H.Helpme Mohrmen

Chronic traffic jam: Government at wits’ end

2011-12-12T00:01:00.001-08:00

In the last few months since the beginning of the peak coal business season in the state not a single issue of The Shillong Times was without any reference to the traffic jam on the national highway 44. It is a matter of grave concern that the honourable high court based on reports appearing in this paper took cognizance of the problem and took the government to task for failing in its duty to solve this chronic problem. It is another reason that the problem received much publicity because the state capital and the Guwahati-Shillong road was hit the hardest by the traffic jam and everybody from top government officials including the honourable judges to the hoi polloi in the street was affected by the same. It would have been different if only the Jowai-Shillong and the Jowai-Badarpur section of this highway were to have been clogged.

It is not that the Government is not doing anything to free the highway from the regular traffic jams. Our policemen from Khliehriat to Byrnihat have made all out efforts to free the road of traffic jams, but the solution seems to be short term in nature. The traffic branch in Shillong and Jowai have tried every known trick to ease the jam by controlling the entry the exit of trucks to Jowai and Shillong but to no avail. Policemen, particularly the home guards that the police have engaged in traffic management will continue to lose sleep till the summer of next year (end of the coal peak season) as long as the government is a not able to come up with long term solutions to the problem. It is nice to know that the PWD department has taken cognizance of the suggestion made in this column last winter and has floated tenders to revive the Nartiang-Nongpoh road. Hopefully it will help reduce the number of trucks plying on the NH 44. But the problem is the road was made as per state road specification and not according to national highway standards. This means loaded trucks cannot use this road; however the commissioning of the road will be of help to ease the traffic on the Shillong-Jowai section of the road because the police will have the option of directing the empty or unloaded trucks coming from Guwahati to take a detour from Umiam to Nartiang and Ladrymbai- Khliehriat thereby bypassing not only Shillong but even Jowai too.

The government seems to depend on the Shillong bye-pass as a saving grace for its failure to come up with a long term solution to the chronic problem, but the question is for how long? Of course it will be a long respite for the people of Shillong for they will be free of the monstrous trucks which pollute the air of the city with the smoke and noises from the (banned) air horns but the Shillong-Guwahti road from Umiam downwards will continue to face the same problem. The Chief Secretary has also made a statement that the government will increase the number of police personnel to man the traffic but this will also be a short term remedy only. The other pertinent question is also when will vehicles be able to start using this road? The government must complete the project within this financial year because the fate of many of its candidates in the 2013 elections (next winter) will be partly influenced by the traffic mess. Then there is a technical question too. Now the contractor is using limestone for metalling and blacktopping the road. The question is whether limestone give us a durable road?

No doubt the much hyped Lanka-Sutnga railway connection will help ease the traffic snarl but there are two important issues that we have to take into consideration before we even think of the proposed rail project. (1) Is the proposed project not going to have any impact on the Saipung I and Saipung II reserve forests? (2) Is the proposed project planned with due consideration for sustainable development in the state? Are we even thinking of sustainable development or are we in hurry to exhaust all the mineral resources we have? Mr. E.K. Mawkhiew Dept. of Geology KN College, Jowai in the second District level seminar conducted by the Kiang Nangbah Government College on November 29, 2011 in collaboration with the office of the District Planning Officer, Jaintia hills and the Meghalaya College Teachers Association, Jowai unit on the theme “Coal mining and its impact on the environment of the district,” shared some startling light on the facts and figures of coal mining in the state.

As per information collected from the coal directory of India, 2008-09, coal controller’s organization, Kolkata, the share from the three districts of Meghalaya to the total 576.48 Million Metric Tons coal deposits is as follows: 391.22 MMT in Garo Hills, 146.26 MMT in Khasi Hills and only 36.00 MMT in Jaintia Hills. According to records collected from the Directorate of Mineral Resources, Meghalaya from the year 2003 to 2010, Jaintia Hills has extracted 37,22,211 Metric tons, Garo Hills 15,62,008 Metric tons and Khasi Hills 4,82,798 metric tons. So by the time Sutnga is connected by rail, considering the facts and figure available, coal in Jaintia Hills would have been exhausted. But the fact of the matter is if the railway line comes through it will directly benefit the two cement plants in the Sutnga-Nongkhlieh area co-owned by the two Congress leaders in the district.

All the above remedial measures to ease traffic congestion are diagnosed and prescribed based on the symptoms of the problem; traffic jams are one of the many symptoms of a much bigger diseases – mining. In the same Seminar R Lamarr lecturer of KNG College who chaired the academic session II drew an interesting analogy in his concluding remarks. Reminding the audience that one of the immediate impacts of coal mining is the fact that our movement from one place to another is hampered by traffic jam, he also reminded the listeners of an incident in the life of Mahatma Gandhi. In spite of being a learned counsel educated in England, Gandhi was not always in favour using allopathic medicines to cure sickness. Parents of a boy who complained of stomach ache met Gandhi. He advised them against giving any medicine to the child and suggested instead that they should allow the child to suffer till he could figure out the cause of his illness which in all likelihood is gluttony. If the child is able to comprehend the cause of his illness he will be able to control his eating habit and will be free of stomach ache in the future.

The people of Meghalaya had suffered enough and hopefully we are intelligent enough to realize that the cause of traffic jams and many other problems like environment degradation and growing numbers of crime is due to mining. The crux of the problem is mining. This gives rise to influx problem, land alienation and increase in crime rate.

A permanent solution to the problem can only be by discovering ways to treat the heart of the trouble. Deputy Chief Minister B.N. Lanong’s procrastination on the draft mining policy will unfortunately not be able to help him save the land of his ancestors and ironically mining policy is the only medicine that can control and cure the problem. Lanong who is the president of the major regional party, the UDP is holding the magic wand in his hand and the longer we delay in enacting the policy, the longer people will have to live with all the problem that comes with mining and particularly the woes caused by traffic jam.

(The author is a researcher and environmental activist).

http://theshillongtimes.com/2011/12/05/chronic-traffic-jam-government-at-wits-end/

The Last of the Tigerman

2011-12-11T23:59:00.001-08:00

The legend of the Tiger Man is one of the articles published by the Shillong Times which has given me maximum numbers of feedbacks, and the responses to the write-up have poured in from all over the world. Apart from the local readers whose response also contributed to the work that I have done so far, there are two emails from abroad which also goes to show how widely read the Shillong Times is. I never knew there was so much interest in the subject until the article was published and I was not prepared for the kind of queries that were lobbed at me. The emails are from researchers, one of whom is an Indigo scholar from Italy and the other a folklorist and student of PhD from a University in Estonia. Both researchers wanted to get more information about the legends of the were-tiger ( as in were-wolves) in Jaintia Hills. So in this article I decided to include some information contributed by the local readers of the Shillong Times themselves and some more of my own collections.

Few days after the article appeared in the editorial pages of the Shillong Times, L. Nampui an officer in the DC’s office Jowai shared a legend that abounds among the Biate tribe in the Saipung area of Jaintia Hills. The Biates believe that the Thianglai Nampui clan of the tribe have a special relationship with the tiger since time immemorial. It is believed that whenever any man from the clan ventures into the forest there will always be a tiger around to escort the person from the Thianglai Nampui clan to protect him from any precarious eventuality. The Biates who live in the Saipung reserved forest close to the Narpuh reserved forest also believe that whenever anyone from the Ngamlai clan dies there will be a tiger who will guard the hut where the body of the dead Ngamlai is kept and the people of the area claimed that this still happens.

Cassian A Suchiang a secondary school teacher in Jowai who was born and brought up in Moochrot a small hamlet on the banks of the river Myntang shared another information. He said that in his village there is a locality called Moo-liang-khla. Moo in Pnar dialect is rock or stone, liang means ‘to lick’ and khla is tiger, hence the name of the locality literarily translated means ‘a rock that is licked and turns into a tiger’. There is a rock in the village and legend has it that in the days of yore people who could transform themselves to tigers licked the stone and instantly changed themselves to tigers.

There are quite a few families in Amlari village in the elaka Satpator of Amlarem sub division of Jaintia hills near Muktapur who are originally from Sutnga village. The story has it that out of fear for a tiger which has caused panic in the entire village these families fled from Sutnga in search of a safe haven a long; long time ago. The Tiger caused such a hue and cry that the people have no other option but to run away from the village and it was from this incident that the people of Sutnga are often called ‘ki Sutnga dait-khla’ or the Sutnga bitten by a tiger. This particular tiger has caused havoc in the entire elaka and legends have it that people of Sutnga who in panic fled from the place in hordes finally found refuge in many places; some settled in Jowai while others found shelter somewhere else in the District and even outside the district. And a section of the community that had escaped the wrath of the killer tigers of Sutnga reached Amlari village and settled there on the India-Bangladesh border. The people of Sutnga-origin who live in the village are believed to be the descendants of a section of the Sutnga population which escaped the fury of the were-tiger who went berserk.

The were-tiger of Sutnga was the last known tiger man in the Pnar folklore, precisely because the people of the area still have many things to associate the legend with such as the label that the people of Sutnga earned as Sutnga-daitkhla and the story about the people of Sutnga-origin who live in Amlari village are elements of the lore that still linger in the legend told from a long time ago.

Legend has it that a man (some believe belonged to the Phyrngap clan) from the Nongkhlieh elaka married a woman who lived in Sutnga village. The couple was loved and respected by their neighbours because the husband was a shaman and they lived a happy married live. The primary occupation of the husband is that of a farmer but he practiced traditional medicine just to help friends and neighbours who were in need of his help from the divine powers he possessed. By tradition traditional medicine practitioners are not expected to charge any money from their patients; in fact it is a taboo for a true spiritual healer to name a price (in any form) for the service provided. But people who came to seek their help more often than not offer a token of gratitude to the healer and the offering could either be in cash or in kind. The power to practice shamanism is believed to be divinely instilled in the person to enable one to help others; hence the Khasi Pnar shamans have other primary occupations to support themselves. I still remember a healer known to my late father who would not even touch the money given to him for providing medicine till he reached home.

Coming back to the story, the legend also has it that the wife of the shaman on knowing that her husband possessed the power to transform himself to a tiger, asked him to prove it to her and transform himself to a tiger before her eyes. The husband had categorically said that he could not do that for it is forbidden. He tried to convince her and make her see the reason that it is a taboo to even tell anyone about the special power bestowed on the person; but his wife kept on pestering him every night and day to compel him to do what she wanted him to do; finally he succumbed to her pressure. But before starting the process of transforming himself to a tiger, he gave her strict instructions to stay on top of the wooden beam of their house till he was re-transformed to human and never to come down; come what may. He put her on the beam and then started to lick the magic stone which would transmogrify him to a tiger. No sooner was he transformed to a tiger when he began sniffing around and saw a human on the beam of the house. The tiger jumped several times to get hold of the woman and the woman out of shocked of what she saw fell down from the beam to the floor of the house. The tiger man mauled the defenceless woman till she died. When the tiger man re-transformed himself to a human he realized what had happened and out of anger licked the stone again and transformed himself to a tiger again only this time it was out of rage for what had happened. The tiger man went haywire and ransacked every hut in the village. People panicked and fled the village empty handed in the dead of night.

No one knows what happened to the man who transformed himself to a tiger but the legend of the were- tiger of Sutnga is still alive among the Pnars of Jaintia hills and the people of Sutnga till date are called “ki Sutnga daitkhla” or the people of Sutnga who were bitten by the tiger.

(The writer is a researcher and an environmental activist)

http://theshillongtimes.com/2011/12/12/the-last-of-the-tiger-man/

Is 2013 Assembly election for change or change?

2011-12-01T02:09:00.001-08:00

The next general election may be more than a year away, but hectic preparation for the same is going on at the every level. Contenders vying for party tickets are already busy making contacts to ensure they are allotted party tickets and at the party level negotiation is already going on to form pre-poll alliances and even merger like in the case of the UDP and the KHNAM. Well, as for the prospect of the merger of the main regional parties in the state; I can only say that it is not the first time that regional parties it the state enter into alliance or merged before the election and I will not be surprise if the supposed merger is not unanimous and new party may emerge out of nowhere.

Mergers or alliances are made with only one intention in mind and that is to grab power and more power after the election, the welfare of the people was never in the radar screen of our leaders when alliances were made in preparation for the election. To the question why is the proposed UDP-KHNAM merger hitting the rock? The answer to the question is again a glaring example of the fact that the leaders only think about themselves and not for the betterment of the party and the state. Leaders are not willing to sacrifice their personal interest for the sake of a united regional force, a force that the Congress party will have to reckon with. A united regional party will be able to help the state have a successful democracy. Ultimately the question in every leader’s mind; it is not what good can it brings to the state, but rather what’s in it for me? Politicians of every hue and colours share this common trait. In their order of priority; they would first look for what is of interest to them, then may be the interest of their relatives, friends, supporters and the last in their order of concerns is the public.

The more worrying trend in the state politics is the increasing number of businessmen joining politics. The tendency of rich people with little or no education joining politics which started in the Jaintia Hills District is now making inroad into the hallowed hall of the state assembly. If the government in both the state and the central government accord top priority to providing education to children; I don’t see any reason why we should not insist that candidates to the legislative assembly should at least be a degree holder from a recognized university. One’s worst fear is that the numbers of MLA with no university degree but plenty of money will only increase after the 2013 election.

There are two reasons which will help increase the numbers of rich people joining the state assembly, number one; the neo-rich with little education from Jaintia Hills has already occupied seats in the august assembly and their numbers will only increase. This brand of politicians has only one interest and that is to expand their business and being in power in the government will definitely help. This will only inspire more coal mine owners from other areas of the state to plunge into election fray and try their luck in the next general election because loss or win, they have nothing to lose. Don’t be surprise if a business tycoon from West Khasi Hills with lots of money and with little or no education; dare to take on the might of the alpha male lion right in the lion’s den. I don’t know much about West Khasi Hills but my guess is there are plenty rich-semi-literate potential candidates from the District who will try to buy their ways to the assembly. With forest cover dwindling in the West Khasi; it will not be surprise if the election 2013, will be the last time people will hear the lion roaring “ha u sing” in the last bastion of the lion (HSPDP)- the West Khasi Hills.

In Garo Hills too, coal mine owners or business tycoon will be inspired by their counterpart from Jaintia Hils and try their luck in the next Assembly election. While 2013 will be the time when the neo-rich from elsewhere in the state to test the water of state politics, for the rich, the semi-literate but powerful people of Jaintia hills; it is time to increase their power of influence and control. There is saying that does the round in the district now that, Jaintia will have 11 MLAs after the 2013 election. If you think that is absurd and ask how a district with 7 constituencies can to produce 11 MLAs? Well; if everything goes as the rich politician of the district planned, then there will be 11 MLAs of Jaintia origin representing the different constituencies of the state in the next assembly.

While the people are as usual busy with their daily chores and the election which is still about a year and three months away is not in their radar screen, the prospective candidates to the ensuing general election already has understanding and even made some arrangement among themselves. In the new reorganization of constituency Sniawbhalang Dhar new constituency includes new villages from Nartiang to Khanduli and Draison Kharshiing ex MDC and MLA from the area is expected to be a strong contender against Sniawbhalang, but the young rich politician already made sure of securing the seat by having an understanding with Draison. Kharshiing will no longer contest from this constituency and with the backing of the rich-man’s club in the district will now contest from Nongkrem constituency. As for ECB Bamon the lone NCP MLA who represent the area now and won the last election with the support of the same club, he has voluntarily run away from Nartiang and will now contest from Mowkaiaw/Laskein constituency. Even before anybody realized it, Sniawbhalang has already made sure that no strong contender is in the fray against him in the 2013 election.

If everything goes as planned Draison will be the 9 MLA from Jaintia hills but the 8 MLA from Jaintia is JU Nongrum MDC of JHADC who is going to contest from Sohryngkham/Mawryngkneng constituency. But the biggest gamble that the rich-man’s club of Jaintia hills made will be in the Umroi constituency. Ngeitlang who is Sniawbhalang Dhar’s elder brother and proprietor of N.Dhar Construction Company is planning to contest from this constituency. If we are to remind ourselves Ngeitlang was the person found with money in his possession somewhere in Umroi during the last bye election to the same constituency. He will be the tenth MLA from Jaintia hills and like Nehlang they both are non-matriculate.

But the eleventh MLA from Jaintia hills when the first analysis was done is Nehlang Lyngdoh MLA from Rymbai who will now contest from Umsning Constituency. Lyngdoh has decided not to contest from Rymbai/Khliehriat and another non-matriculate candidate and ex CEM of Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council Hambertus Nongtdu who is also brother of another mining baron and owner of another construction company has declared to contest from the constituency. Unfortunately; many of the current non-graduate MLAs and even Minister from Jaintia Hills District are yet to make their maiden speech in the august house. So it is for the people to decide if they are going to let rich people with minimum education buy their way to the assembly. Should they vote to bring change or satisfied with keeping the change rich candidates dole out during election?

The good news is that a reliable source has confirmed that Nehlang Lyngdoh is going to quit politics and call it a day. It is good news precisely because it was ma Nehlang who had started the trend of rich man with little education contesting election; the trend has overwhelmed the JHADC hall and had even started to make inroad to the assembly. Ma Nehlang’s decision to retire from Politics will serve as a deterrent for other aspiring rich-semi-educated candidates to jump in the fray. By retiring, Nehlang is only stating the obvious fact that is does make a good business sense to invest lakhs and even crore of rupees to win an election. Nehlang is not doing himself a favour by joining politics, he stand to lose more by being a politician than by remaining a businessman. If he would have remain concentrated on his business he will still be the richest man, and his business will only grow exponentially but it took him ten years to realized that politics and business does not mix.

Ma Nehlang Lyngdoh is a good man and a good businessman and that does make him a good politician, one hopes that the rich prospective candidates with little or no education will realized before it is too late that it is not worth to waste money during election, it just don’t pay.

The living-root bridge the symbol of Khasi Pnar benevolence

2011-12-01T02:08:00.001-08:00

Have you ever tried google search or binged the three words “Living-Root Bridge”? If you haven’t, you will be amazed the amount of information that is available on the internet on the subject. My google and bing search took me to more than 20 pages of information which link me to blogs, websites, news report and even video documentary about the bridges that were build without using any nails or any man made building material but living root of two trees attached to one another.

Most of these links were write-ups, travelogue and even tourist information sites about the living-root bridges of Nohriat village in the Sohra area. So far the living-root bridges in the area are the most sought after destination for travelers and trekkers in particular. It reminded me of my childhood days when our grandmother would take us to our Orange orchard in the place call Shmia-ladiang in Nongtalang village and during our winter sojourn, we did crossed certain living-root bridge on the way from village to the orchard. I immediately start using an old natural search engine which is most reliable and involve human. I first started posting Timothy Allen of the lonely planet’s blog and also shared a link of a video documentary about the living roots bridge in the area. No sooner did I shared the information on the Jaintia4u facebook page and a blog on the same name hosted by wordpress.com, Remika Lanong a scholar in the NEH University and a dear friend of my late sister immediately responded to inform that there are two living-root bridges in Kudeng rim a village near Sohkha where she live. One of the two bridges in Kudeng Rim village is on the river Amlamar and another is on the river Amkshar and information start pouring like the proverbial summer rain. A young friend from Shnongpdeng village informed that there is one living-root bridge in Darang village on the river Amsohmi. Another from Khonglah shared more information that in the Khonglah village there is one bridge over the Amsohkhi rivulet and another over the Amlunong stream. In Nongbareh village there is one living-root bridge over the stream Amlaye and this particular bridge is a double-decker bridge like the one in Nohriat village. A close friend confirmed that in Nongtalang village there is one bridge over the river Amrngiang on the way from Nongtalang to Amlympiang, another is on the river Amladiar on the Amtyrngui River and there are two more root bridges one over Amdap Sohpiang and another over the Amdoh stream. In Padu village I was informed by another friend that there are three living-root bridges very close to Padu which is again less than 10 kilometers away from Amalrem. All the three living-root bridges in the village are on the Amdep creek which connects the farmers to their farm land.

All the living-root bridges are located on the southern slopes of the state on the Indo-Bangla border, the area where the “War” community of Khasi and Jaintia hills districts lives. In many cases two trees Ficus elastica orFicus Indicus tree (dieng jri in local parlance) were planted on each side of the river, and once the tree start growing human manipulated the roots of the trees to connect each other across the span of the river. Once the main roots connected each other across the river, then people start to direct more root to make the bridge’s rails so on and so forth.

The making of the bridge was a community effort because it took years to complete the bridge and the work for building the bridges was done voluntarily. I don’t know much about the War Khasi but at least amongst the Wars Jaintia it is a tradition that the farmers themselves jointly made the path to their respective orchards or beetle nut and beetle leaves plantation and they are also responsible for keeping it. The bridges are part of the trail towards the terrain where they farm and making the root bridges and keeping the same is by tradition the responsibility of the farmers. The contribution of an individual farmer in the making of the bridges could simply be by way of helping tie the roots while walking down to his plantation; if one found the tendril wander away from the planed handrail. It could also be by using a sliced bamboo to tie the roots together and put it on the right direction. Hence the farmers who use the bridge in the course of many years contributed in whatever way they can in making the bridge. Since it is also a living bridge, it still needs care and protection hence farmers are not only the makers; they are also the keepers of the living bridges.

The living-root bridges were made by the community and on voluntary basis and the job was also completed without any one to supervise the work. Notable neither was there any blueprint prepared or community planning done before they start working on the bridge. It was made out of human’s own natural instinct with one clear objective to make a bridge out of the root of the trees across the span of the river. The goal is to make it convenient for the farmers to cross the river even during monsoon when rain causes the river to overflow. The process or rather the tradition of making (or should we say growing a bridge) is bio-engineering at its best and a living testimony to the genius of our ancestors particularly the “Wars” of Jaintia and Khasi hills.

To some a living-root bridge may looks spiky; like snake big and small entwined each another or like Anaconda in the mating rituals. The sheer sight of the bridges is awesome and it has attracted and will attract many visitors who will be enchanted by the marvel of this bio-engineering. People in other places can boast of majestic bridges of ten or twenty kilometer long made of brick and mortar, and of steel, but the living roots bridge of the Wars of the District of Jaintia hills and East Khasi hills are wonder of nature helped created with human intervention without causing any harm to the tree.

All the information on the living-root bridge subject available on the net are from Meghalaya, the blog entries, news reports, documentaries or information on travel sites are stories about the living-root bridges of Meghalaya. This goes on to prove that the art of making a bridge out of living root of trees is unique to the people of Meghalaya and the particularly the Wars of Khasi hills and Jaintia hills.

