By Kyrsoibor Pyrtuh
As we celebrate the 77th year of the Republic, it must be reminded that the Constitution which was adopted on November 26, 1949, followed by the declaration of India as Republic on January 26 1950, embodies the values of democracy, justice, liberty, equality, fraternity, plurality and secularism.
Normalization of Corruption and Violence:
The two things which have become normal across India today are corruption and violence. Transparency and accountability which are essential for governance have taken a back seat and disappeared in the wilderness. According to the corruption perception index, corruption is a normal phenomenon all over the world. In Meghalaya as well it is generally perceived that no work gets done in any Government establishments without a “bai sha” or “monetary gift.” In other words, a private citizen will need to monetarily buy favour from the government authority or officials or Minister (s) to get a government contract or benefits from any governmental schemes or projects.
Jon S.T. Quah in his paper, The Normalization of Corruption (2015), has quoted United Nations’ definition of corruption as “the misuse of public power, office or authority for private benefit – through bribery, extortion, influence peddling, nepotism, fraud, speed money or embezzlement. He also noted that due to the increasing importance of private sector…the definition of corruption must also include the misuse of public or private power, office or authority for private benefit. Further, in analysing the normalisation of corruption, it is important to distinguish between corruption as a fact of life or a way of life. This distinction was introduced in 1981 by the eminent scholar, Gerald Caiden, who describes corruption as a way of life in a country when it is rampant, systemic, and is the norm rather than the exception. However, corruption is a fact of life in a country when corruption offences are the exception rather than the rule, and are examples of individual rather than systemic corruption. When corruption is normalised in a country/state, it is optimal for individuals to be c.orrupt and corrupt behaviour becomes the equilibrium behaviour or the social norm. It is necessary to distinguish between petty corruption and grand corruption. Grand corruption offences are committed by political leaders, senior civil servants, business persons and community leaders, involving “large, international bribes and ‘hidden’ overseas bank accounts.”
Minorities in India, especially Christians and Muslims have become the daily targets of the Hindu fundamentalist groups and whose acts of violence and atrocities received the patronage of several political leaders of the current regime. Last Christmas was the season of fear for Christians in Delhi, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Assam as Hindu right activists violently disrupted prayer meetings, Christmas carol services and celebrations. Besides, repeated incidents of violence against nuns, pastors or preachers who are being stripped of their self respect and dignity in public view. Some of them were even forced to eat cow dung and chant “jai shri ram” in Odisha. Similarly, it has now become a crime for Muslims to pray after 12 Muslims men were arrested recently in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly’ District for offering namaz in their private home.
Moreover, to be a Muslim in India today is to endure suspicion and oppression. Rasheed Ahmed wrote that, “Muslims’ political claims in India today are no longer considered as legitimate. They (Muslims) are being framed as demographic or ideological problem. Indian Muslim are expected to be compliant, even as they are denied of the ordinary exercise of rights enjoyed by other citizens. However it is totally unjust and unconstitutional to treat fellow citizens, whose religious and ethnic identities are different from the Hindu majority, as second class. On the other hand, for decades Muslims have met suspicion with disciplined silence and exclusion with endurance, not because they lacked pride but they believed in promise of the Republic. The Republic may be misinterpreting endurance as acceptance and patience as consent”.
“Kamai ia ka Hok”: Khasi Ancient Reflexive Whispers.
The entire system is corrupt and rotten, and the common people are bewildered by the greed and the manipulation of those who run the State. As against this gloom the age old reflexive whispers of “Kamai ia Ka Hok” should be rediscovered and reinterpreted to become a powerful tool in our struggle for a transparent, accountable and just society.
“Kamai ia ka Hok”, is an indigenous Khasi concept. Literally, “Kamai” means to earn, where as “Hok” stands for truth. Truth is universal and is indeed a powerful weapon to confront any form of injustices prevalent in the society. Every saint or sage from Lord Buddha to Jesus Christ to Prophet Muhammad to Mahatma Gandhi to Martin Lutther King Junior, have used it during their struggles for emancipation. Jesus once said, “the truth shall set you free”, and it is this freedom that all of us long for. Throughout the ages the Khasis have always believed in ‘Truth’. Truth dwells in each person, as there is a purpose to be born into this world, to fulfil obligations, duties and responsibilities, of what is dispensed and gifted.
“Kamai ia ka Hok” has no English equivalent, but to put it in simple words it means earning through fair and just means. In theological/ religious terms, some scholars have termed it as earning righteousness by keeping one’s conscience upright and being truthful in life. However, “Kamai ia ka Hok” also encompasses Justice, Freedom, Rights and Equality, and since time immemorial we have applied it in our politics and economics. It is the guiding principle in human-relationships, business transactions and day to day affairs. Its implication is both transcendent and imminent.
Transparency and Accountability in Religious and Faith-based Institutions:
Meghalaya is replete with religious and faith groups. Around 11.50% are Hindus, the adherents of Indigenous faiths account for 8.7% and followers of Islam constitute a meagre 4%. However the State is dominated by a Christian majority which accounts for 75 % of the population. All these religious/faith groups are working towards uplifting both the spiritual and physical needs of people of the State. In the process of serving public interests they collect funds from their faithful and general public alike, to be used for common good. In response to their noble deeds, believers and others as well make good contributions to fill the religious coffers. There are Church organizations whose bank accounts amount to crores of rupees and the same crores have been alleged to have been stolen or swindled with no proper accounting. The matter at hand is the strange case of embezzlement of ₹ 4.5 crores of Mawkhar Presbyterian Church’s fund which led to the arrest of the chowkidar in 2019. It is reported that the chowkidar had confessed to having taken ₹ 3.26 crore. However, the amount missing from the accounts of the Church is ₹ 4.5 crore. The question is who took the remaining amount? Who will provide the answer?
Moreover, the Church Committee had also constituted the special audit team to look into the accounts for the period from January 2012 to July 2019. The audit team had already submitted the Special Audit Report in 2024 and the same has been released and shared with the general members. In fact, the findings are staggering and bewildering. The members are yet to come to terms with the magnitude of irregularities and discrepancies. In the light of the above missing crores and the audit findings, are the members of the Mawkhar Presbyterian Church, Shillong, willing to let the missing crores and Special Audit Report find closure or die down without justice? No way should the members of the Mawkhar Presbyterian Church allow the cover up.
More than a decade ago, the issue of transparency and accountability of religious or faith based institutions were at the centre of deliberations of the Right to Information movement. During the National Convention held in Shillong in 2011, it was declared that all religious and faith-based institutions should be transparent and accountable regarding the use of public money, which includes tithes and offerings, for private purposes.
Enough of Violence:
Caldwell Manners strongly called for an end to violence in these words, “The violence we witnessed across the country and the globe over these past few years are not isolated events that happened “spontaneously” like the government would like us to believe. These are events orchestrated by a cultural shift toward a politics of hate.
Enough of hate. Enough of racism. Enough of religious bigotry. And enough of the exclusion of our neighbours. Everyone has the right to be safe. If you are a Ñiam Tre/ Ňiam Tynrai, Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Jain, atheist or agnostic, you have the right to be safe.
