By Barnes L Mawrie
It would not be cynical at all to say that Meghalaya lives only in the urban areas. Development in Meghalaya is almost exclusively restricted to a few urban areas like Shillong and Tura (may be the former enjoys the lion’s share of development). Kudos to the government for making the lives of Shillongites more comfortable through many developmental schemes like good roads, SPTS service, 108 service, good schools and colleges, good hospitals and the list can go on. New developments are in the offing if we go by the newspaper reports. No wonder those who have enjoyed the Shillong comfort would not hesitate to laud the government’s performance and every villager who has tasted city life would think twice before returning back to his rural dwellings.
But everyone knows that if you step out of Shillong or Tura and get into the border villages of the State, be it in Khasi-Jaintia Hills or Garo Hills, you would believe that you are back to the stone age. The poor villagers in the Border areas have seldom tasted development. It is enough to see the condition of road communication in these areas to make you change your opinion about the government. The border roads in any district whatsoever, are known to be the worst stretches of roads. In most places they are muddy or stony roads fit only for Shaktimans or for buffaloes. In other places black topped roads seemed to have existed many decades ago and what is left now is only a semblance of a black topped road.
Electricity in many of these villages is only a dream commodity. I was told by a frontline missionary working in West Khasi Hills that in many villages there are big boards announcing electrification of the areas but which have continued to remain only as bill boards till today. While condemning the abduction of the MeECL engineers as an inhuman and a regrettable act, may be the GNLA have exposed some truth about the performance of the MeECL in rural areas. In our villages along the border of Assam, we see a drastic difference between the Meghalayan and the Assam sides in terms of development. The Assam villages are much better of in every aspect of life, economy, road connectivity, commun-ication, health care, electricity and water supply. The Meghalayan villages instead give the impression of being orphaned and marginalized. It is like a sort of two civilizations existing at tandem, one modern and the other ancient. It is a nightmare to be living in such villages where even the basic amenities of life are denied. No wonder people in these areas die of curable diseases like malaria, diarrhea, typhoid or even fever all for the reason that they do not get basic health care. In many of these villages I have seen quacks from Assam or Bangladesh exploiting the situation at the cost of people’s lives. What else can these poor people do if the state does not provide them doctors and nurses? Their only choice is between the bad and the worse. How many sick and old people from these villages die on the way to the hospitals because the bad roads prevent them from reaching the hospitals on time?
I am not wrong in saying that “border neglect is Meghalaya’s state policy since its inception”. If the Chief Minister of Assam has been living in Meghalaya territory for decades without the State being aware of it (until lately), what border policy does the government have? There are many border villages in Meghalaya bordering Assam who avail themselves of the facilities found in the neighbouring villages of Assam. For their trade and commerce, health care and other basic amenities, they find relief in Assam and not in their own state. It is such a deplorable situation in Meghalaya that encourages Assam to exploit our border areas from time to time. Our politicians and bigwigs are safe in their comfort zone in Shillong or Tura and they care a hoot for the welfare of the les miserabiles. Assam is systematically encroaching upon our territory but the responsible people in the government seem to condone such aggressions. Perhaps the sense of attachment to the state (call it regional patriotism or state loyalty) has long ago died in many of our people living in the border areas. Is it their fault or should we call them turncoats? No! If it were you and I, we would have felt the same. How can one feel attached to the state if the very same state gives them a step-motherly treatment?
Lately I had been to Silchar and I was appalled to witness a sheer injustice done to some villages in those border areas. The villages around Lumshnong have better roads than anywhere else and they have better electrification than our houses and streets in Shillong. But when you cross Lumshonong territory, you witness a total change, bad roads and poor electrification. The reasons for such unequal treatment are not difficult to discover. Lumshnong has become an important industrial area with so many big cement factories found there. Therefore where there is greater income for the government there you find greater development. Those poor villages on the border not far from Lumshnong are left to fend for themselves. The truth is that border villages in Meghalaya are the most neglected areas of the state. They are always left with “promises of development”. Come 2013 and these promises will be re-echoed again by the politicians. It is time that the border citizens of Meghalaya open their eyes and pack off lock stock and barrel all their representatives who only make wishful promises.
Let me conclude by stating that “a nation that secures its borders guarantees safety and development for its citizens”. This is the reason why India is always trying to defend its borders. This is also the same reason why Assam has gone all out to strengthen its border areas. Only Meghalaya has still to open her eyes to the strategic importance of its border areas. Maybe by the time it does so, we would have lost much of our precious territory. I hope this article will help those persons responsible to realize the urgent need to take care of our border areas. Let the Khasi people in our borders enjoy at least 50% of the development we get in Shillong. Good roads, electricity, efficient health care, good education and good communication network are essential if Meghalaya wants to safeguard its border areas and retain its border population.
(The writer is a researcher and a Catholic priest)