My dictionary description of the word benevolence is ‘desire to do good, kindness and generosity, it also means ‘doing good rather than making profit’. The desire to make the bridge for the common-good rather than individual profit is the spirit that goes in the making of the living-root bridge among the Wars of the Khasi and Jaintia hills. The spirit that puts common goods (ka bha-lang/ ka bha ka imlang sahlang) before selfish interest (is sad to say) a lost spirit among the Khasi Pnar today. Now people are into making as much profit as one can possibly can in any available opportunity and the good of the society has taken a backseat. This is more prevalent in the implementation of NREGS in which funds for making footpaths and other community needs is being misused for personal gain it.

It is sad but true that the southern slopes of the state bordering Bangladesh is lime stone deposits and people have now started mining in the area which will definitely have huge impact on the fragile eco-system of the area. This same greed is threatening the very existence of the living-root bridges because once the forest is cleared and water level recedes, the bridges will also be affected. The question is, is the Khasi-Pnar benevolence loss forever? What remains of a Khasi-Pnar society if the spirit that built the tribe is lost? The Khasi Pnar community needs to do an immediate retrospection, the question is do we want progress at the cost of the environment and our tribal value system? Are we going let greed takeover benevolence which is the pride of the community? Ironically the living-root bridges are the only remaining link that connects the pass with the presence, it is for us to decide if identity is just like a badge we put on, or continue with the value system on which our ancestors build the tribe.

Who will reform the PWD?

2011-11-14T04:24:00.001-08:00

By HH Mohrmen

Much has been written about this very important department of the state. The editor in her weekly piece devoted one entire column to highlight the state of affairs in the department. It is perhaps the only department which has maximum numbers of letters to the editor written against the sub-standard work the department executes in constructing roads in the rural areas and particularly the Guwahati-Shillong road which is the gateway to Meghalaya.

This column is a response to a letter to the editor carried by this paper in its November 8, issue. The letter gave a startling revelation of the mess in the Public Works Department (PWD) of Meghalaya and the whistle blower deserves a pat on the back for daring to call a spade a spade. Now it is the duty of civil society to protect the whistle blower and to see that the Department does not initiate proceedings to punish the person (if he or she is still in the service). Dr. Mukul Sangma too should realize that if his Government is to deliver, it not only must protect whistle blowers but also encourage employees to bring to light the rot in their respective departments. There is no point having grand policies and funds to match if the delivery mechanism is in shambles.

PWD is one department that has failed to deliver, or delivers sub-standard work which results in roads needing repair every year like the Jowai-Shillong road or the Jowai-Amlarem-Muktapur road. Are our engineers under-qualified and cannot even design roads which will last more than a year? Or is it because of the sub-standard work? I believe our engineers are qualified. I know that those of my classmates who are engineers (about 8 of them) in the PWD are all toppers since our high svhool days in Jowai. The poor quality roads or buildings come from the politician- contractor-technocrat nexus. It is an insidious connection. On one hand we have thousands of contractors of various classes and on the other the construction companies. All contractors and companies have political patronage.

The letter writer has correctly observed that there are few big contractors in the PWD who treat the department (especially officers in the helm of power) like their business partners with whom they share the spoils. The contractors, particularly the three construction companies, have a symbiotic relation with the government. These companies with all the money and the machinery at their disposal, treat the PWD staff like dirt; they sideline those engineers who do not comply with their whims. These companies owned by politicians and semi-politicians, think that because they own the machines to execute the work, they no longer need any monitoring or supervision. According to them the SAs SOs SDOs etc of the PWD and even engineers are dispensable like toilet paper. A sectional assistant once confided that when he complained that the road was not made as per specifications in the estimate, the contractor who, about a decade ago was only a coal-miner, a driver or a cow herd, rebuked him rudely saying, “What do you know?” We need to remind the contractors and the companies that the staff of the Department are eyes, ears and voice of the people, and that whatever they do is in public interest.

The November 8, letter pointed out that instead of 10 percent profit, the companies are now trying to get 90 percent profit for 10 percent work done. How else would the owner of a company or engineers be able to become instant millionaires if not by looting the public exchequer? There is nothing wrong with making profit but the question is how much returns do we expect from one job? Or are we still of the opinion that it is alright to steal from the government? The companies want big profit and fast but how much is too much or enough for them? This is one problem that the engineers are facing; they have to comply with the dictates of the semi-literate owners of these construction companies who have all the necessary political backing. Since they own the necessary equipments, at times the companies also hold the engineers and even the department to ransom. The Department is at the company’s beck and call. A recent example is the repair work of the Jowai-Badarpur road where the engineer had to literarily beg the owner of the company to execute the work since other companies were unwilling to do so. It is high time that government encourages companies from outside to operate in the state and prevent monopoly over big contract works by local companies.

“It is a common grouse of contractors that they do not break even,’ said one staff of the PWD. “The contractors now demand more than 50 percent profit and don’t care a damn about the quality of work. And if we don’t toe their line and revise the estimates then the next thing is we get calls from MLAs,” he laments. It did not take long for me to verify the allegation. Last Friday, E Khyriem Headman of Tympang Club, Iamusiang and I met the contractor to complain against the sub-standard repair work of Jowai-Amlarem-Muktapur road. The contractor, Pyrkhat Dkhar nonchalantly told us, “I am, in fact doing the Department a favour here because I will not get any profit from this particular work”. He also added, “To compensate for the loss in executing this work the Chief Engineer SB Chyrmang has allotted me another work on the Nartiang-Nongpoh road”. After he had finished I said, “Are you trying to say that the engineers who did the estimates are so incompetent that they did not even include the ten percent profit? Or is it because you want to be a millionaire instantly and ten percent is not enough?” He kept quiet.

Engineers who earnestly want to do good work express despair at the state of affairs in the department; they feel hamstrung and have no option but to flow with the tide. These are engineers who would not bribe for plum postings and therefore would not be given charge of any section or division for many years for not coughing up enough money to pay the politicians.

There are other engineers who are puppets of politicians. When tenders are floated, they don’t allot work without the confirmation of their political masters. They do not behave like professionals who are qualified to do the job, but bend their spine to please their political masters in lieu of a choice posting. Sometimes these engineers stoop so low and behave like political agent of the MLAs. They would insist that a contractor get a recommendation note from the MLA for allotment of work. They even check the antecedents of a contractor; if he is a supporter of the opposition candidate they will make sure he does not get any work. This is happening in Jowai. In fact, these engineers are hands in glove with the MLA or minister to manipulate allotment of work in the department. They treat the department like the MLA’s personal fiefdom.

There is another category of staff in the PWD. They are engineers, sectional officers and sectional assistants who are themselves involved in government contract work. They execute the work using ‘benami’ names of their close relatives. Now if the same person is to execute, supervise and monitor the work, then what quality of work do we expect?

The letter writer rightly mentioned that there is no point in promoting tourism while our roads are in tatters. The state’s development depends on the kind of the roads we have. Farmers face difficulty to transport their products because of bad roads; the health departments’ delivery of services is hampered by poor road conditions. Roads are indeed the backbone of the economy of the state and our engineers know they are shouldering a huge responsibility. The people of the state have high expectations from them. It’s time that the entire staff of the PWD rises to the occasion and works for the development of the state. Engineers in the PWD should unite and break the contractor-politician-technocrat nexus and set themselves free from the mental-shackle that has enslaved them. Then only will they be able to give their best service to the state.

People may have lost faith in the political system, but still trust some engineers and the staff of the Department.

(The writer is a social researcher and thought leader)

http://theshillongtimes.com/2011/11/14/who-will-reform-the-pwd/

When citizens claim the state back

2011-11-14T04:18:00.001-08:00

By HH Mohrmen

None of the members of the Meghalaya Tourism Development Forum (MTDF) would have ever thought that their decision to down the curtaisn of the autumn fest 2011 on Sunday the second time around, would spark an important debate in the state of Meghalaya. The outcome of the is going to determine the policy of the government with regards to Sunday and most importantly change the attitude of the people towards recreation and keeping the day holy. Let us not get into the debate with regard to the origin of observing Sunday as a holy day, but what is important to remind ourselves is Sunday is not the only holy day observed by the citizen of this state.

For so long our state has been run by politician who wore their religion on their sleeves and flaunt their church credentials as tymmen basan, nongialam seng rangbah, nongialam seng longkmie and rangbah balang at will and with pride. Leaders in the above mentioned category sometimes even forget which hat to wear and when? It reminds me of an incident in Khliehriat some years ago when police had to resort to firing in a land dispute case which involved the local church. An important minister in the cabinet then declared that he would take to the streets if the government did not take action against those responsible. I immediately sent a letter to the editor of an esteemed Guwahati-based daily in the state and basically asked two questions. If a cabinet minister second only to the chief minister has to take matters to the street then who going to govern? The second and the most important question I asked JD Pohrmen the minister in question was whether as a minister he owes his allegiance to the constitution he swears to every five years or to the church in which he was then an important lay leader? The issue died down. Obviously Mr Pohrmen knew where to place his allegiance.

Even now we have many politicians who wear different hats, I am not saying that it is wrong to be an important member of a church, but the important point for the leaders to know is when to wear which hat? Take a recent example; the MPCC President also sends a letter to protest against closing the Autumn Fest on Sunday. I don’t know how the MPCC functions because in my life I have never joined any political party but I assume that the President is entitled to issue a statement in his capacity as a President. If that is the case then it is not difficult to arrive at the conclusion just by the very fact of knowing who the current President of the Congress party in Meghalaya is. Mr Friday Lyngdoh is not only an MLA and President of the MPCC but he is also a tymmen basan of a church. Again don’t get me wrong; I am not saying a tymmen basan cannot be an MLA (although I have my reservations with their age of retirement) but the question is, am I wrong to say that in this case his allegiance is obviously tilting towards the church than to the state and the party which also claims to be a secular party? No wonder the BJP dismisses the Congress’s secular claims as – pseudo secularism.

Ever since the Meghalaya was created there have been situations when church and government have got entangled in almost every strata of the government. We have cases of various government departments’ involvement in church conferences, synods, religious festivals or processions. There is even a saying that does the rounds that if a village wishes to see instant development, then it only needs to play host to a conference, a synod, a festival or important religious gathering. Why? There are two answers to the question. First it’s vote bank politics and second, because the MLA himself is the leaders of the church and being a leader of a religious group in an important decision making body of the state; he is bound to incline to something that will benefit his religion. In the western world before any faith group plans to construct their house of worship they have to prove to the government that the church also has ample parking space. Unlike in Meghalaya, church goers cannot just park in any available space on the road and cause traffic jam. The church is responsible for its own actions and is taken to task if it is found to fail on its obligations.

In Meghalaya we have leaders who wear religion on their sleeves and these leaders walk tall to the church pulpit or altar saying they have full faith in the church and trust in God but at the same time have their armed personal security guards close by. This is the kind of trust on God our leaders have even in the place of worship. Citizens have the right to question why our leaders have to bring security personnel to the place of worship. Or, can they in the first place use government vehicles to go to church when it is not even an official function? And these same politicians are calling to postpone the closing of the Fest because it falls on Sunday! Does that mean politicians will not squander government resources like using government vehicles, using their PSOs etc on Sunday? The fundamental question is separating state from religion.

It is time that the government separate state activities from religious functions. Perhaps the state should start asking the church to pay for using government resources for religious activities. Like paying for using the state machineries like the police for religious mega gatherings, pujas or festivals and use the money to pay bonus to our hard working policemen who sometime have to forego their day off to attend to the call of duty even on Sundays.

Why this obsession with Sunday? Does it mean that our being religious starts and ends in the church and only on Sundays? If Sunday is the only holy day of the week does it mean that week days are less holy hence we can do anything during the week except Sunday? It is too shallow an understanding to limit our being Christians only to one single day – Sunday. Do we also need to remind our Christian brethren that everybody knows Sunday is their holy day but that other faith groups too have their own holy days – the Sabbath of the Jews and the Seventh Day Adventists, Friday for those who follow Islam and Tuesday for Hindus? Will the NCP and the NGOs protest if the festival concludes on Saturday which is the holy day of our Seventh Day Adventist brethren? Will the same people protest if it is pre-poned to Friday which is the holy day of our Muslim brethrens (and FKJGP don’t tell me there are no Khasi followers of Islam) Or by implication are we trying to say that only Sunday is a holy day and that the holy days of other religions is not as holy?

Let us for example see what Jesus has to say about keeping the Sabbath. (KJV Mark 2: 27) “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath”, (KJV Mark 3: 4) “And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?” (NKJV Luke 6:9) “I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?” These are few verses in the gospel in which Jesus talked about the Sabbath. And mind you he was not even talking about Sunday.

Meghalaya is a secular state; it belongs to its citizens irrespective of one’s caste, creed or religious affiliation. No one has the right to impose his religious views on others. Democracy does not grant those in the majority the right to impose their will on the minority. Democracy is about respecting the right to freedom of the citizen and will function well only when we all respect one another’s rights. Even among Christians those (supposedly) good Christians who are of the opinion that is unchristian to close the fest on Sunday, have no right to impose a ban on those they believe are ‘not so good Christians’ who think that it is within their right to decide what to do on one fine Autumn Sunday afternoon.

And finally, thank goodness, at long last we have a Chief Minister who is a citizen first; a Chief Minister who does not wear his religion on his sleeves and with Dr Mukul Sangma in the helm of power, the citizens of the state are beginning to claim their rightful place in the government.

(The writer is a researcher and social thinker. He can be contacted at hh_mohrmen@yahoo.com)

http://theshillongtimes.com/2011/11/07/when-citizens-claim-the-state-back/

The legend of the Tiger man

2011-10-31T08:51:00.000-07:00

There are many tiger stories in the culture and milieu of the Pnar of Jaintia hills and though there are quite a few varieties of tigers in the area like leopard, royal Bengal tiger and clouded leopard but the stories mostly refers to the majestic royal Bengal Tiger known in local parlance as ‘khla-thoh-larein.’ Pnars who belong to Rymbai clan are nicknamed as ‘Rymbai-bah-khla’ referring to the legend in which the Tiger saved the progenitor of the clan. This is one such story which has tiger as a main character. But this is a story about a different type of Tiger; rather it is a story about a man who can transform himself into a tiger.

Since my childhood days I was fascinated by the stories of human or man in particular who could transform himself to a tiger. The folklore of the Pnars of Jaintia Hills in particular abound with stories of men who can change themselves to tiger (ki bru kylla khla). It is a common belief that such people are are shaman or traditional healers, also believed to processed certain kind of supernatural powers. In the olden days shamans are looked upon as people who not only heal people from all kinds of ailments but also possesses mysterious powers including the ability to transform themselves to any form, shape and figure or even the power to transcend beyond the ordinary worldly realm. In the past people are believed to suffer from being possessed by evil spirits or by being cursed by fellow human beings or living under a curse because of sins or transgressions of the previous generation. We believe that a person who misbehaves is attacked by spirits which dwell in the forest, the hills and the rivers.

My late father was not a traditional healer per se but by virtue of being someone who lived in the Bhoi Karbi Anglong a good part of his life, he is believed to possess healing powers for certain ailments. The Pnars generally believed that the Shaman from Bhoi known in local parlance as “ki stad Bhoi” possessed great supernatural powers which enable them to wrestle with any evil spirit including ghosts. I have close affinity with the place where my father spent his adolescence and I enjoy visiting Karbi area partly because my work too requires that I make frequent visits to the area. In search of the Tiger man in Karbi Anglong, I met an elderly man whose name is Elisar Bongrung from Longduk Anglong (previously known as Umkhyrmi/Lummoojem) who went to school in Shangpung. I asked ma Elizar if he knows or has heard about men who can change themselves to tigers because the Pnars believe that it was the Bhoi shaman (stad Bhoi) who could do so. The old man replied saying ‘ka Pnar sea wa juh kylla Khla’ (no it is the Pnar who can change themselves to tiger). The statement proves one thing, that both the Karbi and the Pnar share the legends of a tiger man albeit understandably with little variation.

In the Karbi tradition, they too have a legend of man who can transform himself into a tiger and he is known as, “Killing Chongkret”. My source informed that the word Killing could possibly has some connection with Killing a village in the Ri Bhoi District. And the tiger man they know has his origin in the Killing village of Ri Bhoi district. Killing Chongkret according to the Karbi is a weird looking animal with the body of a tiger, the face of bear, the foot of a pig or an elephant so on and so forth. In other words it is a beast with some feature of every animal in it. The Karbi’s tiger man is different from that of the Pnars because the Tiger man that the Pnars believe in is that of a man who can transform himself to a tiger and nothing but a tiger no more; no less.

My father used to narrate stories of the past when people would kill a tiger and on a closer inspection realize that it was a tiger-man or a man who had changed himself to a tiger that was killed. How did they arrive at the conclusion? The reason is because sometimes the dead tiger had ear rings on both ears and sometimes rings on its toe; and sometimes its foot still appears to be partly human not completely transformed to that of a tiger’s foot. This they believe proved that it was a tiger man that was killed.

In one of my visits to Musiaw village in search of the tiger man, I met a grand old man S. Dhar who told me the story of u Kat Ymbon of Shangpung village who can change himself to a tiger. U Kat Ymbon was the brother of u Joh Ymbon, Shangpung’s own Nostradamus who foretold many thing that really happened. Ma Shining Star Laloo had written a book about Joh Ymbon and his prophecy. Like Socrates Joh Ymbon was branded a lunatic by his contemporaries because they thought he was out of his mind and spoke nonsense.

It is part of the Pnar culture that during the sowing and harvesting season, farmers in the village usually help each other in a tradition call “chu-nong.” The tradition requires that the entire community join hands together in helping each other complete the sowing or harvesting of rice. The tradition is basically a process where each family helps another without having to pay anyone any wage except to provide food to the volunteers. It was said that in one such chu-nong that the community came to help Kat Ymbon. After they had completed with the day’s work on returning home, on the way Kat saw a fat pig which belong to a certain old woman. He asked her if she would sell the pig to enable him to feed his guest. The Old woman was not willing to sell her pig and Kat cursed that the tiger would come and eat the pig. As soon as eh said that a tiger came and killed the pig. The legends say that it was Kat Ymbon who transformed himself to a tiger and killed the pig and carried it to his hut in the village to feed his guests. Heibormi Sungoh who like me is a lay folklorist told me that the legend is still part of the traditional Niamtre home consecration ceremony of the Ymbon clan. Every time families from Ymbon clan sanctify a new home, the legend of u Kat Ymbon who can transform himself to a tiger is always part of the chanting that is being recited.

People in Mukhap village also share the legend of a medicine man from Karbi who was called to treat a person who was in a serious condition. The legend goes that after he had checked on the sick person, he looked inside his bag and realized that the particular item he needed to treat the person was missing. He told the family of the sick person what had happened and said that he had to go back to his village and collect the required medicine. But the problem is his native village is very far in the Bhoi area (now known as Karbi Anglong) and the way to the village is through a dense forest infested with all kinds of wild animals and which is therefore not safe to walk especially during the night. He told them not to worry and he would be back in no time. The legend has it that throughout the journey he alternately changed himself to a tiger and also to an eagle and returned to treat the sick person in time.

Legend also has it that men who can change themselves to a tiger did so with the help of a certain kind of a mysterious stone. The walking-tiger-man or rather the walking-man-tiger always has the unique stone close to him and whenever the situation warrants he would go find a secluded place where nobody can see him and lick the stone and he is immediately transformed to a ferocious tiger. The power is only used for good and noble purposes and a person’s exceptional power to turn to a tiger is a closely guarded secret, which one is not supposed to be reveal to anyone and that leads us to the last known story of tiger man, the story I call ‘the last of the tiger man.’

(The writer is a researcher and social thinker and can be contacted at hh_mohrmen@yahoo.com)

Innovation in Education

2011-10-25T10:34:00.001-07:00

By HH Mohrmen

This is not an advertorial or a paid article for Avenues. As a matter of fact whatever I write be it in Khasi or English I write out of a sense of conviction. Although I know Mark Stone the proprietor of Avenues and was acquainted with him through the few meetings that we had about four years or so, but that was it. I lost touch with Mark and had not met him since then and there was no communication between us after that. Mark’s brain child – Avenues which was initially started with the objective of training students to speak fluent English with correct accent and effective communication skills, has now expanded its operation to include Image makeover or grooming and etiquette. It was also said that the success of the recent Miss Shillong show organized by the Meghalaya Fashion Society is partly because of the venture the society made to rope in Avenues training academy to prepare the contestants for the show. According to media reports the contestants admitted that the entire grooming to prepare them for the show is an experience of a life time and the image makeover has in fact helped prepare them for life. How I wish I had the opportunity as a kid to learn the skills Avenues is providing to its learners now.

I have few personal experiences of relevance to the subject. I was a young man in the year 1989 and was fortunate to get financial support to continue my church ministerial education in England. And honestly, even the trip for visa interview in Kolkata was only my second trip to that city and my second visit to a place beyond Guwahati. Looking back, there are times when I felt like Crocodile Dundee. And because I was not familiar with Kolkata, I was not able to meet the person Sheba Travels had arranged to help me prepare for the interview at the British High Commission which is just a few blocks away from the Meghalaya House in Russell Street. Anyway, I managed to locate the British Consulate and get the interview at the appointed time since Sheba Travels had already submitted my visa application and the required documents for interview were intact. What is relevant to the write up is that the interview was not as the person in the Consulate had expected. The reason was of my own making. I could barely understand his heavily accented English. Fortunately, I already acquired a sponsorship and the interviewer had no other option but to grant me a student visa for six months stay in England. But, before allowing me to go, he said something like “I don’t know how you will be able to study in England when you cannot even understand English.” That was my first experience of culture shock and it began while I was still in India. If academy like Avenues had existed during those days in Shillong, I would have been the first to register for the course that would save me the embarrassment. And I am sure the courses and workshops the Academy provides will definitely equip me with the skill required for the interview.

The next incident that I would like to share is with regards to table manners. I was a young man from Jowai a small non-descript town; had my education in a government school in town and thereby had no training whatsoever on English etiquette. I did not have to wait long to receive my first lesson in table manners and ironically that happened on my very first dinner in England. Because of jetlag I slept like a baby and had no dinner on the evening of my arrival in England and it was arranged that the very next day I would travel with Rev. John Clifford in his van to Scotland. On that very evening I had dinner with John’s family which his ex wife had graciously prepared. On the dining table, I was given to sit next to John’s daughter Naomi. I said earlier that I did not even know that there is such a thing as table manners before I embarked on my journey to UK. So when dinner was served, I did not even have a clue what I am supposed to do with the cutlery before me on the table. I knew not if I should hold a fork on my right hand and a knife on my left or the other way round? I thought for a second and then decided it is easier to just copy Naomi. Smart move I commended myself. Then John who saw me copying every move Naomi made, asked me “Mohrmen are you left handed?” I said “No I am not.” then John immediately replied, “well Naomi is.” Dear me! I was caught on the wrong foot. On many occasions I offended my colleagues in the institute dining hall by passing my soup bowl or my plates while some of my friends at the table were still eating.

