The shocking news of the death of two teenagers from Meghalaya due to food poisoning in a school in Karnataka should shake the collective conscience. These students were sent to Karnakata for free education by the Lei Synshar Cultural Society (LSCS), a society allegedly affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), although the LSCS has denied having direct links with the Sangh. This has been happening since 2001 and the elder brothers of the deceased boy are also studying there. The question that arises is why do parents send their children to such distant spaces at such a young age when they still need parental care and affection. The answer is not far to seek. Poverty is the driving force that pushes parents to take desperate steps just so their children have a better chance at making a life for themselves away from the abject poverty that has been their own fates. The fact that the hostel is run by a private agency without authorisation is in itself questionable. The school is located in a distant village in the Mandya district of Karnataka. Normally such students are enlisted by the LSCS and are taken by train by a leader of the Society. Parents repose their faith in the Society because there have been precedents of others from their villages returning after being educated there. That all the students belong to the Niam Khasi, Niamtre tells its own story.
An investigative story done by Tehelka some years ago, found that the idea of sending young students from Meghalaya to RSS-friendly schools in Karnataka is an ambitious social-engineering project meant to counter the attempts of Christian missionaries to evangelise those adhering to the indigenous faith. The RSS has been working silently in Meghalaya for over three decades and has seen the downsides of a society where poverty has rendered families to become easy prey to anyone offering their children free education, complete with hostel facilities. Parents actually don’t see the state in which their children live or are treated in such institutions. That the students were fed stale food that must have turned rancid is just the tip of the iceberg. In such institutions students are brainwashed never to complain about anything because the fact that they are given free education is in itself a huge favour.
According to the LSCS about I100 students from Jaintia Hills, East Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, and Ri-Bhoi district are now pursuing studies outside Meghalaya with its assistance and some of them have been able to successfully obtain degrees in medicine, engineering, and other disciplines through the assistance of the Society. That is all fine but is it not a criminal offence for the institution to be feeding food that should have been thrown away? A charitable organisation does not ill-treat its wards. It is good that officials from Meghalaya have travelled to Karnataka to get first-hand information on the incident. Hopefully this incident will make parents more responsible about who they entrust their children’s futures to.
