to death in Mawroh, Mawlai in the capital city of Shillong. A third non-tribal death in 15 days! The ‘fault’ of the 52-year-old construction labourer was that he did carry the work permit with him though he swore he had the necessary documents in his makeshift room. Mawlai, a ghetto according to many, is a locality non-tribals dread to tread. The only ‘dkhar’ who are safe there are ‘religious men and women’ for they do not affect and threaten the demographic composition of the vicinity.
In this case too at least one alleged KSU member has been picked up for his involvement in the broad daylight murder. The Union has not taken kindly to the police action and issued a veiled threat to the law keepers for ‘targeting’ its members. A large section of the society too and more worrying the political leadership also are complicit with the crime. The Chief Minister, a social media enthusiast and the cabinet ministers (except one) were totally silent. None of the MP candidates who were in the thick of their campaigns to get the right to proceed to Delhi to enact laws, condemned the criminal incident. We implicitly vouched for ‘tribal pride’ at the expense of others. The surge in hate crimes has led many to observe that non-tribals continue to be victims of endless racial prejudices. Chauvinism is at play. There are individuals who think that the life of non-tribals is of less value or is of no value at all. This is quite a sick mentality. While we exert our rights as tribals under the constitutional, unreasonable hatred for others is unwarranted. The world is a village. Tribals from Meghalaya and the North East are all over the country as students and workers. Repercussion is a real possibility.
Another baffling incident is the lynching of two men by a mob of about 1500 in the interior village of Umthlong in Eastern West Khasi Hills on May 3. The initial allegation was that the duo were ‘menshohnoh’ (witch craft practitioners) but later the incident was actually an attempted rape. The 35 and 50 year old alleged rapists were caught and taken to the village hall where primitive justice was meted out. Two counter FIRs have been filed, one by the Umthlong village headman and the other by families of the deceased.
The mob and particularly those who had a hand in the murder consider themselves to be better than their ‘captives’. They all pointed their fingers at the men from Demthring and the fellow labourer from Shyrwang village. They mocked the shivering, frightened souls. They condemned the duo for attempting to kill a lady to feed the ‘thlen’ (a serpent in the Khasi mythology who feeds on human blood) with her blood. They mocked them for attempting to force themselves on an 18 year old girl. The two pleaded innocence but no one listened. They begged for mercy but no one heard their pleas. The huge crowd blocked the police from accessing the community hall. The angry mob paid no heed to the pleas of the magistrate to permit the police to take the accused into custody. Eventually the crowd outside stormed the hall, slapped, kicked, beat the victims with bare hands and sticks and stones. The mob thought they were holier than their ‘wicked’ detainees. But let it be known, they are not. The crowd is worse than the ill-fated men. They are murderers. They are no better than ‘menshohnoh’. According to information the majority in the crowd are Christians. They are regular church goers. There are churches in Umthlong and in the neighbouring villages. The assembled people are from these villages too. They are followers of Christ. They have heard Jesus’ saying, “Let anyone without sin cast the first stone.” countless times. But on May 3 the teaching of their ‘Saviour’ was neither in their head nor heart. Christ has absolutely no impact on their lives. The Gospel of Christ often fails when tested. At Umthlong too it failed miserably.
In church the sanctity of human life is often preached. The scripture teaches that life is God’s gift and hence no one but He can take it away. Human life is the most precious gift. Then what happened at Umthlong? Is this teaching suspended in case of a menshohnoh and rape accused? Is not the life of the lynched persons valuable? We know very well that Christians give and take bribes. We practice corruption and are involved in illegal activities. We know this is against Christianity. But there is no guilt in it. Now, against our religion, murders too are committed in the open. There is no prick of conscience. What is the relevance of religion?
The village headman and the elders should be the first to be taken to task. They have blood in their hands. It is sure that they had seen and heard similar instances in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills where the crowd was uncontrollable. The headman should have immediately escorted the two to the nearest police station or outpost. He and the elders should have contacted the police without losing any time. It is informed that village authorities have been given legal inputs regarding such cases but those in Umthlong chose to disregard their responsibility. Village ‘dorbar’ (councils) have no legal authority to try people. Many a time Village ‘dorbar’ think they are a world unto themselves. They often exceed their limit. Umthlong was exactly the case.
Lynching merely on suspicion has been taking place in the state. It has occurred too often. Enough is enough. The government, the police, the NGOs, and churches have the responsibility to stop the trend. A Task Force should be set up to travel all over the state and educate students, men, women and common folk of all groups on the law that states ‘no one should take law into his or her own hands’.
The police will investigate the alleged lapses on the part of the headman or headmen and others at Umthlong. Hope it will serve as a lesson for all Meghalayans in the effort to rid of the evil of lynching.