Well, now people who plan to travel abroad can take the course that institutes like Avenues offers to prepare them for the trip. Avenues has indeed opened up new opportunities for learning, which is not part of school or college curriculum in the state.

One of the very few institutes of higher learning in the state with innovative ideas is the Martin Luther Christian University, but unfortunately in spite of the efforts that the University had made, it has become a target of negative publicity from many quarters of society. Instead of focusing our attention on the courses and the services that the University has to offer to the learner and the state, we waste our time debating on the question of ownership of the University. Is it not true that there is a Khasi saying which says that we should judge the tree by the fruit that it produces? (bishar ia u dieng da ki soh kiba u pynmih) Our elders were right when they said “people only hit the tree which bears fruit” (ki briew ki kawang maw tang ia u dieng ba seisoh). While other Universities are still functioning like industries whose role is simply to issue degrees, MLCU under the leadership of its vice chancellor Glenn Kharkongor has not only come up with the idea of creating the department of indigenous studies in the University but it was able to persuade the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council to pass the Bill for preservation and promotion of Khasi Indigenous medicines. The Bill will go a long way in enabling the University to start a course of study and conduct further research in Khasi indigenous medicines and it will also help improve and modernize the traditional healing system prevalent in the state. In my opinion this is what is expected of a University, – to innovate and come up with new ideas that will help the community and the state and not merely to increase the number of young people with degrees queuing for a white colour job in the government employment offices.

I mention this because I also am involved with the department of Indigenous Studies of the University and I hope to be able to make a little contribution towards this noble endeavour. My area of interest is indigenous religion and culture of Jaintia Hills and I think it is not an over statement to say that there are still enormous avenues for studies in the department of Indigenous Studies. The University’s effort to preserve, protect and promote indigenous studies and culture is a step in the right direction and I hope is not too late for MLCU to embark on the mission. Since we have lost most of our traditional wisdom and culture, I hope MLCU’s efforts will help protect some of these ancient wisdoms for posterity.

Now that the dust has settled, I hope the University’s detractors will let the University do what it is expected of it; that is to produce young people who can contribute to the welfare and development of the society and the state. I also hope MLCU will not follow the beaten track and spend its time and resources just to increase the numbers of young people with diplomas but more importantly that the University will help stir young minds to innovate and bring change in the society.

(The author is a research scholar and social thinker)

Bloody week in Meghalaya’s history

2011-10-17T08:15:00.001-07:00

The week that was will be remembered as the bloodiest week in the history of the state of Meghalaya. That three people were murdered in a span of two days in two different districts of the state is not something that people of the state should allow to pass by without thorough introspection. It was sheer coincidence that I sent and article to this paper on human sacrifice which I had researched for many years now and was able to complete during the last Durga Puja period. When the paper hit the stands I felt very uncomfortable fearing lest the readers would misunderstand my position and get me wrong as someone who glorifies human sacrifice. And with the two incidents of murder getting first lead in all the newspapers almost every day, it only got me more worried. I thought to myself that maybe it was wrong to send the article for publication at this particular juncture.

My initial reaction to the first report of the Shillong Times on the brutal murder of a seven year old boy in what is suspected to be a form of human sacrifice is to dismiss it as unreal. I said to a close friend, “I thought human sacrifice (at least in Meghalaya) are only myths and exist in the realm of legends and folk tales only.” But I am wrong. We have read in the news, reports of suspected human sacrifices performed in different parts of our country, but perhaps this is the first time that such an incident has occurred in our State. But I am more worried to see the kind of reaction or to put it bluntly the lack of any reaction from the people of the State against the inhumane act. Except for few letters to the editor carried by the Shillong Times, civil societies, the NGOs or even the Church maintained a stoic silence. Not a single voice of condemnation against the drastic act was heard, except the Central Puja Committee. I asked myself, “Why this indifference?” Is it because the family that lost a precious soul is a non-tribal family and that the father was a mere water porter? What would happen (God forbid) if the affected family is a tribal family – a Garo, a Khasi or a Pnar or even a rich and well to do non-tribal family?

Even the GSU remained silent, quire forgetting that the name of Tura and Garo hills is also tarnished by the incident. Very soon this satanic act will also pass; people will forget about it and the criminals involved in the heinous crime will also be released, maybe even be reinstated in their respective services and enjoy all the benefits due, because the poor family cannot afford to fight for justice and the life of young boy will just be another number in the statistics book and a blemish in our history.

The next part of this write-up is about the ‘menshohnoh’ phenomenon which continues to be the cause of untimely death of many poor and innocent people. Hundreds of people were killed in the entire Khasi Jaintia hills district suspected to be ‘nongshohsnoh, men-ai-ksuid, nongri-thlen, nongai-bih and keepers of blei-iing -Taro. If one is found to walk aimlessly in the village he is a suspected men-shohnoh; if one gets rich too one is suspected to be nong-ri-thlen, nong-ri-taro. This is a unique Khasi Pnar phenomena and to borrow from what my friend Mainpillar Passah who said, “If an outsider is found walking in the village during odd time nothing will happen to him, but if a Khasi Pnar is found to roam in the same village at an odd hour then he is suspected to be menshohnoh.”

The pertinent point in this case is that the murder happened in Sohra where the British came to settle first and which become the cradle of Christianity and the place where the foundation of education in the Khasi Jaintia hills was laid. One would expect that the people of Sohra would be more educated and sane enough not to lynch anybody merely on suspicion; unfortunately neither the supposed enlightenment from the church nor education can prevent things like this from happening again and again across the Khasi Jaintia and Ri Bhoi District. Come to think of it, one wonders what the position of the church is vis- a- vis the beliefs of menshohnoh, nongai-ksuid, ka bih, ka taro etc?’

Sohra is also the foundation “Ka Akor Khasi;” (Khasi etiquette, ethics and moral uprightness) which we are all proud of. But in this unpleasant incident, akor Khasi has taken a back seat to give way to the worst form of inhuman behaviour. The question that fellow Khasi Pnars ask is, “Where has the akor Khasi gone?’ Is this the sign that akor Khasi is gradually losing ground and ironically in the place of its own birth? If in a mob fury, a person is killed, isn’t that a sin (ka pap ka sang) too? There is no justification for killing a person. In this case isn’t it true that the perpetrator/s of the crime are ‘the real menshohnoh?’

Certainly the incident could not have taken place without the knowledge of the village dorbar or at least the headman. To take leaf out of the letter to the editor ‘probably the three were put to trial in a kangaroo court of the village and were pronounced guilty by the same.’ How can people take the law in their own hands? Does the dorbar shnong have the authority to try and punish anybody? How can we let this happen in the land of what we Khasi Pnar proudly claim to be “Ka Ri tipbriew tipblei?” I have heard that the dorbar shnong also have lockups. Who gave the dorbar shnong the authority to keep lock-ups? Is the rangbah shnong qualified to conduct any sort of trial? What is the authority of a dorbar shnong anyway? Can it pronounce capital punishment? It is imperative that the District Councils come up with a white paper to define the powers and functions of the dorbar shnong and perhaps come up with a list of do’s and don’ts to prevent rangbah shnongs from abusing their powers like ostracizing villagers for having the courage to challenge the rangbah shnong.

The recent incident should make every thinking Khasi Pnar introspect. As a community we need to ask ourselves where do we go from here? Thankfully, the law has taken its own course and the culprits were arrested. But the question is, is this enough? Few week or months from now, we will again read another report of menshohnoh being lynched or beaten black and blue and some families will unfortunately lose their near and dear ones, for no fault at all. When will this stop? Isn’t it time we all say, ‘enough is enough’, ‘no more lynching people in the name of menshohnoh, nong-ai-ksuid’ and let the rule of law prevail. Less than hundred people died of AIDS in the state and the government spends crores of rupees to make people aware of the threat from the disease. Isn’t it time that the government also consider making people aware of the threat of believing in the idea of menshohnoh, nongai ksuid etc. Perhaps the church too has a vital role to play in educating people that the idea of menshohnoh is but a myth, the place of which is in the Khasi Pnar folklore.

(The writer is a researcher and social thinker)

A Scapegoat for human offered at the Durga Temple in Nartiang I was blessed to grow up in a surrounding abound with fascinating folktales and legends that elders tells and retell their kids from one generation to another, I also owe it to my liberal upbringing to be able to appreciate and be objective in my studies on the subject without which considering my position in the church, I would not even been permit to do the kind of work I am doing. One of the stories in our folklore which fascinate me most is the stories of human sacrifices that were performed in the village of Nartiang in Jaintia hills. The religious way of life of the people of Nartiang village is unique in way that people were able to synthesize the two different religious traditions - Hinduism and the Indigenous religion and blend the two harmoniously into one. The stories of human sacrifices also flourished since time immemorial in the two systems of religious practices that the people of the village adopted as their religious way of life. One such stories, is the tale of human sacrifice performed by the legendary Mar Phalangki of Nartiang but before we continue with the story of this particular human sacrifices incident, it is important for the readers to understand who are the Mars in the Pnar of Jaintia Folklores? Mars are men with extraordinary caliber patronized by the Royal Court of the then Jaintia Kingdom. It is believed that Mars are of giant size and the King used them in the battlefields to defeat the enemies and also to perform extraordinary feats for the King. Another opinion is that Mars are rank or status in the Royal army, Mar is perhaps the equivalent of a General. In the famous Nartiang Monolith Park, the many monoliths and table stones, big and small have one common story that the monoliths and table stones were put up to commemorate the reign of certain Jaintia king, but it is the largest and the tallest monolith of them all which has a story unique of its own. The largest and the tallest monolith in the park and perhaps in the entire Khasi Pnar is believed to be the handy work of u Mar Phalangki. The giant tried to erect the monolith several times but failed to do so, finally they decided to seek gods’ intervention by performing egg divination. The sign from the egg divination implies that the gods require human head; human has to be sacrificed for the stone to stand tall was the clear message from the gods. It was a market day and people gathered around to watch the show of strength and finally Mar Phalangki came up with the idea to appease the gods. He dropped a lime and tobacco container made of gold (known locally as dabi/dabia) making it appear like it was not purposely done. Without any suspicion of the deadly trick; one of the spectators immediately went down to collect the golden container from the pit dug to put the monolith. Mar Phalangki immediately lifted the huge monolith and put it on the pit over the man’s body and thus human was sacrificed and the stone stand tall as it is till now. Legends have it that the person sacrifice was a “Bhoi” the name local use for the people we now call Karbi, legends and folktales provide evidence that the Pnars of Jaintia Hills and the Karbis shared a very strong bond and to some extend even common culture since time immemorial. For instance the Karbis also has a legend that there was a Mar from the Karbi tribe who served the erstwhile Jaintia king and his name is Thong Nok Be from a Teron Clan. Ma Dontha Dkhar also said that elders in Nartiang told him that once the time to sacrifice approaches, by divine intervention a man mostly a Bhoi or somebody from the elaka Nongkhlieh would in a way voluntarily come to offer oneself for sacrifice. The other human sacrifice is the tradition which still continues to this day and is being performed by the Priest of the Durga temple in Nartiang of behalf of his King (the last of the Jaintia Kings adopted Hinduism) in the ancient time. If one would visit the Durga temple in Nartiang, and if you are lucky to be greeted by Uttam Deshmukhya, the young priest of the temple who claimed to be the 27 descendant of the first Priest institute by the Jaintia King and once you are inside the temple, he would take the very old traditional warrior double-edged-sword (wait thma) of the Pnar from wooden rack over the head of the goddess’ image and proudly show you what is believed to be the sword used to perform human sacrifice to appease goddess Durga or her many incarnations in the days gone by. In front of the sanctum sanctorum there is a square hole which is believe to be an opening of a tunnel from where the severed head of the person offered for sacrificed rolled down to the Myntang river hundreds of meters away from the temple. He would also tell you that in the days gone by; his ancestors performed human sacrifice on behalf of the King and also tell you the human sacrifice was stopped by the British, but that was not the end of the story. Taking you round the sanctum sanctorum; he will take a white mask of a human face hanged on one of the wooden post near the goddess’ image and tell you that though the British has stopped human sacrifice but not for good. Symbolically human sacrifice is still going on and instead of human; a goat in the garb of a human is sacrificed in the Durga Temple every Durga Puja. As per tradition a goat which represent human, is being offered till date by the Daloi on behalf of the King, though the Kingship and the Kingdom is no more, the tradition continues. The black goat the Daloi offer must be a healthy spotless and is not sacrificed along with other animals on the common day of sacrifice, but the symbolic human sacrificed known in local parlance as “Blang synniaw” or mid-night goat was performed in the dead of the night before the common sacrificial day. Before the goat which symbolize human was sacrificed, a Pnar turban was put over its head and a pair of earrings known as ‘kyndiam’ was pierced on both of the goats ears and a dhoti (yu-slein) was tied around its waist. To complete formal transformation of the goat to a symbolic human, a white mask of a human face was placed on the goat’s face and the goat is ready for a special sacrifice. The symbolic human sacrifice was not only very strangely performed in the middle of the night, but the Priest also informed that while performing the sacrifice, the temple is completely closed for anybody except for the Priest all by himself and the sacrificial goat. Even the Daloi was only part of the sacrifice that was performed on the same night infront of the temple but he is forbidden from being part of the symbolic human sacrificed. In other words the tradition of human sacrifice still continues albeit only the offering (thank goodness) is not a human anymore but a real scapegoat. So, if you think that the English has invented the word “scapegoat,” think again because the Durga temple in Nartiang has literarily killed a he goat every year instead of a human. A he goat which symbolically represents a human was sacrifices every year to appease the deity for the sin human being committed and the sacrificial goat is literarily a scapegoat because it has taken the place of a human in the altar.

2011-10-10T08:54:00.001-07:00

I was blessed to grow up in a surrounding abound with fascinating folktales and legends that elders tells and retell their kids from one generation to another, I also owe it to my liberal upbringing to be able to appreciate and be objective in my studies on the subject without which considering my position in the church, I would not even been permit to do the kind of work I am doing. One of the stories in our folklore which fascinate me most is the stories of human sacrifices that were performed in the village of Nartiang in Jaintia hills. The religious way of life of the people of Nartiang village is unique in way that people were able to synthesize the two different religious traditions - Hinduism and the Indigenous religion and blend the two harmoniously into one. The stories of human sacrifices also flourished since time immemorial in the two systems of religious practices that the people of the village adopted as their religious way of life.

One such stories, is the tale of human sacrifice performed by the legendary Mar Phalangki of Nartiang but before we continue with the story of this particular human sacrifices incident, it is important for the readers to understand who are the Mars in the Pnar of Jaintia Folklores? Mars are men with extraordinary caliber patronized by the Royal Court of the then Jaintia Kingdom. It is believed that Mars are of giant size and the King used them in the battlefields to defeat the enemies and also to perform extraordinary feats for the King. Another opinion is that Mars are rank or status in the Royal army, Mar is perhaps the equivalent of a General.

In the famous Nartiang Monolith Park, the many monoliths and table stones, big and small have one common story that the monoliths and table stones were put up to commemorate the reign of certain Jaintia king, but it is the largest and the tallest monolith of them all which has a story unique of its own. The largest and the tallest monolith in the park and perhaps in the entire Khasi Pnar is believed to be the handy work of u Mar Phalangki. The giant tried to erect the monolith several times but failed to do so, finally they decided to seek gods’ intervention by performing egg divination. The sign from the egg divination implies that the gods require human head; human has to be sacrificed for the stone to stand tall was the clear message from the gods. It was a market day and people gathered around to watch the show of strength and finally Mar Phalangki came up with the idea to appease the gods. He dropped a lime and tobacco container made of gold (known locally as dabi/dabia) making it appear like it was not purposely done. Without any suspicion of the deadly trick; one of the spectators immediately went down to collect the golden container from the pit dug to put the monolith. Mar Phalangki immediately lifted the huge monolith and put it on the pit over the man’s body and thus human was sacrificed and the stone stand tall as it is till now. Legends have it that the person sacrifice was a “Bhoi” the name local use for the people we now call Karbi, legends and folktales provide evidence that the Pnars of Jaintia Hills and the Karbis shared a very strong bond and to some extend even common culture since time immemorial. For instance the Karbis also has a legend that there was a Mar from the Karbi tribe who served the erstwhile Jaintia king and his name is Thong Nok Be from a Teron Clan. Ma Dontha Dkhar also said that elders in Nartiang told him that once the time to sacrifice approaches, by divine intervention a man mostly a Bhoi or somebody from the elaka Nongkhlieh would in a way voluntarily come to offer oneself for sacrifice.

The other human sacrifice is the tradition which still continues to this day and is being performed by the Priest of the Durga temple in Nartiang of behalf of his King (the last of the Jaintia Kings adopted Hinduism) in the ancient time. If one would visit the Durga temple in Nartiang, and if you are lucky to be greeted by Uttam Deshmukhya, the young priest of the temple who claimed to be the 27 descendant of the first Priest institute by the Jaintia King and once you are inside the temple, he would take the very old traditional warrior double-edged-sword (wait thma) of the Pnar from wooden rack over the head of the goddess’ image and proudly show you what is believed to be the sword used to perform human sacrifice to appease goddess Durga or her many incarnations in the days gone by. In front of the sanctum sanctorum there is a square hole which is believe to be an opening of a tunnel from where the severed head of the person offered for sacrificed rolled down to the Myntang river hundreds of meters away from the temple. He would also tell you that in the days gone by; his ancestors performed human sacrifice on behalf of the King and also tell you the human sacrifice was stopped by the British, but that was not the end of the story.

Taking you round the sanctum sanctorum; he will take a white mask of a human face hanged on one of the wooden post near the goddess’ image and tell you that though the British has stopped human sacrifice but not for good. Symbolically human sacrifice is still going on and instead of human; a goat in the garb of a human is sacrificed in the Durga Temple every Durga Puja. As per tradition a goat which represent human, is being offered till date by the Daloi on behalf of the King, though the Kingship and the Kingdom is no more, the tradition continues. The black goat the Daloi offer must be a healthy spotless and is not sacrificed along with other animals on the common day of sacrifice, but the symbolic human sacrificed known in local parlance as “Blang synniaw” or mid-night goat was performed in the dead of the night before the common sacrificial day. Before the goat which symbolize human was sacrificed, a Pnar turban was put over its head and a pair of earrings known as ‘kyndiam’ was pierced on both of the goats ears and a dhoti (yu-slein) was tied around its waist. To complete formal transformation of the goat to a symbolic human, a white mask of a human face was placed on the goat’s face and the goat is ready for a special sacrifice. The symbolic human sacrifice was not only very strangely performed in the middle of the night, but the Priest also informed that while performing the sacrifice, the temple is completely closed for anybody except for the Priest all by himself and the sacrificial goat. Even the Daloi was only part of the sacrifice that was performed on the same night infront of the temple but he is forbidden from being part of the symbolic human sacrificed. In other words the tradition of human sacrifice still continues albeit only the offering (thank goodness) is not a human anymore but a real scapegoat.

So, if you think that the English has invented the word “scapegoat,” think again because the Durga temple in Nartiang has literarily killed a he goat every year instead of a human. A he goat which symbolically represents a human was sacrifices every year to appease the deity for the sin human being committed and the sacrificial goat is literarily a scapegoat because it has taken the place of a human in the altar.

Jaintia Hills a calamity waiting to happen

2011-10-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

In the early nineties while travelling from Guwahati to Shillong in an old cranky Ambassador taxi, the taxi driver on learning that I was from Jaintia hills District, referring to the coal deposits in the District, said “you people are lucky lot, God has blessed you with immense wealth.” I hesitantly replied I don’t know Bah, if its blessing or a curse,” and I further add, “one thing I know for sure is that only a tiny section of the population in the district get rich.” Few years later bah Arkin Pariat who was posted as Transmission Executive of the All India Radio Jowai, during one of our informal chat, suggested that the inscription in the signpost at Umwasoo welcoming visitors to Jaintia should instead read “Welcome to Jaintia ills.” I mention this because bah Arkin in his capacity as an officer in the AIR, Jowai has visited many places in Jaintia and I take this suggestion as an observation made by someone who is not from the district and thing get worse after that.

Now two decades later if anybody would ask me the same question, without any hesitation I would confidently say, it is a curse. I know this is only my opinion and I am allowed to have one, I also know there others particularly those who have become rich from mining will not agree with me, but what is going on in the district in general and the sub division in particular only prove otherwise.

In the span of two months two esteemed dailies of the region the Telegraph and the Shillong Times has carried out feature stories of raging crime scene in the area. The ST has a screamed line on that day calling Jaintia hills the epicenter of crime. There are crimes news reported from area almost every day, the most recent one was the attempted robbery by armed gang on a Petrol refilling station at Tuber. Yet surprisingly or not surprisingly, neither the district administration nor the district police take note of the report. ‘Not surprise’ because anybody who know the area and has done some work in the Khliehriat sub division know that the crime graph in the area head north every summer because it is a lean period and mining activities is at its low peak due to rain. Then crime rate falls once the rain stops and mining activities start picking up again and the cycle continues year after year. The only different is the crime rate increase and crimes become heinous as time goes by.

If a coal mine owner said that mining is a blessing then the question that begs the answer is why are they leaving their village for Shillong or Jowai? Isn’t it true that they left their home because the environment has been destroyed, all the water bodies over and underground are polluted and come winter coal dust and now fly ash particles envelope the atmosphere? Before the NEEPCO shared the finding of the study conducted by the company that the life span of the Kupli Hydro electric is going to be affected by the acidic water flow from Jaintia hills, before the MECL started the construction of the Myntdu-Lechkha project, before the report of the Mass dead of fishes on the Lukha river in the year 2007, it is already known at least to the local environmentalist that the water in the most of the rivers in Jaintia hills are polluted. Now the only major rivers in the District free from the pollution cause by coal mining are the Umngot and the river Myntang, but for how long? Recently bah Allan West, excited by the big catch he caught from his fishing trip to Umngot, suggested in a Facebook chat that we start popularizing Umngot as anglers’ paradise or fishing hot spot of the state because Kynshi in the West Khasi Hills is also being affected by coal mining. When I reason it out to him that Umngot is also on the threat of getting polluted from coal mining in the Chkhentalang and Jarain area of Amlarem Sub division, and the dumping of coal on the side of NH 44 from Mookyndur to Pommura, Bah Allan said he will use google earth to see for himself if that is true and that was the end of the conversation.

