We are proud of our times, in a historical sense – 72 years of statehood, but that we have been able to make ourselves into a woeful community that presupposed itself as being predominantly Christian at the commencement of statehood, and that everything noble and upright and beautiful about our community would only be a subsequent development of that presupposition is now the greatest embarrassment and shame that we have embellished on Christianity and on ourselves. Because on the contrary: on the singular commandment that “Thou shalt not steal” and the terrible antithesis of that commandment that stare us in the face when we were accused as being the ‘Most Corrupt State’ in the country is the shameful admission of the crudest misunderstanding of that original commandment upon every Christian in Meghalaya past and present.
As things stand at present, we are developing an ever progressive and cruder misunderstanding of that original symbolism. With every passing year, with every passing government, our actions as individuals and as a community have proved beyond any shadow of doubt that we have become an ever-cruder community in whom the preconditions out of which we were reorganised into a separate State have now become more and more lacking, we have become increasingly vulgar and corrupt and barbaric in the way we conduct ourselves.
To state a truth, I must admit that I am the greatest admirer of the Khasi Pnar people and place, and I speak of their beauty with a melancholy ardour because all beauty incites to procreation, there’s something more than just beauty in these hills, there’s something spiritual. And in this backdrop, I detect a sense of hostility to everything decent these days. Sadly, we have in the process absorbed the absurdities of everything morbid and disgusting.
To resume, I shall now state, in a single word, the reason behind why I have drawn such a conclusion on what we have become – corruption. Even today, such a life as we lived when we first became a State is possible and for many it is still a necessity – Christian, Khasi, Hindu, Muslim or Atheist regardless. Genuine decency in social life will always be possible at all times not because of the religion we belong to but because it is the right thing to do. It is not a question of belief but a question of doing and above all not doing many things. With age we come to realise that it is not a belief system that induces morality but a state of consciousness of the value of what is instinctively right.
Every argument one may raise on this aspect will always rank inferior to the fact that it is instinct which teaches us to do that which is right under the circumstances in which we are in. I can never give in to the teaching that there are certain foods that are taboo to us but I will always uphold that that which is injurious to me or capable of causing me illness is bad and must be avoided at all costs. To reduce my food habits because of a religious teaching and not to a phenomenon that is harmful is actually against everything religious. Faith is inferior to instinct – we may speak of faith but we act out of instinct. And that is more than amply displayed in the manner in which we have progressed in the opposite direction to the teachings that religion upholds. We have become instinctively corrupt.
The fate of our State is determined by the people we elect to power, and the feeling of being shaken and disappointed to the core is when we have reason to suspect that there is an ulterior agenda behind the decisions and the proposals that our leaders come up with. The widening of the road at Upper Shillong which was being undertaken by the NHIDCL (National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited) was progressing with an urgency that was admirable; suddenly it has all come to an abrupt halt. The frightful question mark of “why has this happened?” – is only too understandable…the money has been diverted somewhere else and we have to be satisfied with that clarification because it was necessary, meaningful, reasonable in the highest degree and the people need know nothing more than that because the people elected the person who took that decision.
And it is only now when we encounter such an outright misappropriation that the question comes up. “Who did this” we ask, “who is it, who is the natural enemy of the people” “who is behind this deception?” These questions and many more like it come in flashes to everyone who uses that road, and snap comes the answer – the Minister i/c, the big wigs of the society. And immediately the questioner withdraws any further questioning because he cannot mutiny against the ruling class, against the ruling social order that has been established in the way the State functions. One subsequently understands that the only ones who can question any misdemeanours are the elected ones themselves and if they are compromised, there is only one way out for us, and that is to warn them that it is the working class that bring them to power and that there will be a heavy price to pay.
Take another instance, the announcement that the Riat Khwan Reserve Forest on the southern boundary of the Umiam Lake was to be developed into a tourist attraction site. People condemned the proposal and social media was filled with comments of disgust at such an eventuality and so forceful was the warlike objection, in word and deed that even the one who proposed it began contradicting his very same proposal. Clearly those that proposed this project failed to understand precisely the main purpose of the Riat Khwan Reserve Forest, the exemplary maintenance of the environment and the superiority of the environment over every other development.
Now we believe that the project may be scrapped because the Voice of the People Party (VPP) which is in the Opposition benches has decided to oppose this proposal on the floor of the house knowing that there are many ruling Party members who are also opposed to the idea of developing the forest into a tourist attraction centre. This is a clear sign of how short sighted some leaders are in their statesmanship to misunderstand even the need to preserve nature.
A similar project of aligning a road through the Laitkor Peak Protected Forest to relieve the town of traffic congestion was also proposed and but for the fight against it by the residents of the localities that bordered this forest the same would not have been shelved, another sign of how little our leaders understand of the needs of the people. The people living on the fringes of the forest desired nothing by objecting to the proposal but to publicly offer the strongest proof of the test that they know the value of the forest is more than the value of a road. Our forests no longer depend on divine participation for their preservation; the people are up for it now. For let us not undervalue the power of the people, the people determined to the point of innocence far surpass any gratification the higher authorities may offer to appease them.
Now I must go even further – the absurd problem in the recent expose` on what’s going on in the Department of Forest and Environment and Climate Change headed by a de-facto head. Such an attack I normally reserved for the riff raff and rabble of the society and this high-ranking officer is no different. The feeling of being disappointed and shaken to the depth that someone like Reddy portrays the character of every individual in the Department, past and present, refutes the very cause that every noble soul left behind for posterity.
The question mark looms large, “Is Reddy the ambassador of the Forest Department of Meghalaya?” Surely not. Then whose ambassador is he? The answer came without a second thought, “the ambassador of the Minister of Forest and Environment Department.” Why has this happened, the answer is only too understandable. It was a necessity. Meaningful, reasonable in the highest degree because the Department is a revenue generating department and a faithful head of Department cannot be left to chance, because instinct demands that the acquisition of wealth subjugates every other value.
Reddy is ready to be manipulated to corrupt as his antecedents reveal. And when the displaced head realised his misfortune, (Reddy is actually the second in command) the chasm opened up. From this, the disgruntled one and those that supported him felt themselves to mutiny against the new hierarchy. Until then this negative trait was lacking in the Department. Clearly the Minister failed to understand precisely the main thing – the resentment of the majority in the Department to be led by someone who compromises the Department.
Now what follows from all this? That one will do well to prepare for the worst in the years to come, the above being barely 5 per cent of the total woes we face in Meghalaya. What sets us apart is that we recognise the need for development and connectivity but that we find our desire for wealth instinctively more demanding and that in sacrificing it we are committing a crime against ourselves. Based on this reasoning, the award of Rs. 250 crore for the repair of NH-6 may sadly meet the same fate as the funds placed with the NHIDCL for road widening from Upper Shillong to Shillong.
If the people in the Khasi Pnar region do not elect suitable men of character to represent them in the years to come, their future will be no different from what has unfolded in the repairs to the Umiam Bridge – a 9-ton load bearing capacity bridge reduced to a 4-ton load bearing capacity bridge, after repairs that took the better part of a year and expenditure yet to be assessed. This downscaling is likely to manifest in every human aspect as well – a downscaling of our morality and a total disintegration of society. One can calculate the unlucky day from which this fatality befell us.
