I am mentally hurt, badly perturbed, highly agitated and brutally wounded to witness with my own eyes the gradual disappearance of the virgin thick valuable deciduous forests on many parts of Khasi-Jaintia and Garo Hills beginning from early 1967-1968 to 1976-1979. Their rapid disappearance happened from 1980-81 onwards till 1993-94 when almost all these hills and dales turned barren except some parts of government reserved forests, very few patches of Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council plantations and some patches of jungles in private lands. This has serious effects on climatic change reducing rainfall and shrinkage of water bodies due to depletion of water from water catchment areas.
On the rampant indiscriminate degradation of the environment of land surface and earth crust causing pollution to water bodies due to random coal, limestone, stone quarrying and sand mining which gradually began from the early 1970s, increase its pace from 1981-82 and it became a mad race from 1992-93 till date has seen no respite despite interventions from the apex cut of the land, implementation of central laws and rules in the form of bans on mining of coal and other minerals mining and extraction.
On this vital important issue, though late, I ought to thank profusely Bah Toki Blah for his splendid article which has incited me profoundly, related to the crisis of environmental degradation and climate change which was his spontaneous reaction to the front page news item “Bishops in North East Raise Alarm Over Climate Change: Vows Action”, that came out in ‘The Shillong Times’ on September 18, 2022. I must state here that I fully endorse his views and suggestions given therein and I appeal to the powers that be and to stakeholders to take his valuable suggestions very seriously and to its logical implementation.
I also appeal to land owners who have vast tracts of land as well as those who may possess smaller land plots anywhere, not only to grow crops but also plant mixed species of valuable indigenous trees in every vacant land and not to leave any plot of land vacant in town or villages because green crops and trees help to absorb carbon dioxide and monoxide and thereby help reduce the thick layer of carbon presence in the atmosphere which is the accumulated cause of the increasing heat in our atmosphere and the much debated and talked about climate change.
As one of the many who are concerned of the continuing indiscriminate loot and plunder of natural resources presence in the land and also the indiscriminate discharge of toxic wastes into our lands, water bodies and air which has resulted in climate change and poisoning ourselves, our common home or our planet earth, it is man’s greed that is behind all these environmental crisis. These human crimes against nature which continued unabated in spite of various resolutions adopted and declarations coming out from many Earth Summits beginning from Rio in 1992 and held in many countries which continue to be held till today but, very few countries stick to their commitments of carbon reductions and implement the resolutions adopted at these earth summits.
Now, coming back to the North East Region Bishops’ Conclave in Mumbai, it is very strange that the bishops of the North East region responded feebly and rather too late to the environmental catastrophe which has already happened in our country and particularly, here in our own North East region. This is very shameful, highly irresponsible and reprehensible on the part of these prominent church leaders of the region. They should have been prompt in responding to the major crisis with practical actions many years back when they saw with their own eyes on how the virgin green forests and other natural resources of this region were plundered and looted by timber merchants, mineral barons and other antisocial elements in collusion with government agencies as stated by one of the bishops who was part of the conclave.
Other natural resources like minerals: coal, limestone, sillimanite, sand stones, mica, iron ore etc are all indiscriminately looted and the land was laid waste everywhere disfiguring the beautiful landscapes given by God to us. The bishops’ conclave on environment and climate change is nothing short of tokenism to the already battered environment. In fact these bishops are jolly happy and satisfied with their cloistered dogma of saving souls, remained aloof and in difference in their comfort zones and ivory towers when this entire ecological crisis had happened in front of their eyes.
In fact their leaders, the different Popes, whom they owe allegiance, Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and other Popes who issued encyclical letters stressing and appealing all people of good will on the same thing “to protect and safeguard planet earth from degradation and all debasements”. They should have learnt from renowned Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew who repeatedly appealed and persuaded all people, the stakeholders of the planet “to acknowledge their sins against creation: for human beings…to destroy the biological diversity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the earth of its natural forests or destroying it’s wetlands: for human beings to contaminate the earth’s waters, it’s land, it’s air, and it’s life, these are sins”. For, “to commit a crime against the natural world is a sin against ourselves and a sin against God”.
They should have led a sustained crusade for the integrity of the earth and for which cause should have pushed them to lead from the front who denounced openly against the evil of looting and plundering God’s gift to man, the natural wealth of the ‘Common Home’, the Earth. The bishops of North East region spent maximum time in spiritual exercises, contemplations, reflections on the word of god, preaching and exhorting the faithful to work hard to save their souls but did nothing to preach and teach to the people of god on the environmental depletion, degradation, ecological crisis that pushes on the brink of extinction of living beings including man, from this wonderful planet.
Following the footsteps of the Popes, their leaders, the North East bishops/arch-bishops should have issued many encyclical letters on social teachings on environmental destruction, ecological crisis and climate change. They should have been the first ones to spread awareness, teach, preach, mobilise and lead the people from the front in their respective jurisdictions in the war of protecting, conserving and preserving the planet earth from total destruction that it is still facing today. Where are the Pastoral Letters issued by them not only on faith and morals but also on social teachings and exhortations on this vital issue of environmental and ecological crisis and other social burning issues that afflict the society?
Perhaps others might have seen one or two of them but, as for me, I have not seen any. In fact, the last Pastoral Letters that were issued a long time back was only by (Late) Hubert D’ Rosario, SDB, DD, Arch-Bishop of Shillong-Gauhati. Oh, yes his Pastoral Letters were staunchly firm in dealing with issues on faith and morals, and on environment he called upon the faithful and all stakeholders to unitedly join hands to protect Planet Earth from continued depletion and degradation due to insatiable greed of man, thereby, endangering himself and other living beings. The arch-bishop was intelligent, had towering personality, a disciplinarian, had commanding respect both from the clerics and the laity and wore an aura of authority yet he was amiable, approachable, a man of god and when he preached, he did it with authenticity and domineering authority.
(The writer is a senior journalist of Meghalaya)