The news of earth cave in or the crack of the earth in the village of Sohkymphor was first report on the social media network by a young man Lalam Manner who was obviously close to the village and posted on the Facebook page. Lallam was panic when he reported the news and was concern about the safety of the people travelling to Sohkymphor because the day after was a market day. The next day reporter from Jowai visited the village and posted the photographs on the Save Jaintia Rivers and Cave of Jaintia hills facebook page for everybody to see. The crack which has cut the Public Work department road right in the middle and has also damaged many houses including RCC building without even a faintest tremor is a cause of concern. The entire Khilehriat sub division where the rat hole mining system is practice is precariously sitting over a network of mine caverns crisscrossing each other; in fact every coalmine village is another Sohkymphor waiting to happen. If the earth in the area caves in without any tremor, then the question is what will happen if God forbid an earthquake of a high magnitude hit the area? Is the district disaster management prepared for such eventuality?

Let us not be prophet of dome but instead look at the problem that people will face in the coming winter months, once the coal business starts picking up again. I know public memory is very short, so let me remind you of the traffic jam last year on the entire national highway 44 that we had all experienced which has even affected the flow of traffic in Shillong. Well it is time to prepare for the worst, there are already thousand of trucks transporting coal from the district during peak season and add to that there are 10 cement plants in the district which uses trucks to import raw materials for their plants and export cement outside the state. The annual production of each cement companies is at least one million ton per year and 10 cement plants produces minimum 100 million tons of cement per annum; I will let our esteemed readers calculate the number of trucks needs to do all the transportation work. Isn’t it time for the people of Jowai and Shillong to raise our voice against the mushrooming of cement plants because their trucks not only pollute our environment but apart from using the road that we all paid for, they cause undue harassment to the population of the three districts, the Jaintia Hils, the East Khasi hills and the Ri Bhoi District? Why should we let the Daloi and the Rangbah Shnong of Thangskai or for that matter any elaka or villages decide what is going to affect us too? In the recent public hearing for Adhunik mining area, not only the Daloi, the Rangbah Shnong support the mining in the forested area, but even the MDCs of the JHADC sent letter of support in favour of mining in the area, and these are the institutions that are supposed to protect the tribal interest! One wonder if these semi-educated MDCs would only read the three parts feature reports “Forest or non-forest: Definition after destruction?” carried by the Shillong Times will they still support the mining?

Now should we not also blame the government which is yet to come up with a mining policy even after four decades has lapsed since coal was first commercially mined in the Jaintia hills? Bah B.M. Lanong Minister incharge of mining, is a seasoned politician who know when is the right time to open his mouth, hence it is not surprise that bah Bindo seldom mention the mining policy before the assembly. Bah Bindo has now shoved the mining policy under the carpet and God only knows when will the draft see the light of the day and he too is the leader of a regional party which claims to protect tribal interest. One only hope that a situation will not arise that by the time the policy is implemented there will be no more rivers to protect and many Sohkymphor has happened and then; by that time it will be too little too late for the government to implemented the policy.

Ka Durbar Paidbah in the Cyber Spacet title

2011-10-10T08:49:00.001-07:00

If you for quite some time have been using social media network like facebook and try to add new friends to your page, chances are that once you are able to locate your friend you would also have at least two common facebook friends and most likely the two shared friends would either be Paul Lyngdoh, kong Ampareen Lyngdoh her brother Robert Lyngdoh, the leaders of the opposition Conrad Sangma and our MP ma Vincent Pala. These are the most sought after facebook friends that our young lass and lads would like to add to their facbook friends list. Kong Ampareen has few months back declared that she had crossed the five thousand numbers of friends on her facebook friends list and request help from her cyber pals to help her deal with the issue. And tips and suggestions came raining down on her page like shower of July rain.

It is indeed good to see our techno savvy young politicians using the new available technology to reach out to the public, but except for the brother and sister duo, the remaining politician have merely been silent spectators on what is going on in the social media network world. Or maybe they have an exclusive close-knit circle of friends where they share their thoughts, information and ideas. I occasionally saw ma Vincent wishing his facebook friends on their birthdays, this is of course one kind gesture of our MP but one seldom see bah Paul or even bah Conrad writing anything on their walls to share with hundreds of their facebook friends. Surely all of them use the net on daily basis and I don’t believe a person who is hooked to facebook will not get addicted to it. A friend from the USA compared having a facebook page with keeping a big dog as a pet which one has to feed at regular intervals. So even if it may look like some of them are not actively participating in the facebook activities, I am very sure that they would skim through their pages once in a while that they are connect to the internet. But the question is why they remain mere silent spectator?

Bah Robert occasionally shared thought provoking saying or quotable quotes on his wall and the ever adventurous kong Ampareen went a step further by joining in the discussion. Few months back after the recent cabinet reshuffle when she first took charge of the department of urban development kong Ampareen shared her thoughts and even listen to the ideas her facebook friends shared with her. Let’s look it this way; the lady is perhaps the first politician in the state or maybe in the region to hold her Janata ki durbar (dorbar paidbah) in the cyber space. When I first saw kong Ampareen’s response to the queries and suggestion made on her facebook page, I thought ‘this is neat,’ imagine if our politician no longer have to spend time to meet the public but instead use the technology available on the internet to seek suggestions and share ideas with the public and the public too, share their ideas with their representative vice-versa. How convenient will that be? But I know others will have a different opinion that the idea is not feasible and not conducive because people using computer in the state consist of a small minority of the urban population and internet penetration in the state is almost negligible. But with the rapid advancement of telecom technology; I personally think the day is not far when this will all change, and change will happen very fast.

Internet and social networking; like it or not is here to stay, it has become a platform through which people share information, photo videos and what have you. In fact facebook is just the beginning, now we have another social networking media in the offing -google plus. The IBM advertisement said that in the future people will share terabytes of information in a day on the internet and computing will no longer happen in a box. Imagine a situation where people are spoilt for choice of information that is available on one’s palm in a matter of a second.

Media and the process of information dissemination will see a sea change in the near future, media as we know it today will cease to exist. Even today, before the mainstream media broadcasted about the Seal attack to kill Bin Laden in Abbotabad, the news has already been shared by twitter users. Last week when a friend asked me did you see the PCN story of a boy from Rymbai village that can play drums at a very young age? My answer was I saw it on Facebook few weeks ago. News and broadcasting firm will have to change with time because information sharing will be at the individual level, and if the news is worth sharing then people will keep on sharing it or at least like it. Citizen journalism is one such example of how public tries to create their own news and share it with the public; the different is only in this case it is still with the help of the media houses. In the near future news and entertainment will not be rate by any institute or company but by the people themselves. In the case of the young percussionist from Rymbai, the story was first shared on the facebook and then a smart journalist was able to gauge the news value of the story and share it on the mainstream media.

Internet is indeed a liberating force; it also allows a level playing field for everyone as long as one has access to internet which is not difficult these days. Social Networking is also not just about sharing information, photographs and videos, but it also about airing one’s opinion on issues dear to oneself. There are facebook page like the save the caves and river of Jaintia hills which has more than one thousand friends and it is a space where people share information on the subject and even air their opinion against illegal coal and lime stone mining that is going on in the state. It is a place where members share information and web link related to the adverse impact of mining. At the end of the day members came out of the page armed with much more information than when they were before they visit the page and hopefully will be able to take an informed decision on the issue.

However this is not to say that all is rosy in the cyber space, there are rogue element in the internet too. Crooks in the guise of a fake identity, can create problem in the net, in fact it is much easy for scoundrel to create problem in the internet where nobody can identify him and one need advance technology to tract their digital trail on the internet. Whatever the case may be internet will remain a platform through which information are shared and collect and people who can make use of the technology will certainly have an edge over those who cannot.

In the light of the above fact one cannot help but imagine the role social network will play in the ensuing 2013 election. Will it not be an advantage for kong Ampareen especially now that we know she already have five thousand plus friends on her friends’ list. And the other question is; is it ethically right for politicians to use social network for campaigning in the next election? If it is, then it will be the cheapest and the most convenient mode of campaign available. In that case social network media will also replace the election campaign rally and election campaign (election dorbar) will partly happen on the internet. Perhaps it is time for the various parties to at least start party’s own facbook page to woo young voters to the party.

Right to education: Who’s right is the government talking about?

2011-10-10T08:48:00.000-07:00

It is one of those rare cases where both the opposition and the treasury bench discarded their animosity and partisan politics to unanimously support a resolution in house. Normally one would see legislator’s rare unity in the house only when it comes to supporting the bill to enhance their pay and perks or to increase the MLA Constituency development scheme. But this autumn session our legislator has once again risen beyond partisan politics when it comes to education.

The resolution that was agreed in the august house was to write to the Central government to bring an amendment to certain section of the act on the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Govt. to move centre for RTE Act amendment ST September 13, 2011). The basis of the move was because section 20 of the RCF&CE Rule 2010 says that seventy five percent of the strength of the school managing committee shall be constituted from amongst the parents and the guardians of the children studying in the school. It was reported that the house agreed that the provision on this section will have adverse impact on the school run by religious minority especially in the state of Meghalaya where majority of the prominent schools are being run by Christian missionaries, the paper reported. It was also mentioned that it is highly impossible for a small state like Meghalaya to have seventy five percent of parents’ representation in the School Managing Committee (SMC).

I for one fail to understand the ground on which our legislators assume that it is impossible to have 75% parents and guardian (P&G) representation in the SMC? Isn’t this; a case of the august house over-under-estimate the capacity of the citizens of this state? What kind of SMC members does the government have in mind? I know of a former Lyngdoh or Headman of a village who can barely read and write and yet when the Nongtalang College was in dire financial constraint, the gentleman will open the string of his purse to support the college. This story was told by the former Principal of the college who spend few of his retirement years helping the college. If a parent of a student who studies in the school is not fit to be a member of a SMC then, tell me can a non-parent be a better candidate to the membership of the SMC?

The question is who’s right is the government talking about here? The requirement in the bill is that 75% of the members of the SMC should comprises of the parents and guardian of the students who studies in the school, and if I am in the same page with the government that the education we are talking about is still a child centered education, then is there a better person than the parents of the child to be in the School Managing Committee?

Obviously the government and the entire Assembly is only trying to protect the interest of those who govern the schools in the state particularly the faith base organization than the interest of the child. I am still confused when ever people use the term minority institutions in the state of Meghalaya. Are Christians still minority in the Christian state? Can we still call the schools run by Christian missionaries in the state minority institutions? This is a question that the government needs to answer. The government including the opposition and the fence sitters have failed to understand or rather choose to ignore the truth that the spirit of the bill centers around the interest of the child not the managing committees whoever that may be. It is the interest of the child that is paramount here and I cannot foresee a parent who would not like to see that her child have a good education. How can the sponsors be a faith group or the private trust claim that they are expert in taking care of the children’s interest and have children’s interest high on their priority than their parents?

The other question is why would the FBO be afraid of the MC which will include 75 % of P&G of the children; again if the education that the school provides is still a child-centered education? If the interests of the FBOs are really to provide education to a child only, I don’t see why mere inclusion of parents as members of the SMC is a threat to the FBOs run institutes? My fear is that the MC of the schools sees the inclusion of the parents in the MC as an intrusion to the way they operate the schools. If 75% of the SMC are P&G then they will know how much the school really earn from the school fees? How much they pay their teachers? The parents will also know the fact that there are schools which are on deficit patterns and yet they still charge school fees from the parents. The parents will also know that annually, schools earns lakhs of rupees from school fees and in spite of that they pay their teachers peanuts and they will also know that real cost of the school bags, school’s uniforms that the SMC supplied to the students every beginning of the school season some of which are not necessary in the first place. With this information the members of the SMC can question the MC including the FBOs where and how has the remaining money been used?

Last year when I request for information as per RTI Act from the prominent schools in the Shillong on the method they use to admit students to class 11 science, one of the prominent school, did not provide me the information on the ground that they have not had any support from the government (till last year) so they are not bind by the RTI Act and this is a prominent school run by one of the largest FBO in the state that I am talking about. I was hoping that the FBO institutes have nothing to hide and whatever they do is transparent and do not need RTI in the first place and they have all the information readymade, but I was wrong. Inclusion of 75 % P&G will only help bring transparency in the way the school is governed and I don’t see the reason for the MC especially FBO or the government to be afraid of transparency?

Inclusion of 75 % of parents and guardian as member of the school managing committee will only help to improve the way schools are governed, because parents and guardian are the only persons who are really interested in their wards education, not the minister or the officers in the education department or in some cases even the promoters of the school. Therefore if in the education policy of the government of Meghalaya the interest of the child is paramount, then the propose resolution should be dropped. The FBOs or any private entity which owns schools have no reason to be afraid that they may lose ownership of the school. Ownership of school will still remain with them because the 75% members of the school managing committee will come and go; no parent would be foolish enough to even contemplate on taking over any institute when the title and ownership of the land and the building is in the FBOs name. Moreover parent’s interest in the school will only remain as long as their kids are in the school, and the school can nominate the 75% members on a rotation basis so the chance of parent taking over the school is simply not there. In fact the rule is an opportunity for the sponsors to prove to the world that their motive is to provide education and they have the interest of the child high on their agenda and they are not interest in controlling the school (well as long as they own it). The rule is also a perfect opportunity for the FBOs to show to the world that they are not so much for power or control but to provide the best of education for the child and they are happy to be part of the mission in any which way it requires. If the faith groups have nothing to hide in the way they run their educational institutes, they should have no fear of rule 20 and I hope the FBOs should practice what they preach and lead from the front by implementing the rule in letter and spirit.

Unitarian in Khasi Jaintia Hills: An indigenous religion with a liberal outlook

2011-10-10T08:46:00.002-07:00

Unitarian in Khasi Jaintia Hills: An indigenous religion with a liberal outlook

The Unitarian in the Khasi Jaintia and Karbi Anglong District of Assam, celebrates the 18^th of September every year as the Church Anniversary Day, the church was started in these hills by Hajom Kissor Singh Lyngdoh Nongbri in the year 1887.

Dr. D.R. Syiemlieh in the book “Indigenous roots: Hajom Kissor Singh and the Founding of Unitarianism in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills,” wrote that “the advent of Unitarianism in the Khasi-Jaintia was a low-tone breakaway from Welsh Calvinistic Methodist (Presbyterian) Church. He further add that the “The foundation therefore should be examined in the broader context of the religious, cultural, social and intellectual ferment that the Khasi community was experiencing in the last quarter of the 19 century and in the early years of the present millennium.“

Hajom Kissor Singh, the founder of Unitarian movement in the region was born on the 15 June 1865 and he remains a lesser known personality in the Khasi Pnar society of Meghalaya. The fact is though Singh has started the Unitarian Church in the hills 124 years ago, being a non-proselytizing religion, the church remain a small minority hence the popularity of its founder.

He was converted to Christianity probably in the same year (1885) with his brother u Nissor Singh famous for writing the first ever Khasi dictionary. He grew up in the cradle of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist at Saitsohpen, Sohra and later in his life he witnessed the resurgence of the Khasi Traditional religion.

The Unitarian Church that H.K. Singh established is unique in its own right by maintaining its liberal outlook as well as took roots in the soil of the land and adopted some of the thoughts and philosophy of the region. Its claim of being and indigenous religion is base not only on fact that it was not started by any foreign missionary in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century; neither was it started with any foreign monetary assistance. It is also unique because this liberal Christian denomination which was started by a Khasi absorbed and adopted the basic tenets of the Khasi traditional thoughts and philosophy and hence the theology of the religion Singh started is original by blending the essence of the two faith traditions.

His concept of oneness of God who is 'both the mother and the father' was based both on the traditional belief and that of the Bible. He went further indigenizing the concept of God by using the Khasi word “Phi” to address the almighty which is commonly used to address those in a position much higher and more respectable instead of the Khasi word “Me.” HK Singh’s uses “Phi” to address the almighty was sometime misunderstood in the plural sense of the term, hence he was mistook for worshiping many Gods or gods.

It is believed that originally before the Khasi Pnar learned to pay obeisance to the smaller deities, they only worship U Blei Nongthaw Nongbuh. Hence till now; no ceremonial sacrifices are ever offered to God. The Unitarians in the hills worship God who requires no sacrifices.

Two Khasi stalwart Radhon Singh Berry and Job Solomon were contemporary of HK Singh. They were also known for their contribution to the literary development of the nascent Khasi language. The duo had also contributed to the growth of the Unitarian Church by composing hymns for the Church. In fact any study on Radhon Singh Berry will remain incomplete if his work on the Khasi Pnar Unitarian hymnbook is not taken into consideration. Both these men of letters emphasized in the hymns they composed the truth that the Khasi Pnar Unitarian’s God is God in the traditional Khasi Pnar context.

R.S. Berry in the hymn number 43 stanza 3 says: “This is not a foreign God, God of our own he is.” Then Job Solomon in the hymn number 6 he again stress on the idea in the stanza 5 which says, “This is our God, God of our ancestor too. God of the Pnars and the Khasi, He is also Lord of the Lords.”

H.K. Singh was against superstitious belief which was prevalent among the natives then, he was against the belief in ghosts and nature deities, the gods of rivers and mountains and the like. He composed many hymns which reflect this idea and in one hymn he wrote “it is the power that liberates us from worshiping ghost and demons.” In the first stanza of the hymn number 35 he said, “You have liberated us from darkness, we thank you Lord, from the bondage of superstitious belief, we thank you Lord, from the demons of the houses and the hills, -we thank you Lord.”

It may be mentioned that in the Khasi Jaintia thoughts and understanding; there is only one word for the two English words the spirit and the soul -“ka mynsiem.” “Mynsiem” could either mean the soul or the spirit. To the Khasi Pnar the human soul is the same with the all-pervading spirit. The Khasi does not differentiate between the two. Hence the other principle of belief of the Unitarian Church in Khasi Jaintia is that of the brotherhood and sisterhood of human in spirit and it can be understood in this context that the spirit permeates in all creation. To the Khasi, ‘ka mynsiem’ is that which connects one soul to another and that which encompass the entire universe and also that which transcend all creation. The universe and the entire creation is link by the spirit or filled with the spirit.

H.K. Singh’s concept of the everlasting live of the soul also bears the truth that he was inspired by the indigenous Khasi thoughts and philosophy of life after death. The Khasi concept live after dead is that the soul departed from the body will go eat bettlenuts in the corridor of God’s house, so traditionally the Khasi too belief that the soul lives eternally. The immortality of the soul also prove that spirit even transcends the realm of mortality.

Salvation to the Khasi is by deeds and character, the Khasi lays a great emphasis on the other cardinal principle of life of the Khasi which is known as ‘Kamai ia ka hok’ to earn righteousness. In the Khasi way of life, one’s entire life is governed by this principle alone. There are two traditional schools of thoughts with regard to salvation, one is of the opinion that, whatever wrong one does in one’s life will befall on one’s descendant and others are of the opinion that he who does not earn righteousness in his life will go to the nurok ka ksew (hell). Perhaps the later was an influence of Christian theology because the common believe is that after dead one shall go to eat bettlenuts in the corridor of the God’s dwelling. The Unitarian also shares a similar belief that salvation is by one’s own deeds and character and not by faith alone. In the hymn number 277 he wrote: “He who have gave one’s soul, to serve the Lord untiringly, those who have spend their lives, to help fellow human without regret. Blessings they will receive, Before the Lord of honour.”

His idea of after life is that the spirit departed will return to the Kingdom of the Spirit. There is no concept of the saved and the damned, hence salvation is universal according to HK Singh’s thoughts and philosophy. Hymn number 1 which is the statement of faith of the Unitarians in the hills is a testimony of his belief in immortality of the spirit. Stanza number 4 of the hymn says: God has created us to be immortal, to have an everlasting life and to progress forever.

H.K.Singh concept of life after dead is that the spirit departed from the soul will journey to the Kingdom of the Spirits. He described the Kingdom of the Spirit thus: “We cannot compare the Kingdom of the spirit with this earthly shelter, if for this earthly body, God has provided so much, which will be buried under the ground, tomorrow or so, so much is in store in the Kingdom of the Spirit”.

In the third stanza of the same hymn, the poet sings: “In the Kingdom of the Spirit, there will be no more trouble; there’s only wellsprings of life, which flows eternally. Further more in the next stanza of the hymn he says “In the land of the Spirit, in love we will grow forever.”

One can conclude that HK Singh’s thoughts and philosophy are original and though he started Unitarianism in the region he did not merely copy the theology of other Unitarian groups in different parts of the World; but rather developed it by blending it with his own understanding of it from the Khasi Pnar context and propagate the same among his folks.

Chorus of Cheers for the Buses

2011-10-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

Since the Shillong Public Transport Service (SPTS) buses hit the city road, media and the public in general went gusto in showering words of praise for this brand new government initiative. Ever since the buses were introduced, the press has been generous in providing maximum space to this government enterprise by way of reporting, and letters to the editor. News report and letter to the editor on the buses’ subject appeared in the print media almost every day. From what appeared in the media; people partly welcomed the bus service to protest against the atrocious attitude of the Shillong taxi driver who; for so long had literarily taken the passenger for a ride. Shillongites are fed up with the taxi drivers, hence the buses are welcome by one and all and of course the buses are economical too.

People cheer the coming of the buses because for so long the people of the state had not had reasons to praise the government. The MUA was not able to come up with any project or schemes which give reason for the people to praise their government and the buses did just that, add to that because it happens in Shillong. The government in the state and the ECs in the ADCs have become arenas of a never ending power tussle of the MLAs and the MDCs which has put people off and for a change the buses give people a reason to cheer. The buses has been like a proverbial manna from heaven for the people of Shillong and the villages in its suburbs and for the MUA one heavenly send opportunity for government to prove to its citizen that it cares for the poor and the down trodden. Through the buses service the MUA is hoping that it is able to prove to the people that their leaders are not only involve in power wrangling but they can deliver too.

The buses service has received so much attention; in fact more that it deserved because it is a situation where everybody is happy, the government and governed. Not surprisingly now the people of Jowai, Tura, Nongstoin, Nongpoh and other district headquarter has appealed to the Government to see that these town too avail the opportunity that the denizen of Shillong enjoy. The Minister in charge of Urban Affairs Ampareen Lyngdoh was able to convince the ministry of urban development government of India to consider Meghalaya as special case and allow the flow of JNNRUM fund to the state without election, so for time being district headquarter too can expect the flow of fund from Delhi. But the question is how long can we go on without elected local representative? The next question that begs answer is; if similar buses service is provided to the towns like Jowai, do we have a system is place to run the buses? In Shillong we are fortunate to have the management of the MTC with time to spare; to temporarily run the business, but what about other towns of the state? It is high time that people start rethinking about the municipal election; we cannot compare the Rangbah Shnongs who are doing their job voluntarily with the ward commissioner. There is a limit to how much a person can perform voluntarily.

It was also reported in the media that the Meghalaya Transport Corporation (MTC) buoyed by the media praise that was showered on the SPTS buses, the bankrupt and near defunct MTC too has approached the Ministry of Surface Transport Government of India to allot new buses for MTC. The media coverage that the SPTC buses received; is like a shot in the arm for the MTC and seeking central government assistance to revive the MTC sounds like grand idea but the question is; is it economically viable?

The authority should treat this over excitement on the part of the management of MTC with caution. Before allowing the MTC to embark on the proposed venture; one would expect the MTC to conduct a study to find out the causes that led to MTC becoming a sick corporation. Until and unless the government is able to diagnose the cause of MTC’s failure, it will be a futile effort to pump more money to the corporation. The MTC should pull its socks together before it even think of trying its hand on new undertaking less it become another white elephant of the state.

Since towns and the state capital are to be serviced by JNNRUM buses, I assume the buses the MTC requested are to be use to connect the many villages in the state with district headquarters and the state capital. If the MTC would conduct a study to find out the cause of the corporation to collapse, the major cause is that the MTC was not able to compete with the smaller buses or vehicle like Sumos operated by private transporters. Travelers especially those from rural villages travelling to the city for an errand don’t have the time to wait till the big buses is fully occupied, they want to reach their destination as fast as possible and care very less about the difference in the fare the buses might be able to offer. In the era where time is money the question is, are the MTC proposed fleet of buses a viable business option?

MTC is not the only bus operator which was hit by the turn of event, the once success Mowkaiaw Transport Cooperative Society of Jaintia hills, met with a similar experience. In one of my interview with a prominent member of the Mowkaiaw Transport Cooperative Society, he said that the Transport Cooperative Society’s business started to decline the moment the Sumo hit the roads. Now the Mowkaiaw Transport Cooperative Society which at one point of time operated about ten buses and many smaller vehicles is but a shadow of its former self. The coop buses which caters to the need of not only the Laskein Development Block area but the entire district of Jaintia hills is almost a non-entity now.

Jaintia Hills can also offer a successful public transport model for the MTC to study if the corporation is serious and does not want to repeat the same mistake which led to the collapse of the corporation. The Sein Beh Iaw Transport Cooperative Society is one transport operator which was not hit by the coming of the new smaller and faster public vehicles; the Sein Beh Iaw is a thriving business venture of the traders in the District and its success lies in the uniqueness of its business. The Sein Beh Iaw Coop Society buses are specially made not only to ferry passengers but the buses are also made for carrying goods. A keen observer from Mawhati in the Ribhoi District, a bus operator himself has foreseen the failure of at least the SPTC buses which connects the villages in the vicinity Shillong with the capital. He predicted that the outer Shillong buses will not able to bring expected return because the buses are not designed to serve the people of the villages. When asked to elaborate, he said: ‘A passenger from a village is also a famer, when a farmer visits the city she would also have something to sell in the market, may be a basket of vegetables. The money she earned from selling her farm products it the city; is spend in buying the family’s weekly needs and the SPTC buses are not designed for that.’ Even if the buses can accommodate the stuff farmer carries, the question is, is there a fare for commodities?

One must appreciate the management of the SPTC which under pressure from the public and the minister in charge; has given it’s all out efforts to make sure that the SPTC bus run smoothly. One hopes that the SPTC will be a success government venture and it will be able to serve the people of Shillong and its suburbs many more years to come. Hopefully the SPTC will not follow the MTC footstep and end like any another government venture. Let us be optimistic and hope that this time; public money will not go down the drain.

Community participation and education in State

2011-10-10T08:41:00.001-07:00

It is a known fact that if it is not for the initiative made by various Faith organizations and the community; leaving to the government the education scenario in the state would not have been like it is now. So, before the government even contemplate on the idea of encouraging community participation in education, in the so called public private partnership, the people of Meghalaya has already move a step ahead to provide education to their children. It is the community which took initiative in starting the various educational institutes from lower primary to college level and in many cases it is the (faith base organization) FBOs and the community which runs the educational institutions.

Higher education in the entire State has open up thanks to the state universities which cater to the need of thousands of students in the state. The state universities have started courses of studies in various disciplines to cater to innumerable needs of modern education. But the pertinent question is the standard or quality of the course studies offered by these universities. I am not questioning the credibility of these universities but my question is to the state government, does the education department have any kind of mechanism in place to regulate and monitor the functions of these state universities? Something like the UGC for the central universities, or is it free for all; kind of a thing? Does the state government has any system to see that the students are not dupe and the course of study they registered is up to the mark and worth the money they paid for?

Not only state universities provides higher education in the state, there are also innumerable institutions which offers different course of studies, does the government has any mechanism to check whether the courses offers by these institutes are up to the mark and whether they have qualified teaching faculty? Has the education department conducted any kind of inspection to these institution or universities and scrutinize the kind of courses study they offer? The state government can perhaps manage and control the state universities because the universities were created by the resolution of the state assembly, but the question is what about the numerous institutes which offer variety of course studies particularly in the state capital?

The state of affairs especially in the education sector in Meghalaya is that everything concentrates in Shillong, we have every kind of educational institutions of every shades and colours opening shops in the state capital, but in the rest of the state particularly in Jaintia hills district, the educational opportunity that is available is not beyond graduation level. Till now there is very little scope for post graduation studies in district. The Pnar of Jaintia hills are said to be enterprising lot not because of those who own coal mines, there is no innovation whatsoever involve in mining coal or limestone. The rich coalmine and lime stone owners have not innovated any new business venture, their only investments is in buying property in Shillong and the metros and register themselves as government contractor and suppliers and few join politics and there is no creativity involve in that. In my opinion the enterprising people of Jaintia hills are those who foresee the future and started educational institutions to cater to the need of the future generation of the region. These Institutions were initially manage and funded by the entire community and in most cases the state government came in later to support these institutions; little though it may be. For instance the Nongtalang College was started with a contribution made by the entire village by paying extra one rupee per kilogram of the rice they bought each month from the village fair price shop and I consider that innovative.

If we take the institute of higher education into consideration, to begin with the only government college in the district which is now rechristened by the incumbent education minister as the Kiang Nangbah Government College was initially started by the community. Then we have the Nongtalang College, in Nongtalang and the Jaintia Eastern College in Khliehriat all these colleges were started by some enterprising people of the community. And the support these colleges received from the government is in the form of an ad hoc grant which has remained so for so long. The people of Jaintia hills has also started a law college known as Khad-ar Dalloi Law College, the college recently celebrates its silver jubilee in which the education minister government of Meghalaya Dr. R.C. Laloo was the chief guest. The very meaning of the word jubilee is to celebrate but the sad fact is that the gathering was informed that the 25 years old institute is in a verge of collapse. Those present in the gathering were informed that the academic council of the North Eastern Hills University has decided to withdraw the provisional affiliation of the college to the University add to that there is no financial assistance coming forth from the government to support the college and enable the management to hire qualified teachers. In the 25 years of its existence the college is till entirely funded by the community and the state government is yet to contribute to the recurring expenditure of the college in spite of the fact that the college has a sprawling campus and a building. The three mentioned colleges were purposely started to cater to the needs of the students whose parents cannot afford to send their kids to study outside their villages or town and if the state government is not supporting these college is it not a case of denying the student their basic right to education?

During the silver jubilee celebration of the Khat Ar Dalloi law college; Dr. R.C. Laloo Minister of education GoM, in his response to the request for support made by the management of the college ducked the query by saying that he would not like to comment on something that he don’t know. But what Dr Laloo seem to have forgotten is the fact that he has been minister of education for many times now and if a professor in a university who was also a minister of education for many times can still feign ignorant of the nitty-gritty of the education department of the state and the University from which he still draw his salary; then only God can help Meghalaya. Or does it mean that every time there is cabinet reshuffle; a minister has to unlearn whatever one has learned from the previous job before he takes on the new portfolio?

This is the state of affairs in Meghalaya where we have a problem of plenty in the city like Shillong, but in the remote towns and village there is a need for huge government support to ensure equal opportunity for all the students to continue their education. In the case of Jaintia hills district, the community has already led the way for the government to engage in the process by supporting the colleges in the so called PPP, but that is not fort coming as of now. The state government is taking shelter in the excuse of ‘financial constrain’ and refuse to support or in the cases of the two rural colleges enhance the salary of the staff of these colleges.

It is also ironic that in spite of the fact that many cement companies operates in Jaintia Hills District; none of the cement companies has come forward to support these colleges. Even the state government has failed to make it dawn on the companies that it is imperative that the companies should contribute to the development of the area which they operates. As of now it is the office of the deputy Commissioner which holds the key to decide where the conglomerate of cement companies put their money. If the government of Meghalaya considers education as it top priority, it is time to make the companies invest in education as one of companies’ corporate social responsibility obligation and thereby make companies CSR contribution transparent. The companies enjoy tax holiday and 58subsidies, it is time that the companies show some respect and contribute to the welfare of the state.

Press and Public Relation

2011-10-10T08:35:00.001-07:00

I would not have mentioned the press in Meghalaya in yet another article if it is not for ST’s Editor Comment on my observation in my previous article. I made my observation about the media in the state in one article and I think that is enough and I should move on and write on some other pertinent issues which demands immediate public attention. I also rarely response to feedbacks on my article not because I do not respect my critics but my understanding is that I had had my say and in a democracy others should have their say too. I also think it is rather unfair for me to take undue advantage of the valuable and scarce media-space on the editorial page of the ST to take a jibe at my critic; ultimately it is for the readers to derive at a conclusion and decide for themselves of what is right and what is wrong.

I am glad that kong Patricia agreed with me on many counts and admitted that the media in the state had many limitations and she also lamented the fact that the journalists were not paid the salary that they deserves. But kong is silent on the question whether the media house can afford to enhance the pay of their staff or not? If the media house in spite of earning maximum revenue from sale and advertisement in the paper is not willing to share the profits with its staffs which is the backbone of the paper or the channel; then that is very unfair of the media house. I also believe that this space is very valuable and is not to be wasted on debates and verbal-sparring among the columnist hence this write-up is about the most important aspect of public lives i.e. public relationship

I hope the management of the ST will not mine if I point out at some of the recent example of the newspaper taking undue advantage of the readers with regards to advertisements. Readers of the paper edition of the ST would have notice that on many occasions advertisement were pasted on almost 75 percent of the space on the front page of the newspaper leaving just 25 percent for news. Front page is not only the face of the paper but it also the most valuable space of the newspaper, because advertisement cost on this page is hundred percent more than in any other pages. It is true that the paper should try to maximize profit at any available opportunity, after all newspaper is a business enterprise and not charity. But one would expect ST to respect its readers and stick to the convention followed by many national dailies to reserve 75 percent space on the front page for news and 25 percent or a quarter of the page for advertisement. Occasionally the paper would also have two or three big davp advertisement on several pages in a single issue; on such issue one would also expect the management of the newspaper to compensate the readers for their money by inserting additional page. Newspaper serves it reader by disseminating news and views and also by allowing itself to become a platform for the people to air their grievances but it should also treat its readers with due respect; in other words newspaper too should have a good Public Relation (PR). ST now still have a large readership and command respect of a large section of English speaking readers of the state, but it is very important that the newspaper keep up the relationship that it now has with its readers.

Good Public Relationship is one that is found lacking in many government departments and even in banking sectors too. More often than not; general people were taken for a ride and were not even treated with respect by those supposed to help them. Not only ordinary citizen were treated shabbily by those in the position, but even those who serve the public too; were not given due respect. Consider this, the District head of Jaintia hills district has been incommunicado with the press for about a year now. The office of the Deputy Commissioner and the media person in the district has no contact whatsoever among them for more than a year now. If you have been wondering why you do not see any DC-related report from Jaintia hills for about a year now; it is because the media in the district has boycotted the DC since last year. Now if the District Head does not have even a working relationship with the press then the question that begs the answer is what kind of relationship does the DC’s office have with ordinary denizen of the District?

General public particularly those who come from rural areas were not given due respect by the people who are supposed to serve them. When I made a complaint to the Branch Manager of the State Bank of India, Jowai against an accountant whose attitude towards the customers seems to create more problem that he solved, I was shocked by the young BM’s response who said “it is his nature what can I do?” I responded to the BM by saying “but he holds a post that deals with the public and it requires that he has a good rapport with the customers.” I also suggested that the Bank should first send him for a course in Public Relation which is available in many mass media institutes before letting him handle such a demanding job. All public employees for that matter need to have some kind of training in good PR; it is one aspect of a job in public services that needs to be inculcated in each and every employee to ensure effective governance.

I once wrote an article on the subject of Police-Public Relationship in a Khasi daily and note that till now we are taught to fear the police. If parent considered their son to be ill-mannered, the parents would scare him by saying that they would call the police. Judging from the attitude of many men in uniform, perhaps it is not wrong to conclude that it looks like the police too; enjoy the undue fear the public have of them but that is not what is expect of men in uniform isn’t it? It looks like the police are trained to act tough because their job is dealing with hardened criminals, but can the policemen treated citizen whom they meet in any ordinary day the same way they treated criminals? Every person they meet in the street is not a potential criminal is he? On the 4th of July this year I send an Independence Day to my American friends by posting on my Facebook account a photo of me near the life-size cutout of President Barrack Obama. The comment I made on photo apart from wishing my friends happy Independence Day was ‘the closest I can be to Obama is hi life-size cutout.’ Adrian Worsfold a colleague from Manchester commented on my posting by sharing a story of a shop owner in England who put a life-size policeman cutout to guard his shop. This happen when people respect and not afraid of the law, it may also be mention that the Policemen in Norway patrol the street of Oslo without carrying any arms. The life-size policeman cutout perhaps serves what is actually expected from a living policeman, which is to remind people to respect the law. Oh how I wish to see the days when we don’t even need policemen to patrol our streets and no need of traffic warden to ensure people obey traffic rules. Perhaps the Police Training School (PTS) too; needs to inculcate good PR as part of the training for their cadets. The public would be glad to have a friendly police man in the neighbourhood and not somebody they would not like to have anything to do with.

Good public relation is expected from each and every employee paid by the government or any service providerd which deals directly with the people. In fact any employee in the service sector from the top echelon of the organization to grass root workers needs to have a good PR. This requires a change of mindset among those working in the service sectors starting from the top. Employees in a public service sectors should know how to treat the person on the other side of the table and to treat her with due respect even though she is poor, perhaps even ignorant and is not as well dress as you are. Public service employee especially those in the government departments are expected to treat each individual who approach their office with dignity.

Puja in the Cave of Sohra

2011-09-05T00:23:00.000-07:00

The story regarding banning of puja inside the Sohra cave remained in the public domain for a very brief period and slipped out of public memory without any hue and cry. But the pertinent question is, can we conclude that all is well that ends in silence and is there nothing more in an issue just because people make no fuss about it? Can we assume that silence is an indication of consent and that silence in itself is not a protest per se? From media report it was mentioned that the ban was necessary because those who come to offer puja create nuisance in the tourist spot by leaving offerings unattended. Now if the issue at hand is ‘managing’ the waste from the puja offerings inside the cave, then is banning they puja itself the only remaining option? Or is a ban legitimate in this case?

The problem needs to be examined in its right perspective since it also involves a section of the citizen’s right to worship. Can any authority be it the dorbar shnong, the traditional institutions or even the District Councils prohibit anybody from worshiping? Isn’t the right to freedom of religion a constitutional right in the East Khasi Hills anymore? Or are the traditional institutions and the District Council becoming extra constitutional body that they can do away even with the fundamental rights of the citizen as guaranteed by the Constitution? One must appreciate the magnanimity of the leaders of the Shillong Puja Committee or the Hindu community of the state in general for not contesting this decision in the right forum. Even a layman like me understands that there is merit to the case if the people affected by the decision take recourse to the law of the land.

If the issue (as it appear in the press) is simply a problem of proper waste disposal, the dorbar shnong, the department of Tourism or the District Council can surely find a way out of this mess if they all put their heads together. The people of Sohra know very well that if they want tourists to visit the area then garbage will follow suit hence what Sohra and other tourist spots in the State need most is a proper and functional garbage management system. Litter and tourism are bed-fellows; one cannot exist without the other; hence the issue is not to ban worship as such but to manage the garbage that tourists generate. This is the correct and the right way of looking at the problem.

Surely there is something more than what meets the eye on this issue, but even if we take the problem at its face value and agree that waste is the point of contention, finding the solution to dispose the waste will be a far more gainful and viable alternative for the people and the state than imposing a total ban on the puja. For one, if we want to attract tourists to Sohra in general and the cave in particular, we need to be more open and recognize the fact that not all visitors visit the cave just for the fun of it. Certain sections of tourists also visit the cave to worship the natural formation inside the cave. Tourist operators will correct me if I am wrong in concluding that a large numbers of tourists that the state attracts are domestic tourists and most of those visiting Sohra are religious tourists.

Religious tourism is the oldest form of tourism. Buddha and his followers were religious tourists, so was Jesus and others; they visited places to preach their new religion. Then the next type of religious tourists are the pilgrims visiting the holy land of their faith; Buddhists to the birth place of Lord Buddha, the Hindus to many places in India, the Christians and the Jews to Jerusalem and Muslims to Mecca. How many Christian from Meghalaya have visited Israel and Jerusalem? Will Jerusalem be a popular destination for the Christians if the place finds no mention in the Bible?

In Meghalaya, perhaps the first tourists to the hills are the sadhus or the hermit who came to worship the formation in the various caves since time immemorial. In Syndai village of Jaintia Hills, adjacent to the cave, there is a ruined temple and very close to the cave there is also a sculpture of Ganesha on a loose rock which as legends have it was carved by one of the sadhus who worshiped in the cave a long time ago. Around the cave there are many portraits of elephants sculpted in various forms, shapes and sizes and the Rupasor bathing pool itself was carved on a huge rock with many images of elephants sculpted on the rock.

My worst fear is the fact that the issue gained importance not because of any other reason but because the people affected by the ban are the Hindus, the “dkhars,” whom we still consider as non-natives and hence assume that they have limited rights in the state. Here again it is obvious that we have not been able to inculcate the tourism culture among ourselves. Tourism culture requires that we treat a tourist with respect because he is our guest. We also forget the truth that there are Pnar Hindus too in Nartiang and they too worship Durga and Shiva and as a matter of fact there are two temples in Nartiang, the Durga temple which is the oldest temple in the state and the most popular destination for the worshipers and the other is Shiva’s temple adjacent to the Durga temple. In fact I was hoping that the tourism department would take due consideration of the heritage temple and promote religious tourism in Nartiang, but with the kind of attitude that we have towards other religions, I doubt if the idea will find any takers.

The issue is our attitude towards the Hindus, the ‘Dkhar’ rather than protecting and preserving the caves which are our heritage. In short the puja-ban-episode is a clear indication of our intolerance towards other religions. This is also a result of our holier than thou attitude towards religions other than our own. I can’t help but imagine what would happen if a bird is found to mysteriously land on the stalagmite in the cave like it happened five years ago, or a cross mysteriously formed in certain caves and pilgrims throng the cave to the extent that it can adversely affect the fragile environment inside it. Will there be any protest or call to stop the foot fall?

This is the problem with the indigenous people of the state; they are up in arms against those who worship in the cave, worshipers who would only wish to preserve and protect the formation in the cave for posterity to enable them to worship it for eternity. The same group of protestors have done nothing to protect the caves from the greedy mine owners. The cement companies came in hordes to destroy every cave we have in the state with all the formation inside them but the same pressure group/groups have done nothing against those who are all out to destroy the caves. The puja-ban inside the cave is not only illegal but it is also going to hurt the flow of tourists to the state because numbers of pilgrims visiting the state will start falling. Hence there is an immediate need to take a fresh look at the issue and find a noble solution to the problem.

(The writer is a researcher and social thinker)

http://theshillongtimes.com/2011/09/05/puja-in-the-cave-of-sohra/

Spiritual but not Religious

2011-09-05T00:13:00.000-07:00

Rev. Dr. Lilian Danial draws us back o the old debate,that unless you think and believe like I do, you are “boring”, I am glad of herchoice of word for using ‘boring’. The whole discourse is restricted on westernunderstanding of the word spirituality and religion; in Indiahundreds of years ago people find spiritual solace in the caves on themountains, on the bank of the mighty river and even under a tree in a deepforest.

In the modern time people find spiritualsolace in Yoga and I can only speak about the one I joined conducted by the Artof Living Foundation. People from all religious background and evennon-religious join in the yoga class. And there is nothing religious about theclass and even the name of the organization does not have any religious meaningto it, and Rev. Daniel will have a lot of persuasion to do to convince me thatwhat I experienced was not spiritual. And yes we have one yoga technique call‘surya namashkar’ it has to do with greeting the sunrise.

WhereI live we also have indigenous religion, which may not fit in the westerndefinition of religion, but they worship the nature and find spiritual solacein their sacred forest which they kept since time immemorial.

Thedifference between a UU like me and Rev. Daniel understanding of the subject isthat in the UU church too we had hundred of similar experiences with the SbnR,but instead of calling them boring we allow them their rightful space in thespiritual realm to explore their spiritual path. We do not close our doors andlimit our understanding of people spiritual experiences and instead of callingtheir experiences boring, we try to understand and appreciate their uniqueexperiences.

Community participation and education in State

2011-08-29T01:23:00.000-07:00

It is a known fact that if it is not for the initiative made by various Faith organizations and the community, the education scenario in the state would not have been like it is now. So, before the government even contemplates on the idea of encouraging community participation in education, in the so called public private partnership, the people of Meghalaya had already moved a step ahead to provide education to their children. It is the community which took initiatives in starting the various educational institutes from lower primary to college level and in many cases it is the (faith based organization) FBOs and the community which run the educational institutions.

Higher education in the entire State has opened up thanks to the state universities which cater to the need of thousands of students in the state. The state universities have started courses of studies in various disciplines to cater to innumerable needs of modern education. But the pertinent question is the standard or quality of the course studies offered by these universities. I am not questioning the credibility of these universities but my question is to the state government. Does the education department have any kind of mechanism in place to regulate and monitor the functions of these state universities? Something like the UGC for the central universities, or is it a free for all kind of a thing? Does the state government have any system to ensure that the students are not duped and the course of study they registered is up to the mark and worth the money they paid for?

Not only state universities provides higher education in the state, there are also innumerable institutions which offers different course of studies, does the government has any mechanism to check whether the courses offered by these institutes are up to the mark and whether they have qualified teaching faculty? Has the education department conducted any kind of inspection on these institution or universities and scrutinized the kind of courses study they offer? The state government can perhaps manage and control the state universities because the universities were created by the resolution of the state assembly, but the question is what about the numerous institutes which offer variety of course studies particularly in the state capital?

The state of affairs especially in the education sector in Meghalaya is that everything is concentrated in Shillong. We have every kind of educational institution of every shade opening shops in the state capital, but in the rest of the state particularly in Jaintia hills district, the educational opportunity that is available is not beyond graduation level. Till now there is very little scope for post graduation studies in district. The Pnar of Jaintia hills are said to be enterprising not because of those who own coal mines. There is no innovation whatsoever involved in mining coal or limestone. The rich coal mine and lime stone owners have not innovated any new business venture; their only investment is in buying property in Shillong and the metros and register themselves as government contractor and suppliers while few join politics. There is no creativity involved in that. In my opinion the enterprising people of Jaintia hills are those who foresee the future and started educational institutions to cater to the need of the future generation of the region. These Institutions were initially manage and funded by the entire community and in most cases the state government came in later to support these institutions; little though it be. For instance the Nongtalang College was started with a contribution made by the entire village by paying extra one rupee per kilogram of the rice they bought each month from the village fair price shop and I consider that innovative.

If we take the institutes of higher education into consideration, to begin with the only government college in the district which is now rechristened by the incumbent education minister as the Kiang Nangbah Government College was initially started by the community. Then we have the Nongtalang College, in Nongtalang and the Jaintia Eastern College in Khliehriat all these colleges were started by some enterprising people of the community. And the support these colleges received from the government is in the form of an ad hoc grant which has remained so for so long. The people of Jaintia hills have also started a law college known as Khad-ar Dalloi Law College, the college recently celebrated its silver jubilee in which the education minister government of Meghalaya Dr. RC Laloo was the chief guest. The very meaning of the word jubilee is to celebrate but the sad fact is that the gathering was informed that the 25 years old institute is on a verge of collapse. Those present in the gathering were informed that the academic council of the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) has decided to withdraw the provisional affiliation of the college to the University. To add to that there is no financial assistance coming forth from the government to support the college and enable the management to hire qualified teachers. In the 25 years of its existence the college is entirely funded by the community and the state government is yet to contribute to the recurring expenditure of the college despite the college having a sprawling campus and a building. The three mentioned colleges were purposely started to cater to the needs of the students whose parents cannot afford to send their kids to study outside their villages or town and if the state government is not supporting these college is it not a case of denying the student their basic right to education?

During the silver jubilee celebration of the Khat Ar Dalloi law college Dr. R.C. Laloo Minister of education GoM, in his response to the request for support made by the management of the college ducked the query by saying that he would not like to comment on something that he did not know. But what Dr Laloo seems to have forgotten is that he has been minister of education for many times now and if a professor in a university who was also a minister of education several times over can still feign ignorance of the nitty-gritty of the education department of the state and the University from which he still draws his salary then only God can help Meghalaya. Or does it mean that every time there is cabinet reshuffle, a minister has to unlearn whatever he has learned from the previous job before he takes on the new portfolio?

This is the state of affairs in Meghalaya where we have a problem of plenty in the city of Shillong, but in the remote towns and village there is a need for huge government support to ensure equal opportunity for all the students to continue their education. In the case of Jaintia hills district, the community has already led the way for the government to engage in the process by supporting the colleges in the so called PPP mode, but that is not forthcoming as of now. The state government is taking shelter in the excuse of ‘financial constraint’ and refuses to support or in the cases of the two rural colleges enhance the salary of the staff of these colleges.

It is also ironic that despite the presence of cement companies in Jaintia Hills District none of the cement companies has come forward to support these colleges. Even the state government has failed to make it dawn on the companies that it is imperative that they contribute to the development of the area in which they operate. As of now it is the office of the deputy Commissioner which holds the key to decide where the conglomerate of cement companies invest in. If the government of Meghalaya considers education as it top priority, it is time to make the companies invest in education as one of companies’ corporate social responsibility obligation and thereby make companies CSR contribution transparent. The companies enjoy tax holiday and 58 subsidies. It is time that the companies show some respect and contribute to the welfare of the state. (The writer is a research scholar and an elder of the Unitarian Church)
http://theshillongtimes.com/2011/08/29/community-participation-and-education-in-state/

Convergence: Need of the hour

2011-08-22T01:46:00.000-07:00

Government Departments are supposed to serve the people; hence the ultimate goal of the government is to see that that every department delivers the best of their respective services to the citizens of the state. Usually, the way various departments execute their work is at the departmental level. They proceed at a level parallel to each other. There has never been an incident of a convergence even if all the departments are supposed to serve the (same) people and at times implement identical projects. The way various government departments function is independent of each other and due to this aloofness of one department against the other sometimes there is duplication of the same work. For instance the District Council like the Fisheries department of the Government of Meghalaya also provide grant for fish farming. The District Council provides schemes for construction of latrines and the department of PHE is also implementing a centrally sponsored scheme for the same purpose.

In one of my visits to Sohkha village, it was a pleasant surprise to see poly-houses before entering the village. Curious as I am, I went to see and enquire about the new addition to the village landscape and was informed that the poly houses are orchid plantations introduced by the department of Horticulture. The Department of Horticulture, Jaintia hills District has introduced an orchid plantation in certain parts of the District. When I asked the District Horticulture officer in Jowai whether the species that was distributed to the farmers are endemic to the district, the answer was negative. I was told that the seedlings supplied to the orchid farmers are from the other states of the country. When I ask him why not introduce the many local orchids that are available in the area for commercial plantation, the officer said we have to get the permission of the Wildlife department to begin the process of tissue culture of the local species. On being asked whether the department has taken any initiative to seek permission and start the process of tissue culturing the orchids from the Wildlife department, the answer he gave me was, ‘It is a complicated situation’. It seems like there is no inter-departmental communication between the two departments to start the process of tissue culture of the local orchids before they become extinct.

I was given to understand that if we begin the process of tissue culturing of all the orchids that are growing wild in the state, we can start commercial plantation of all the wild orchids that are endemic to the state. In the process we not only help preserve the endangered orchids but we also popularize the unique flower that we are proud of. And in addition the department will also be able to add another farming item to the list of its initiative to improve the livelihood of the farmers of the state. I think it is high time that the department of horticulture start a channel of communication with the wildlife department to help save our endangered orchids from extinction and create another source of income for the people.

Wild mushrooms are a favourite delicacy of the people in many parts of the world. In the Khasi Jaintia hills there are more than 30 species of edible wild mushrooms that grow in the wild twice in a year. I did the counting personally by walking with the cow herders who also collect wild mushrooms in the Puriang area about 10 or 15 years ago and then confirmed the same with the women in the kitchen only to be enlightened that every wild mushroom has a local name. Here again is an area where the Agriculture department can start the process of thinking-out-of-the-box for the benefit of the local farmers and to preserve and protect the locally available wild mushrooms. The department of Agriculture instead of popularizing button mushroom which is available all over the world, should get the tissue culture of all the indigenous mushrooms and start commercial plantation of wild mushrooms in the state. May be this is the area that the NEHU can come in and help the state to propagate commercial plantation of orchids and wild mushrooms.

It may sound absurd but if the Government starts encouraging inter-department collaboration, there will be less duplication of work and the project will cost less. For instance if the PWD can construct a bridge in collaboration with the PHE and the department of Soils and Water Conservation, the bridge can also be a check dam to irrigate the farming areas adjacent to the project, a water reservoir to supply water to the villages in the project’s vicinity and the fishery department can supply fish to be put in the dam. The multi-purpose project can benefit the people in many ways and also improve the economy of the area. The closest example is the Umiam project and Umiam seems to be the only project of that sort and when it was conceived. That’s the last time ever since our leaders and bureaucrats put on their thinking caps. And that was during the time of the Assam Government!

Another area where an inter-department collaboration can work is development of catchment areas of the many rivers in the state. From limited experience that I had with tree plantation, I realize that very rarely would people take care of the tree saplings that were planted to celebrate various occasions. And if the trees are planted in the government areas it will at the end of the day be a mere completion of another government formality and the respective department will not even bother to take care of the planted saplings. If the Agriculture department in collaboration with the various departments of forest supply fruit tree saplings for planting in the catchment areas, it will certainly be a different story. People’s attitude towards fruit producing trees is different and they will take good care of the trees because the trees can be an immediate source of extra income for the family. During the vanamhotsava week, fruit trees should be distributed to people instead of tree saplings some which are not even native to the place.

Under MNREG Scheme many VECs have undertaken tree plantation in their respective villages, the department of Agriculture in collaboration with the Forest department should encourage the VECs to plant more fruit trees and this will also help improve the economy of the farmers in the area. One of the most popular projects undertaken by the VECs under MNREG scheme is construction of ponds and check dams for water harvesting. In order to make the best use of MNREG Scheme, government should encourage the VECs to collaborate with the department of water and soil conservation and with the fishery department to jointly conceive the multipurpose project to derive maximum benefit from the scheme.

The department of Agriculture and Horticulture in particular in its effort to help the farmers improve their economy has introduced large-scale cultivation of foreign crops like strawberry, baby corns, kiwi, roses and other flowers, it is time that the department start to do tissue culture on many flowers, fruits and vegetables that are endemic to this area for commercial plantation. Interestingly enough the state also has numbers of chilies and spices which has gradually disappeared from the market and family’s kitchen table, the concern department should start doing tissue culture on these too.

Meghalaya lives in the villages and if the villagers’ economy is improved the economy of the state will also grow. For four decades the various departments in our State have functioned independently of each other and that is the reason why development of the state has not happened at the desired pace and the village economy has not improved. The government should encourage inter-departmental collaboration whenever or wherever it is feasible to speed up development in the state and improve rural economy.

(The writer is a researcher and an elder of the Unitarian Church)

Politics is all about power

2011-08-08T03:03:00.001-07:00

Former Prime Minister of India, PV Narasimha Rao has rightly said that politics is the art of the possible; anything can happen in politics, a foe can turn friend overnight and vice-versa as long as power is shared between those destined to hold power. It seems for politicians of every hue there is only one important rule and that is to capture power by whatever means. Many, particularly Congress legislators in Mukul’s camp would not have expected that the MLA from Langkyrdem, Prestone Tynsong to be the twelfth man in Mukul’s cabinet. One would expect that someone from Mukul’s camp or even some other legislator from the opposite camp to be the twelfth man, but Tynsong was not on their radar screen.

If we are to believe Mukul Sangma who said before Tynsong took the oath of office, that selecting a cabinet minister is the CM’s prerogative, it remains to be seen if choosing Tynsong is a smart move or a blunder for Dr Sangma. Only time will tell if Tynsong will remain a foe or is a changed man since converted to a true friend (or as my daughters would say BFL best friends for life) especially because he was reinstated during the friendship week. Now the question for the Chief Minister is no longer the vacant 12th seat on the high table of power in the state but whether the twelfth man he has chosen will be Peter who would stand like a rock or remain a Judas who betrays the master at any available opportunity?

So far so good for the shrewd Langkyrdem MLA! Tynsong always managed to get himself a cabinet berth in almost every government in the state since he was elected MLA. Media persons have rightly questioned Tynsong whether he had inherited the knack to always be on the right side of the fence from his predecessor BB Lyngdoh or it has to do with the daw/rngiew (fate) of the constituency or sheer luck? But luck or no luck as for now Tynsong is a happy man even if it amounts to betraying his fellow legislators. For Tynsong it seems there is nothing wrong in switching sides as long as he is on the right side of power.

The leader of the opposite camp, DD Lapang claimed that the outcome of the settlement in the last Delhi durbar was to re-instate the four dropped cabinets but I bet that will be a difficult task for Mukul. The Congress claim of providing stable government during the elections is highly debatable if the state has to see cabinet reshuffle every six months. Now that Dr. Mukul has reinstated Prestone Tynsong as a cabinet minister the question is, can the MUA afford another cabinet reshuffle before 2013? The hope of the three MLAs axed from the cabinet and also many aspiring Congress party legislators is for another one last cabinet reshuffle before 2013. It matters not even if it is for mere six months period because everybody wants to face the election as a minister and only goodness knows why? For politicians it is not, ‘it is all about money, honey’, but it is all about power and nothing else because power is the source of money and more money.

Very recently, through media reports we were made to understand that there seems to be one exception to the common argument held by every politician that one can only serve one’s constituency by being in power. Common people are made to believe that there is one politician who does not follow the standard rule followed by the politicians ‘that one cannot serve the constituency without being in power.’ Pynshngain N Syiem MDC MLA Mawsynram is reported to have offered to resigned as the CEM of the KHADC stating that he would like to spend the remaining part of his tenure as the MLA and MDC to serve the people of his constituency. It was reported that Pynshngain offered to relinquish his position as the CEM of the KHADC to enable him to serve his constituency better. Only few people would buy this argument.

Everyone, even a kid in the street knows that there is no exception to the rule; all politicians would like to be in power and stay in power as long as possible. Their sole objective is to hold power some way or the other and any kind of power will do as long as it gives the person authority, powers and control. But there is a great difference in the way the three politicians in the state i.e. Dr. Mukul Sangma, Prestone Tynsong and Pynshngain Syiem retain their power.

We all know how Dr. Mukul used all means, by hook or by crook to stay in power even if it means not convening the Congress Legislature Party meeting for fear of being outnumbered by his opponents. Lucky for him that calling the CLP meeting is again another of his prerogatives but does this augur well for intra-party democracy in the party? Mukul stuck to the Chief Ministerial post like the leech to a human skin and it worked. No matter what other people including one’s colleague say, one should hold on to power if one wants to remain in power, come what may. Pynshngain Syiem used another trick to retain power; he offered to resign knowing that every MDC is a potential CEM candidate and ultimately he will retain the CEM’s post therefore offered to resign. On the other hand Pynshngain’s offer to resign was also an opportunity to test his popularity amongst his fellow MDCs and in the party and the outcome of the resignation episode is that it reinforces his position as CEM of the KHADC. Pynshngain emerged a stronger CEM from the few days of political drama in the KHADC, but the question is, does it? If Pynshngain is confident of being re-elected in 2013, he wouldn’t have influenced the powers that be to send a senior bureaucrat packing to Kolkata just because there is a rumour that he was tipped as a potential candidate against him in the next election.

Tynsong used an altogether different trick by rocking the boat he is in and any time an opportunity opens up he would jump to leave the sinking boat to its fate while he himself will survive the storm. And it has always worked for him! All the three politicians employ different tactic to stay in power and it works the same for all of them.

The fact that politics in Meghalaya is a perpetual power tussle among the politicians is very obvious in the three ADCs in the state. The Garo Hills Autonomous District Council has been under Administrator’s rule for more than six months and now it is the turn of the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council to be in the administrator’s rule and goodness only knows for how long? The case of Jaintia hills is peculiar in the sense that the people voted the Congress to majority and subsequently the UDP MDC joined the party which means that Congress has the majority of 28 MDCs in the house of 29+1 nominated MDC. Who would ever think that Lamdibok’s EC is threatened when the party commands an absolute majority in the house? But politics is but a game to capture power. Hambertus Nongtdu who was ousted by Lamdibok Sumer used the remaining two opposition members Moonlight Pariat and E.S. Lyngdoh to propose a No Confidence Motion against Lamdibok’s EC and like they say the rest is history. Now if two (now only one) opposition member can defeat the Congress EC which has 28 MDCs in the 30 member house then the much talked about party discipline and the party’s claim of providing stability is but only the clanging of cymbals which reverberates in the wilderness.

The way both the legislative assembly and the councils were run during the last few years of this term is not something that will augur well for the Congress party which dominates the assembly and the three councils. The party will have a lot of convincing to do to persuade the people to vote for the party again on the promise of a stable EC or a stable Government. People have already seen that the Congress legislators and Councillors care a hoot about stability of the EC or the Government, but care only about the stability of their own powers and position. The Congress should set its house straight and it should start from Jaintia hills. If Congress allows Hambertus to become CEM it will not only fall into the trap of the lone opposition member who Hambertus hopes to accommodate in the next EC, but it is a matter of shame for the party and also questions the much talked about discipline in the party.

(The author is a research scholar and an elder of the Unitarian Church)

Las Vegas of the East

2011-07-29T01:49:00.001-07:00

By HH Mohrmen

Some are fond of calling Shillong the Scotland of the East; fancy though it may sound, I personally think it would have been appropriate if Shillong is compared with Edinburgh or Glasgow the two major cities of Scotland, but that is not the point, this write up is about another region in the state of Meghalaya which has something in common with the city of Las Vegas in the state of Nevada, USA.

It was an air transit on my way to Salt Lake City in 2009 that I had a brief experience of the famed gambling city. Friends had warned me not to try my hand at the gambling machines (not that I have much dollars to spare) available in plenty even inside the airport. While waiting for my connecting flight I remember a passenger completely engrossed in gambling had to be literarily dragged from his seat by the airline ground staff. He was so obsessed with the slot machine and was oblivious of the final announcement of his flight’s departure. Las Vegas is also called sin city because gambling is legal and slot machines are available even at the airport.

I must admit I owe the idea of comparing coal mine areas of Jaintia hills with Las Vegas to a young filmmaker friend from Shillong who in the span of two years toured almost the entire coal mining areas of the District. It all happened in Soo Kilo a makeshift market situated between Lad Sutnga and Sutnga village and the idea of comparing the area with Las Vegas occurred in one of our several visits to the area. The project was to secretly film the activities inside Soo Kilo market, but before we began I first took the crew for a walk inside the market to get a first hand experience of what goes on in the makeshift bazaar owned by a coal baron. After we have done the rounds we met at a secluded location and I could see the shock in the faces of the entire film crew and particularly my young friend GS or GNS. He was at a loss for words for sometime and finally uttered “My God Bah Mohrmen this is like Las Vegas.”

Few months ago a journalist from Delhi along with a photo journalist friend from Nagaland came to seek my assistance to follow their scoop on coal mining in Jaintia Hills. Rajni George went back to Delhi and composed a very good story in which she described the life of some big time coal mine owners of Jaintia hills. Rajni (with whom I also shared the Las Vegas-Soo Kilo story) reported in the story which was carried by the Caravan Magazine wherein she mentioned her visit to Soo Kilo and called it the Las Vegas of Jaintia hills. Like many makeshift markets dotted in the coal mine areas; Soo Kilo is a hub of the area, everything that miners needs is available in the market and all forms of gambling happen here. These markets have their own rules and the owner of the market is the over-all authority in the market. He is the modern day Raja of the area. Coal mine areas of Jaintia hills District are the only places in Meghalaya where dice and card gambling goes on openly. Earlier if one would travel to Ladrymbai, one would see dice gambling on the road side, right under the nose of the police. This open gambling is still going on openly in many such makeshift markets in the coal mine areas, but the new kind of gambling which is getting more popular is the Bull-fight. If one travels from Jowai to Sutnga or Jowai to Khliehriat every evening one would see hundreds of swanky cars of every hue and colour parked in certain areas. Earlier, my impression was that somebody important had died and the cars must belonged to people, who visit the bereaved family, but I was wrong.

Bull fighting was once the most popular traditional game of the Pnars. It is a game to while away their leisure time, and, money was never part of the game. For sometime this primitive way of spending our leisure time was about to become redundant but the District has witnessed the resurgence of bull fighting with a bang and with big money at stake. The bull fighting show is discreetly organized and the secrecy of the venue is a well guarded secret and only the gamblers and the operators know of it. Now bullfighting has merely become an opportunity for gambling for those who have a lot of dough to spare. It is an opportunity for many types of gambling. Gamblers bet on the fighting bulls and they also gamble on the game of dice that is available in the play ground. It is said that on a typical bullfighting session which may be of two hours duration, a minimum of 20 lakh rupees is at stake. Bullfighting is so popular that a good bulls cost anything from 50, 000 rupees to several lakhs of rupees. Hence breeding fighting bulls is a lucrative business now. The bulls are well fed and even taken for a walk (or jog if you like) regularly; their horns are custom-made for fighting, and organisers pay bull owners big money only to enter the bull into competition.

The open gambling is not only illegal but it is also an act of cruelty to animals which is against the law, but the District Administration seems to turn a blind eye to the illegal activity that is going in the District in broad day light. The only people who benefit from the open and illegal gambling are the Rangbah Shnong and the person who operates the gambling. It is said that even some MDCs of the JHADC are involved in this illegal activity. May be it has to do with promoting traditional game and not gambling per-se.

The July 2, 2011 issue of The Shillong Times (ST) reported that on the 1 July around 3:30 pm a team of nine police personnel, an officer-in-charge, two Sub-inspectors and six constables went to Ynniamer near Ialong which is about 10 KM from Jowai to stop a reported gambling session and apprehend the operators. On seeing the police some gamblers fled the scene and the gambling operator too escaped with their gambling materials and money. It was reported that the Police could only seize few gambling apparatus from the side and around 300 gamblers and spectators were allowed to escape scot-free by the police. The ST correspondent Sannio Siangshai, a senior journalist of the district, and one who knows Khliehriat area like the back of his hand, also reported that the police officer who led the team to conduct the raid stated, “When we tried to arrest them, around 300 people surrounded us so we could not arrest anybody.” Now if the men in uniform who are supposed to stop illegal activities can be threatened by mere 300 rowdy gamblers, the question is, where is the rule of law in Jaintia hills district?

Gambling operators organise the illegal activity by obtaining NOC from the Rangbah Shnong of the area hence with full knowledge of the shnong. This illegal activity should also serve as an eye opener to the leaders of the Khlieh Nongsynshar that the function of the dorbar shnong or the traditional institution too, needs to be examined in right earnest. If the Dorbar Shnong patronize gambling and ostracize RTI activists instead of filing reports against the perpetrators of crime, then there is certainly something seriously wrong with the so called Khasi Pnar democracy.

Nowadays not only bullfighting is a popular gambling opportunity in Jaintia hills, even football matches in the coal mine areas are occasions for gambling for those with plenty of money to spare. The District is becoming a haven for gamblers and the authority turns its Nelson’s eye to the gambling that is going on in the Las Vegas of the East.

(The author is a research scholar and an elder of the Unitarian Church)

Demise of News of the World – victory for Journalism

2011-07-19T02:13:00.000-07:00

How can the end of a more than a hundred years old newspaper be a victory for journalism? Yes we have just witnessed the demise of the 168 old Sunday paper and this news had rocked the media world in the west. The cause of the unexpected end of the tabloid is due to careless attitude of the media house which literarily threw journalistic ethics out of the window. The question is how can unethical journalistic practices of the staff of ‘News of the World’ become a victory for journalism?

I don’t remember reading the News of the World while I was in England, but it took me by surprise when I heard it on BBC that the news paper will stop publication from the very next issue. Even if I have never ever read the tabloid, the news of its end is a surprise to say the least. Once the rival paper in Britain brought to light the underhand operation of the reporters of this tabloid by paying the police for favours, it was certain that heads would roll. In spite of the seriousness of the situation in which the newspaper was in, I never thought that the 168 year old paper would finally go down. The very fact that the management of the tabloid decided to close the paper is what I consider to be a bold decision which shows moral responsibility and is keeping in line with true journalistic ethics, albeit quite late in the day.

The management of the paper could have held on for dear life to the newspaper by simply letting off the journalists who were responsible for the telephone hacking; the management could have saved its skin by striking off its roll the top notch employees of the newspaper, but instead decided to close down the paper. Everybody in the UK including the staff of the News of the World expected Rupert Murdoch’s blue-eyed girl Rebekah Brooks to put in her paper, but instead it is was the paper which had to go first. Obviously the point that the management of the newspaper made by closing the down the paper is that they committed a Himalayan blunder and owe moral responsibility for what had happened. By not doing anything when its reporter used underhand methods to gather news, the paper had crossed the Lakshman-Rekha of journalistic ethics and had to face the consequences. There is no other way out for the management of the newspaper but to close it down.

I cannot help but wonder what would have happened if one of the newspapers in the State met with a similar situation. Do you think the management of the newspaper would decide to close down and bid goodbye to the paper’s 7.5 million readers or will they try to find out ways and means to stay afloat? I think most of the papers would choose the easy way out; fire the errant reporter or even the editor and go on with life as usual. Blaming our subordinates and passing the buck to others always seems to be a sane and more viable alternative. On second thoughts, however, is there any likelihood that any newspaper in the state would face a similar situation? The answer is no. The press reporters in the State are either playing it safe or are plain lazy. It seems like all media persons in the state are armchair journalists. If that is not the case, then why do we seldom read any stories that expose the wrong-doings of people in high places? It looks like the term investigative journalism in still an alien word to our journalists.

Take any newspaper published from Shillong at any point of time and one will find that the news we read every day comprises only of press releases distributed or leaked by the different government departments and the many Non Governmental Organizations (NGO) or press statements again made by various departments, numerous NGOs and sometimes even individuals and add to that we also have reports of functions, incidents and accidents and that’s about it, period. Very rarely will readers stumble upon a story with in-depth reporting while rural reporting seems to be an unknown word in the Meghalaya journalists’ vocabulary; be it in the print or the electronic media. Oh yes, and there are but loads and loads of government and private advertisement. If there is any story which is worth calling investigative journalism story, it must have been investigated and unearthed by the NGOs and the press was only involved later. The case of the BDO of Mawryngkneng Block is a case in point. We are yet to read or see a story in any media which comes close to what we can call investigative reporting.

In spite of the commotion that the News of the World crisis created against investigative journalism, the truth remains that many scandals, corruption and wrong doings of politicians, celebrities and other people in high places particularly in the UK would not have been exposed if it was not for investigative journalism. The most recent case is the one which exposed the involvement of the cricketers of our neighboring country in match fixing. The scandal would not been exposed if it is not for investigative journalists who tracked the illegal activities of the cricketers. I am not trying to condone the illegal acts that the reporters of the News of the World have perpetrated in collaboration with the police. A crime is a crime, and wrong means used cannot justify the ends. These are early days and it remains to be seen what will be the outcome of the phone-hacking or the News of the World crisis. Will it be the end of the investigative journalism or will investigative journalism still remain a major journalistic tool to expose scandals and wrong doing of public figures? The fact remains that the line which divides cases of public interest and press freedom on the one hand and individual right to privacy and individual freedom on the other; is still as blurred as it has ever been with a vast grey areas in between.

Also compare the News of the World crisis to what happened in the political landscape of India, when the many major scams were reported. Everyone who was alleged to be involved in corruption, refused to resign and held on to their chairs until they were forced to do so, while others remained adamant till they were arrested. How many politicians choose to step-down from their position when there are allegations of corruption or wrong doing against them? In the case of the News of the World, when all the evidence against the paper were bared open for everyone to see, the management of the Sunday paper did not take time but decided to stop publication without waiting for the outcome of the police investigation or the report of any inquiry commission. No matter how important the history of the paper is or how many million lives the paper has touched, if it had committed a blunder, it must go. There is no excuse whatsoever for unethical journalistic acts of any kind and the paper must pay the prize.

The News of the World was a good read even on its very last edition, in fact reading the reports of its final edition reproduced by many newspapers and news agency is entertaining. Rupert Murdoch’s critics are of the opinion that the News of the World was closed to save his News Corporation take over bid of Britain’s 12 million dollar satellite company, British Sky Broadcasting or BSkyB. But Murdoch has proved his critics wrong and withdrawn from the bid. Other Murdoch critics suspect that the News of the World was systematically killed to make way for the media mogul’s News Corporation’s new venture. Even if this is true, the fact of the matter is that the News of the World is no more and the cause of its demise is unethical journalistic practice by its staff and that is the ultimate victory of ethical journalism and triumph of journalism with moral principles.

(The writer is a research scholar and an elder of the Unitarian Church)

The Khasi Pnar debate

2011-07-11T00:36:00.000-07:00

I was expecting many people to join in the debate on the dilemma of identity among the people who live in the Khasi and Jaintia hills but except for bah Armstrong Syiem, Kong Patricia Mukhim, Bah C Wanniang and Broncostar Thyrniang no one else took part in the discussion. I was hoping our scholars in the ivory tower to enlighten us on this important issue but the men and women of letters in the NEHU chose not to join in the debate, perhaps the issue is not relevant.

We have debated at length on the name of the tribe, some are of the opinion that we should continue with ‘Khasi’ as a common name of the tribe/community/society while others are of the opinion that Khasi is the name that other people use to describe us, so we need a name that best describes us. For the later section of our society perhaps ‘u hynniew trep or khun u hynniew trep’ is an appropriate name because it encompasses the entire community- the Khasi, the Pnars, the Wars, the Maram, the Lyngnam, the Bhois and others whom I might miss. The argument is strong because it is based on our common roots – the creation story, a mythology that we all share.

A large section of the Pnars in the Jaintia Hills District have their own reservation in calling themselves Khasi, for them Khasi is just another sub tribe of the pan-hynniewtrep-tribe. To the Pnars the Khasi are the Khynriam and may be the word Khynriam is derived from Khyriem the name of the state (hima) with which the then Jaintia Kingdom shared a common border. A recent debate which was carried out in the vernacular papers between the Seng Khasi and the Sein Raij is a case in point. When an elder from the Seng Khasi suggested that all the followers of the indigenous religion should come under one umbrella and register their religion as Niam Khasi in the recently concluded national census, Sein Raij vehemently objected to the idea. They are of the opinion that the followers of the indigenous religion in Jaintia hills should retain their own identity and register their religion as Niamtre. A senior Pastor of the Jowai Presbyterian church in a private conversation told me that Presbyterian Church too faces a similar situation when a section of the church leaders suggested that the church change the name of the Khasi Jaintia Presbyterian Assembly to the Khasi Presbyterian Assembly. The leaders of the Church from Jaintia hills opposed the idea and the issue was nipped in the bud and the Church retains its name as the Khasi Jaintia Presbyterian Assembly.

Perhaps Bah Paul Lyngdoh will be the best person to tell us about the reservations that the Pnars have against calling themselves Khasi. He had tried to form a unit of the Khasi Students Union in Jaintia Hills during his tenure but failed. Perhaps it is from this experience that in his later incarnation as a mature politician he chose a much inclusive name ‘Khun Hynniewtrep’ for his party. Having said that, a lot has changed since Bah Paul’s presidency of the KSU. Now we have KSU units in many parts of the District, but a large section of the population in Jaintia hills still have reservations about calling themselves Khasi. Don’t get me wrong when the Pnar insisted that they cannot accept the nomenclature Khasi to describe the tribe, it does not mean that they see themselves as a different from the Khasi. The Pnars believe that the Khasi, the Pnar, the Bhois, the Lyngngam are all but one community but each have their own unique history and identity that one cannot just wish away but needs to be respected by everyone. The Pnar believe that the Khasi, the Pnar, the War, the Bhoi, the Lyngngam share a common culture and a common language hence they are one. Ma Chaphrang Passah of Jowai in one of his posts on the facebook page “Save the Pnar Language” posted ‘Khasi Pnars are of the same race but of different tribes’ perhaps like the Nagas.

The call to use Khasi as a common name is based on the recent patriotic song, “Khynriam, u Pnar, u Bhoi, u War, u dei u paid Khasi ba iar,” but then there is also another patriotic song “Ri Khasi, Ri Jaintia nga ieid eh ia pha/ ka ri kaba ieid u barim u bajah/ ki tymmen mynhyndai la ngam iohi shuh/jingkynmaw ia ki kan ym duh…” This song recognizes the existence of the two erstwhile kingdoms of the Khasi and the Jaintia. To underline the uniqueness of these two aspects of the community; the land, the two communities live is sometime called ‘ka ri ki laiphew syiem, ki khad-ar daloi’ which means though our political system may vary; yet we are one community.

There are many poets and writers, who recognized and understood the distinctiveness of the Pnars who live in Jaintia hills, Victor Bareh in the opening lines of his patriotic song which is also the name of the poem, sings “Ri Khasi Ri Jaintia, Pangsngiat jong nga.” Hajom Kissor Singh Nongbri a lesser known Khasi poet realized the truth that the community (whatever we call it) comprises of many sub-tribes and opened his hymn known as the Unitarian anthem with this line “A Blei kyrkhu ia ngi Pnar, War, Bhoi bad Khasi, pynbha ia ngi.” Maintaining the fact that each unit of the community is unique; in another hymn he called “Ko paralok Khasi, ko paralok Pnar, ko paralok na ka pyrthei ba iar.” HK Singh Lyngdoh Nongbri who lived in the later part of 1800 and early 1900 spent his early adulthood in Jowai and hence must have understood the sentiments of the Pnars even in those early days.

I am all for using the inclusive name ‘hynniewtrep or khun u hynniewtrep’ to describe the tribe. I don’t foresee any objection towards the using of the name because all the Khasi, the Pnar and the Lyngngam share this common creation mythology. If we agree with the nomenclature of our tribe then we can continue on the next level of the debate, and that is are we still tribal. But can we still call ourselves tribe?

The Scheduled Tribe status is like a cocoon that we feel safe to wrap ourselves in. Nowadays even well to do families and the crème de la crème of the Khasi Pnar community use the Schedules Tribe tag, not because of anything else but to enjoy the benefits that come with it including not having to pay income tax. They live a western way of life and cannot even speak Khasi or Pnar and they don’t even follow any of the Khasi Pnar culture and traditions and they still call themselves STs. But we cannot deny the fact that there are also those who live in the villages whose way of life can only be described as tribal.

The next question is who is a Khasi Pnar or who is khun u hynniew trep? Kong Silverine Swer provided an answer to this question (rather unexpectedly) in the letter to the Editor the Shillong Times (March, 10, 2011.) She said “Please don’t ever forget your roots and your value system. It is your identity as u Khun U Hynniewtrep and this identity is inevitably link to nature and environment around us. As Khasis we have the responsibility to remind each other of this heritage and the ancient wisdom inherited from our forefather. Our wellbeing is today threatened because we seem to have forgotten our timeless connection to nature and environment.” A Khasi Pnar or Khun u hynniewtrep are those who still follow the culture, the tradition of the tribe and live by the value system that we inherited from our forefathers.

It is rather interesting to note that recently a conglomerate of NGOs under the leadership of the KSU and the FKJGP immediately after the preliminary report of the state census was declared, met the Chief Minister to discuss matters pertaining to threat of large scale influx to the State which they claim is the cause of the abnormal increase in the States’s population. The NGOs among others demanded that the Chief Minister introduce a mechanism to curb the influx of non-native populations to the State but at the same time demanded that the government introduce legislation for equal distribution of the family property in the Khasi Pnar society. This is confusing because the NGO went to meet the CM to with an intention to protect the identity of the tribe from being overwhelmed by outsiders, but what identity are we talking about when the demand is also to do away with the tradition of the youngest daughter inheriting the lion’s share of the family property which is part of Khasi identity? With the SRT (Syngkhong Rympei Thymmai) in the bandwagon, I will not be surprised if next time around the demand of the conglomerate of NGOs will be to do away with the lineage system that we follow. Then the question will be what identity are we trying to protect?

(The writer ia a scholar and an elder of the Unitarian Church)

http://theshillongtimes.com/2011/07/11/the-khasi-pnar-debate/

The Khasi Pnar beliefs in curse and witchcraft

2011-07-04T00:06:00.000-07:00

The theme of today’s article is tricky; tricky in the sense that it is not a new subject since it is an issue that people usually discuss around the hearth of their homes and it is not an old subject either because one rarely sees any write-ups on this important subject. It is a subject matter that one must have heard people talk about or heard of it from one’s elders but seldom read about. I would not have dared to tread on this critical subject if the Mawlai incident had not occurred which was followed by Red FM programme ‘rat dyngkhong bad i kong ia ki kam bym long’. Obviously with the Mawlai incident in the backdrop, Red FM calls on listeners to let good sense prevail and not to let things like that to repeat again. But a few days back there were press reports that a similar incident had happened in Mowtyrchiah village of Jaintia Hills.

I would have written about it long time ago but feared that I might hurt somebody’s sentiments and hesitated to do so. Now that the subject is in the public domain, it is appropriate to start debating about it and I know full well that dealing with a matter relating to peoples’ beliefs is risky business but thanks to my liberal upbringing I was able (I think) to tread very cautiously in dealing with this vital issue of the Khasi Pnar society.

I remember when we were young, whenever I suffered from constipation, my father would take a pinch of lime (shun) and rub it on the pan leaf. Then he chanted some mantras and spat on the lime three times. Then he would take a little of that lime on his forefinger make a tick mark on my forehead move towards my tummy open my shirt and then draw a huge circle on my stomach and finish it with another lime-tick on my big toe. After that he would draw another circle on the pan leaf with a cross inside the circle and then place the lime-sketched pan-leaf at the nearest crossroad. This ritual is done because it is believed that somebody with evil eyes has cast a spell (sabuit in Khasi and Ske in Pnar) on me while I was eating, so the ritual is to cast away the spell from me.

In the past many houses have been damaged and owners of the houses have been ostracized by the village because the family is alleged to be a Thlen keeper, Taro keeper. Families were also detested by the village because it is alleged that they are in possession of the power of black magic or witchcraft and can cast evil spell (ai ksuid) on their enemies. In Jaintia hills fellow villagers avoid mixing with certain families because it is alleged that the family could cast a spell (ai bih in Khasi and e kymbad in Pnar) on somebody’s food and the victim would fall sick. When a person’s teeth falls rather un-naturally, it is believed that the person suffers from the Kymbad/Jymbieh/ Bih curse, and also neck pain and even throat cancer is attributed to Kymbad/ka Bih. The Welsh doctors at the KJP Hospital in Jowai diagnosed that my grandfather suffered from throat cancer, but the common belief is that he died of Kymbad. Families who are alleged to be keepers of Kynbad/ka Bih are forbidden from taking part in preparation of a community feast for fear that they may cast a spell on the food and that somebody who partakes of the community feast may suffer. The family is however not forbidden from joining in the feast but people would avoid sitting next to them or in opposite directions.

The Pnar’s belief about ‘Nong-ai-ksuid’ is quite different from that of the Khasis. In in the Khasi context (as I was given to understand) certain families are alleged to possess powers of black magic (‘nong-ai-ksuid’) because they can cast magic spell on their enemies to make them sick. In the Pnar context if any person wishes to cast evil spell on one’s enemies he would seek the help of a shaman (ksoh stad/pa stad) and pay him to do the job. It is believed that the shaman can do a variety of things to make the enemy suffer – similar to voodoo; he can make the cursed person sick or even make him pregnant with a piglet.

Not very long ago in the heart of Jowai town a locality where the entire population are Christians, the house of one family was damaged because a certain woman believed to suffer from a Taro spell which was alleged cast by the family whose house was damaged. When we were young we lived in a rented house which belonged to one of our very close relatives. I remember on many occasions a crowd would follow a sick woman (rarely a man) who would come running to our relative’s house; it is believed that the sick woman was possessed by the Taro that our relative allegedly kept. Not surprisingly our relatives are quiet well-off and like in the case of u Thlen, that is reason enough to confirm that our relatives are the Taro keepers because the Taro had blessed them with immense wealth. When a person is supposed to be possessed by the Taro, the person acts, behaves and even speaks like the alleged Taro keeper. The possessed-person is said to acquire a split personality of that of the Taro keeper and even assumed the name of the keeper. Taro can possess a person if she takes or consumes anything that the keeper shares no matter how big or small, and some time returning the favour helps the possessed person recover.

Later on my sisters fell sick and our parents called a shaman who declared that our two sisters were possessed by the Taro of our own relative. That caused the rift between the otherwise two loving families. After many years we realized that our sisters were suffering from a common disease and the two families re-united but not before a long and bitter separation that both the families suffered.

I now am very close with a family which some people allege to be the keepers of Taro (wa em blai iung). Very recently two members of their own family alleged that their Taro has possessed them. It is a common belief that a person who was possessed would run to the alleged keeper’s house and if the keepers accept and welcome the sick woman (because she has acquired the personality of the keeper) and admit that the Taro belongs to them, the spirit will leave the possessed woman and she will regain her health. On one such occasion the girl was brought to the family, since they are all but one family the father of the alleged Taro keeper’s family politely told those who brought the girl “we no longer believe in these kind of things. He instead offered to pray that the girl may be well, to which they all agreed. It is also believed that the keeper’s family inherited the Taro from their ancestors by inheriting the ancestral property. The father also told the family of the supposed possessed girl that he started his family from scratch and he did not take any of his wife’s property with him and questioned the allegation that his family inherited the Taro. He also remind that both he and his wife are government employees and even their children are in service and all their incomes are accounted. That brought the unfortunate episode to a close but the crack in the very close-knit family is yet to heal.

The alleged Taro keepers I interviewed said that they don’t know anything about the Taro and neither did their parents or grandparents ever tell them anything about it. Their house too has no place where the Taro is supposedly kept; neither do they have a wooden box that was not opened for ages. They only knew it from the allegation that was made against them by the family of the possessed person. In other words, it is simply an allegation that they are the Taro keepers. I have all respect for those who still believe in the power of course, spell and witchcraft. They are within their rights to do so, as long as it does not impinge on others’ rights or create undue problems in the community. I also think that if my father was still alive now I would still allow him to cast away the evil spell from my kids, (his grandchildren) as long as it did not harm them but I would not blame others for their sickness.

Obviously, the belief in curse and witchcraft is still prevalent in the society; it is not for me to play judge here and conclude that it is just a false notion; the subject needs to be debated if Khasi Pnar society is to move forward. Now that the call for legalization, propagation of traditional healing and traditional medicine is gaining momentum, the pertinent question is do we need to draw a line between true herbal medicine and shamanism? Do we need to draw a line where superstition (for want of a better word) ends and herbal medicine begins?

(The author is a research scholar and elder of the Unitarian Church)

Job Creation not on the government’s agenda

2011-06-26T22:25:00.000-07:00

A small neighbourhood where I live has about ten houses and not less than ten educated unemployed youths and the educational background of these youngsters range from matriculate to graduate. Most of them studied art stream so job opportunity is indeed very difficult, and it is a known facts that almost all localities in the urban areas of the state is having this similar situation where young people are endlessly waiting for a job. Then I look at the growing numbers of young people who enrolled themselves in the schools and colleges and I can’t help but wonder how and where are these young people going to get employment?
In a meeting organized by the Jaintia Youth Federation in which Bindo Lanong the Deputy Chief Minister was the chief guest on the occasion, this issue was brought to light that the district and the state has a huge population of educated unemployed youth. The Deputy Chief Minister expressed his surprise the fact that people from the other parts of India or even from other countries come to Jaintia to get employment while the young people of the district remain unemployed. A coal baron who is also one of the speaker nods in agreement with what Bindo has just said. I can understand the chuckle of amusement of the coal baron, it is easy for him because he can travel in his air-conditioned SUV and don’t have to expose himself to the heat and dust. Can we imagine an educate young man or woman to slug it out in the heat and dust or worst still get into the rat hole and mine? Why are they being educated if they have to end up doing a menial job like that? It is the duty of the government to respect their dignity and to provide them employment befitting their qualification. It is also believed that industrialization will help solve the employment problem but how much can the cement companies employed? It is also a known fact that the cement companies prefer outsiders than local because they said “the locals don’t have industrial culture.” So, how can we provide employment to our young ones? Some adventurous young men and women went outside the state in search for a greener pastures but what about the average young people?
I am not the first one to blame the education system in the state for creating this gigantic problem but the purpose of this write-up is not to dwell in the past and go on criticizing the government for not doing enough to ensure a better future of our young people. This write-up hopes to suggest ways and means for the government and even educational institutions to take into consideration and improve the employability of the educated youth of the state. By introducing the examination reform; the education department is already on the right track and as mentioned earlier our concern is not with the section of the youths who did well in their studies but the average young people the second-divisioners and the third-divisioners which roughly constitute not less than 60 percent of the youths’ population. The 100 percent cut off mark for admission is certainly beyond what this section of the class can think of, but that is not the end of the world for them, there is a lot that the government can do to help this section of the youth. Thanks goodness, quite a few of them gain employment as teachers in the schools under the SSA but even young people know that the government cannot employ the entire workforce available in the state, but the question is what are the available option?
An old man on his dead-bed summoned his only son and tells him that he want to give him the land that he has farmed for many years. He know his son who is educated is not interested with the land or farming for that matter, so he told his son that he hid all the wealth he earned during his entire life in the field. One day after his father’s death; the son decided to go to the field to ploughs and dig the whole plot of land. But unfortunately he did not find any wealth; he went home dejected wondering where his father hid the wealth. Since it is also the onset of the sowing season he decided not to waste the labour that he had spend to plough the land, he thought to himself ‘I might as well start planting rice in the field.’ When the harvest is done his field yield more that he had expected, it then dawn on him that the wealth his father hid is the paddy field itself.
Social activist A.K. Nongkynrih of the Sociology department NEHU has time and again emphasised on the need of empowering the rural folk. If we want to improve the economy of the state we need to focus our attention on the villages and how else can it be when more than 80 percent of the population resides in the villages. He once reminded the audience that for everything we need we import from outside the state, we spend crores of money importing fish from Andhra Pradesh, we also spend crores of money importing pigs and cows to be slaughtered and satisfy our appetite. We even import safety pins and matchbox and export nothing except our mineral resources. How do we expect the economy of our state to improve if we have nothing to export and our youths are not gainfully employed?
Now many farming families in the villages sent their kids to schools hoping that they may get a better job, but the idea is to let brilliant students (the 100 percent) continue with their studies because we also need doctors, engineers, teachers and what have you, but we can teach average students’ different skills from higher secondary onward. After class 10 results average students can choose to continue their higher secondary school combine with training on skill like fish farming, piggery farming, poultry farming and etc. Students who in spite of ‘the best of five system of examination’ barely manage to scrape through should be encouraged to take the training. I don’t see the need of having a Polytechnic or an ITI to train trainees trades that will not help them gainfully employed but only increase the numbers of people waiting for government job. We need to teach students skill that will help them go back to the field and start farming and may be even create more employment; trades that have ready market available locally.
How do we go about it? Well we have Agriculture department, Fishery, Animal Husbandry, Industries and commerce even at the Block level, departments can chalk out programmes with schools or the Inspectors/Deputy Inspectors of School to conduct these trainings. Government can provide funds to these departments to conduct a workshop in all the higher secondary schools of their respective blocks/sub division and train students in the various job oriented programmes that their offices or departments can offer. For instance a farmer’s programme (Kisanwani Programme) is already on air in collaboration between the various departments and the All India Radio.
I hope this will help the young people employ themselves and it will also reduce if not stop the urban migration. This way the government can make use the best of machineries available to create employment for our educated young people and also improve the economy of the state. Then the cores of money gain from selling our mineral resources will circulate in the state itself and benefit everybody the state. One hopes that the MUA government will start making job creation an agenda of the government if we do not want our young people to squander their life or may be even create a problem for the state in the near future. It is also hope that the proposed MBOSE open school system of the education department to introduce locally need trade and not to copy whatever the NIOS had in its syllabus.

Bamphalar: The Cannes of dramas in Jowai

2011-06-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

Of the 15 odd localities in the town there are 7 localities (known as Dong) in Jowai, which still organize the annual Bamphalar festivals. Bamphalar is a theatrical festival organized by the localities in Jowai namely; Tpep-pale, Dulong, Iongpiah Loompyrdi, Panaliar, Loomiongkjam, Chilliang-raij and Loomkyrwiang and each locality stages a minimum of two dramas in the two months long festival. The festival which is always organized in the months of April and May of the year is like the Cannes of dramas for the theatre-loving people of the town. The only difference is that it goes on for two months and there is neither red carpet nor award ceremony which goes to be part of the festival.

During the festival, week after week theater-lovers of the town hop from one Yungwalieh (community hall) to another to feast their eyes and their soul. Each of the 7 localities chose a week from the eight weeks time to organize their respective show. Traditionally, locality stage their dramas during the evening of Musiang (market day in Jowai) and continue for another one or two days; depend on the numbers of dramas the Clubs decided to produce in the year. Earlier, since most of the people of the town are farmers, labourer, tailors and traders; it is convenient to start the festival on the market which is also the pay day in the town. It is also interesting to note that traditionally the Pnars too rest for two days of the eight days’ a week traditional calendar. They rest on the market day to enable them to do their weekly shopping and they took a day off on Muchai the day after; purely for leisure.

Even the people in the state of Meghalaya know very little about the rich artistic traditions of the ancestors of the Pnars in Jaintia hills. Apart from their unique traditional dance and festivals and erecting of monoliths which is common among the Khasi Pnar tribe, their arts also includes sculpture of different shapes and sizes carved on stones and rocks in different parts of the District, infact Jaintia has the largest collection of Monolith in the entire State. Of the Khasi Pnar stock, perhaps it is only the Pnars which have their own unique tradition of making earthen pots and the only pottery village in the District is known as Lyrnai. Pnar’s art also includes weaving their traditional dress like the Muka, the Thoh-saru, Ryndia-tlem and Khyrwang, goldsmith, various cane and bamboo crafts, music with their own folk instruments and smelting of iron to make tools.

Of the arts practice by the people of the District, dramas is said to be of a recent origin. It may be mentioned that Jaintia Hills District was also part of the erstwhile Jaintia Kingdom which extended to the plain of now Bangladesh. In one of my interview with one of the elder of Jowai town woh Chaimon Pyrbot, he told me that the Pnars learn the theatrical art from their counterpart in (Shilot) Sylhet during the day when the trade between the Pnars of the hills and the Bengalese in the plain was at its peak. Since then the Pnars of certain elaka carry on the theatrical tradition, the theatrical festival is also part of the Chad Sukra festival in the village like Mihmyntdu, Khliehtyrchi, Sabah and Tuber. Nongtalang village also still carry this theatrical tradition and in some villages in the War Jaintia the theatre was included as a part of the festival called ‘Rong Khusi.’

The word Bamphalar is a combination of two words; Bam and Phalar and the festivals derived its name from the last part of this festival when the entire community joins together to share community feast. It is a common practice followed by almost all the localities that after the two or three day’s dramatic extravaganza, the locality end the festival with a feast (Bamdoh).

Typical drama stage by any locality also contain usual popular Bollywood blockbuster masala, a bit of gyrating dance, a bit of action and a lot of romance in the air. There are times when the locality would also stage a play on a historical and legendary figure of the community, like that of Kiang Nangbah, Lo Ryndi, Suna Raja and many other legendary figure of the area. To add flavor to the drama some locality spice up the dramas by inserting some comedy scene in the dramas, while some locality has an evening entirely for a comedy show. For the convenient of the local daily labourers, the drama normally started at 8 (eight) o’clock in the evening and goes on till 12 in the midnight.

Bamphalar is not only an opportunity for the local artist to showcase their talent, but it is also a great fund raising event for the locality and the neighborhood uses the fund for variety of welfare programmes of the community. It may also be interesting to know that even though all the actors, dramatist, comedian, dancers and helpers spend their time and energy to present to the audience the best drama that they can, yet they did it all for free. The troupe spend weeks to practice the different dramas but they all did it voluntarily and for the love of their locality and of course the art making a drama. Bamphalar is not only unifying factor of the locality, it is also a great leveler of the community. The comedy I watch few weeks back was organized by the dong Tpep-pale and it has in its list of actors (comedian to be precise), a doctor, an engineer, a peon, a student and other people belonging to other profession, they all took their role seriously irrespective of the position they held in the society.

Now that filmmaking is a thriving business in the District, Bamphalar is becoming an opportunity for the artist to display their talent and it is also like a springboard for budding artist to try their hands in the new medium. It is also noteworthy that Filmmaking in Jaintia hills known as Jollywood has produced more movies than its counterpart in Shillong. This is because the theatrical tradition is already part and parcel of the society and Bamphalar is like a training ground for artist to get into acting.

The scripts of the dramas are wealth of literary treasure of Pnar dialect one wonder what happen to these hundreds of dramas? If each drama is published into a book, Pnar literature would be richer by a minimum of 14 plays a year. Add to the dramas there are also songs that goes to be part of a drama to make it similar to a perfect Bollywood hit. The theatrical festival also generates another secondary art like the art of making paper flowers and painting. Huge screen of approximately 12 by 10 feet in diameter are used to divide the stage as curtain, these shutters were used to divide the act in the play and they are always beautifully painted like murals of famous painters. The paper flowers are used to decorate the stage particularly the romantic scene when the hero and the heroin dance in a particular scene known as ‘chad-kper-syntu.’ A drama is incomplete without ‘chad-kper-syntu’ which literarily translates to dancing in the garden and all the flowers in the garden were handmade.

Earlier; apart from the 7 localities, old dongs of Jowai also took part in the drama festival, dong Tympang Iawmusiang also used to organize Bamphalar, but stopped doing so sometime in the later part of seventies. Nothing is known whether Chutwakhu locality and Lion or Mission Compound organize similar dramatic festival or not, but the other localities of Jowai town are new township which came into being in the later part of the seventies and the earlier part of the eighties hence they have no Bamphalar tradition.

Bamphalar is another tradition that the Pnar has kept since time immemorial and this is one practice that is not only alive and thriving but it is improves and evolves as time goes by. Bamphalar can also be another event that can attract tourist if the concern authority promotes it properly. If the Cannes is for cinema, Bamphalar of Jowai is for dramas (at least in Meghalaya) it only needs proper packaging and product promotion. The Shillong Times 20 June 2011.

Congress making mockery of democracy

2011-06-13T00:38:00.000-07:00

Can the people of the state breathe a sigh of relief, now that Dr Mukul Sangma finally has the guts to call a spade a spade and do away with trouble makers in his cabinet? Obviously the answer is no, the tell-tale signs of the swearing in the ceremony of the new ministers as reported by the media left so many questions unanswered. When more than half of the Congress legislators are baying for his blood, the question is how long can he keep the leadership crisis issue in the backburner and concentrate on governance? Until and unless the intra-party stalemate is resolved, Mukul will find it difficult if not impossible to get into the business of governing. Though Mukul has the support of the high command, it remains to be seen how best he can make use of the grace period that the high command has given him.

At least for the time being Mukul can go back to his Chief Minister’s secretariat and start doing the job that people expect him to do. Mukul, unlike his bête noire, is being praised by many for his sincere and genuine desire to take the state further on the road of development. People spoken to are in favour of giving him a chance to complete his term as Chief Minister. Unfortunately the support is from the layman and lay woman in the street and not his fellow legislators from the Congress party who can make the difference. Many independent observers with no particular bent of mind recognize that Mukul has it in him to take the state forward. Many question how he can be expected to change Meghalaya overnight when he has only completed one year of his term. The allegation of rebel Congress MLA’s of Mukul’s style of functioning is an internal matter of the Congress; even his refusal to convene the CLP meeting is none of our business. They should have settled the issue internally and not wash their dirty linens in the street. Thank goodness the party leadership in the capital did not give in to the demands of the dissidents. The Congress is the single largest party supported by the other likeminded parties and individuals which has the mandate to govern and that is what people expect the party to do.

On the other hand, the rebel Congress group’s choice of a new Chief Ministerial candidate in the person of old DD Lapang smacks of hypocrisy. How can a person they had declared unfit to be the Chief Minister a year ago, now be ready to take on the same mantle? Has he done any special course or has he been to any counseling or perhaps even yoga class (with some Baba may be) that would make the rebel Congress MLAs change their mind and decide that he is not the same DD Lapang that they had helped overthrow a year ago? The people of the state know DD Lapang’s style of functioning. His (non) performance in his many stints as a chief minister is still fresh in the minds of many denizens of the state. There is no love lost between the people of the state and DD Lapang anyway. Maybe the rebel Congress MLAs would got peoples’ support if they had come up with a new face as a Chief Ministerial candidate. But how can they when everybody is a contender for the post? The problem in the Congress party now is every MLA wants to be a minister and every leader wants to be a chief minister.

One would also expect many elderly Congressmen like OL Nongtdu, Friday Lyngdoh and even DD Lapang to call it a day and retire gracefully, but that is not to happen. It seems Congressmen like communist comrades do not retire but they just fade away. In countries where they have real democracy, when politicians have run their race, they retire from politics gracefully. John Major, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and even George Bush junior, keep a respectable distance from politics after they have retired even though age is still on their side. Why can’t the distinguished Congressmen for the love of the party create a second rank leadership then support and guide the young generation rather than creating a problem every time younger people try to step into their shoes? Had it been me, I would wish to spend the twilight of my life with my near and dear ones and particularly to spend the best part of it with my grand children and may be make amends for past mistakes. But not so our Congressmen!

The Congress legislators are making a mockery of democracy and have taken the people of the state for a ride for three long months. The purported 18 Congress MLAs had literally taken the entire state hostage. Sadly the final curtain of the drama is yet to be drawn down. It is truly said that democracy is not the best form government because if the situation arises that we have 29 wise men and 31 fools in the house, then no one can save us! The state had literarily been without a government during these last three months; it’s time for the legislators to get down to business and spare us their diatribes against each other. We voted them to serve the state and not to indulge in a never ending game of musical chairs. Talking about the musical chair game, it will be interesting if somebody tries to find out the numbers of trips the Congress legislators took to Delhi during the three months period and the amount of money they spent. If an attendance register was maintained at the Secretariat, it would also be interesting to know who and how many days did the Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries attend office during the period. Why don’t the Congress legislators realize the embarrassment they put Madam Sonia to? The party already has more problems in its hand than it can handle, from the Lok Pal Bill, to Anna Hazare, to Baba Ramdev, black money and the never ending corruption charges. Hence leaders can hardly spare time for Congress legislators fighting for scraps. The people of Meghalaya are also fed up with the infighting in the Congress. They want them to end this mockery as soon as possible.

The other pertinent question is, whether it is wise for Mukul Sangma to punish the rebel MLAs and reward only his close confidantes? Mukul’s strategy of rewarding his supporter will backfire and further widen the gap instead of narrowing it. Since they all belong to the same party one would expect an astute politician like Dr. Mukul to play his cards well and walk the middle path pleasing both sides rather than widen the chasm. Mukul has further aggravated the already tense situation. If at all Mukul can complete this term, seeing a united Congress party before the 2013 elections is a distant dream if not impossible. The three months stalemate will not augur well for the party. Leaders may think that public memory is very short and by 2013 voters will forget about it. But if the Congress MLAs continue with their infighting they will have only themselves to blame when the results are declared in 2013. From what we have experienced of late, I think we need to suggest one more condition in the proposed electoral reforms of the Election Commission of India. Apart from the condition that the candidates not only need to declare their wealth, they also require to mention the source of their income and the inclusion of the non-of-the-above button in the electronic voting machine. I think we should also have a law to recall our MLA or MDC if they do not perform their duties or if the voters are not satisfies with the way he or she functions. If we have such stringent laws, then I think the situation in Meghalaya is a fit case for people to recall their MLAs. (The writer is an elder of the Unitarian church, scholar and a political commentator)The Shillong Times Monday, June 13, 2011.

World Environment Day Not an occasion

2011-06-07T00:37:00.001-07:00

The 5th of June is celebrated every year as World Environment Day with much joy and lot of tree plantation, then we litter the place with the plastics in which the sapling was planted is another question. Celebrating the WED is expected to create an awareness in the people about the threat to the fragile earth but the question is has celebrating WED really had any impact in the people particularly those in the decision making?

After reading Bryan Kharpran Daly’s article ‘the shameful plunder’ The Shillong Times Saturday May 28; I realized I was not the only one who was frustrated at the way we treat our nature. It seems like all our efforts to communicate to the people about the importance of preserving our nature is wasted. Our MLAs and MDC at least those who can read English looks like they hardly had time to read the newspaper. Knowing bah Bryan’s efforts to explore, survey and map the caves system in the state and his untiring endeavour to save them, I can only add that the article is not only a must read for everybody but it is wealth of information on the subject. The article reminds us of the unique cave system that the state is blessed with and the reason we should be proud of the caves. Bah Bryan is also the only authority in this subject in the state of Meghalaya and I think his article should be preserved for posterity. But like anyone else who is involved in some sort of nature conservation, bah Bryan’s article too is a depiction of that disappointment with regard to the ‘the shameful plunder’ (if I may use bah Bryan’s own words) of the nature by the miners and a government which look the other way while the nature is being looted and destroyed.

Can we really depend on the Government to protect our mother nature? From what we have seen in the past, the answer is no. Government after another has failed to come up with any policy to protect the environment. The state government’s current policy seems to be mining-centric and not environment-centric; it only caters to the benefit of the miners and the environment takes a back seat in the government priority. Has the government done any study on the destruction cause by mining in the state? Has the government conduct any study to find out whether mining has really help boost the economy of the state? How does the economic boom (if there is any such thing) fare when compare with the damage done particularly to the environment? Can all the money we create from coal and lime stone mining help pay to reclaim even a fraction of what we have lost namely rivers, forest and our way of life?

But environment is a big issue; it not only deals with the way we manage our natural resources, is also concerns with our attitude to everything around us. On one hand the government is to be blamed for the way it had managed (or rather did not manage) our resources, but can we blame the government for the entire environment problem we are facing now? What have we done to keep our villages, towns and cities clean? Isn’t it true that we still live by the NIMBY (not in my back yard) attitude? As long as it is not in my back yard, I can dirty any lane any parks even someone else backyard. This is our generation and the generation before ours’ attitude when it comes to garbage disposal. In Khasi Pnar we say “tang ba lait na kti,” we throw waste anywhere just to relieve our hands from holding something particularly trash. One my most embarrassing moment was when I took my English friend John Hewerdine to “u Moosniang” one of Jowai town important landmark. While I told John the folklore about the image of pig carved on a stone, John was busy picking all the litters that was scattered all over the place. He placed the waste in his pocket and threw the same on the next garbage collection point we found.

I think our children’s attitude towards the nature is much mature that ours, many friends told me stories about how their children in some way are teaching their parents about the important of the nature and at times the children were even upset with the way their parent treat the nature. Ma A. N told me of their trips from Mizoram to Jowai and on the way back, the driver of their vehicle purposely hit a young Leopard and the animal died. Not surprisingly the tribal hunting trait took over and the elders in the vehicle were all overjoyed with their catch. The only exception was a young man who was upset of what he had seen and remained silent till he reach home. Once they reached home he angrily told his dad, you were all happy for being able to kill the Leopard but very soon you will only see them on screen. That was the lesson of a lifetime for my friend Allan. One day my youngest daughter returned home from school wearing a long face, I asked her why? And she said “today they have murdered many trees in front of our school”. Notice her choice of word to describe the incident; she did not use the Khasi word “pom” cut instead she said “pyniap” murdered.

We have report in the press; time and again of dorbar shnong organizing community cleaning drive and the efforts of the village to clean the rivers in their area for fear it becoming like wah Umkhrah. All these are good efforts but maintaining the cleanliness of our village, our town and city is not a one day affair, we need to change our attitude with regard to garbage disposal. This write-up will not serve its purpose if it does not provide us with ideas how we can change our attitude towards the nature and the environment around us. We have all heard of the famous three “R”s of nature conservation which reminds us of what we need to do when we use stuffs that are harmful to the environment particularly plastics. First of all flatly refuse using materials that we know are harmful to the environment, if using these materials is unavoidable, we should at least make sure that we re-use them and then to not just dump them but to try to recycle them. This can be our small humble contribution to save the environment and more importantly to keep our villages, towns and cities clean and green.

The theme of this year’s WED celebration is “Forest: Nature at your service,” the United Nation has also declare this year as the international year of Forest. I think it is time for us to ask ourselves what kind of relationship we have with the nature or what kind of relationship our kids have with the nature. When was the last time we venture out into the forest? A Unitarian Universalist Church in the US organise a year long programme to get kids close to the nature, they organize nature camp, rock climbing camp, trekking etc and the theme of the programme is CRP, connect, respect and protect. The objective is if kids are able to connect with the nature they will learn to respect it and then fight to protect the nature. We need to get our kids as close to the nature possible, we also need to generate more forest area. Our ancestors has a tradition of keeping sacred groves, we can recreate more sacred space in our villages, towns and cities by converting our cemetery and cremation ground to memorial parks. I like Khushwant Singh’s idea of planting a tree instead of setting up a tomb stone on our grave, and why not?

India has also been selected as the host country of this year’s World Environment Day not only because India is an emerging Asian economic tiger, but because of the fact that current government’s policy put a major thrust in environment protection. Recently; in a radio interview I was asked what I in my opinion is the threat that await the coalmine areas of Jaintia? My answer was water scarcity particularly during winter. The silver lining is that villages can make use of the MGNREGS to make check dam and dig ponds to harvest rain water and plant trees in any available space in the villages. Projects like this will not only benefit the village but it is also in line with the central government policy of reducing global warming.

Change that we can in 2013

2011-06-01T00:10:00.000-07:00

Meghalaya does not need a fortune teller to prophesise the kind of future that is in store for the state if it continues to be led the way it is now. Neither does the state need a soothsayer to declare that it needs monumental change if it is to make any progress and catch up with the rest of the country. The curve in the growth chart of Meghalaya is currently on its downward slide; be it in the health, education or other social sector; it therefore calls for an immediate change to make the curve head north and that change should start from the top. A popular adage says; “there is only one thing permanent in the world and that is change,”

The change that we need is from top to bottom precisely because the rot in the system is not at the grass root level but at the top hierarchy of our political system. It reminds me of the wisdom of an elderly man in Nongtalang who in one of our discussion about corruption said, ‘You only need to push the big boulder from the top and the shingle will follow suit.’ We need to strike at the top which is the seat of power and also the foundation of corruption and once we are able to remove big problem; all else will eventually follow.

We cannot afford to let corruption remains merely a topic of debate in the hearth of the Khasi Pnar or the people of Meghalaya’s homes, enough rumbling and grumbling, the need of the hour is to act and the time is now. If we are hoping to achieve any semblance of a clean politics after 2013; there is no other way but to work for a clean electoral system, because election is where corruption starts.

Few people like bah Arden Basaiawmoit refuse to remain a mere spectator to what is going on in the state decided to move ahead and refused to be cowed down by his adversaries who would certainly discourage him and suggest that he is fighting a losing battle. Like any activist he is foolish enough to believe that he can at least make a difference if not bring change to the political system. How far can the movement go? Only time will tell whether it can bring any change in the political system in the state or not. Certainly the CPC has achieved one thing and that is making people talk about change rather than just grumble about it.

Arden’s Clean Political Campaign is not enough; we need more civil society’s involvement if we are to see change after 2013. If the political parties have started preparing themselves for the next state election, the people of the state too; need to gear themselves up for the same. If the political parties are fighting to win the election, the civil society should see to it that clean political system wins the day and it should starts from the 2013 election. The recent election results of at least the two states of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal once again prove right the adage which says ‘you can’t fool all the people all the times.’

I believe if we can only have a clean election, half of the battle against corruption is won. The Election Commission of India has introduced radical electoral reforms but politicians can always find some loopholes in the system and circumvent the rules. There are also issues peculiar only to a certain areas which the general election guidelines fail to address. As the saying goes; local problems call for local solution, only the local civil society can, address these local electoral problems.

For instance we have a practice in Jaintia hills wherein during the 20 odd days of electioneering, candidates organize election campaign in the major town or villages of their respective constituency. The candidates visit all the places followed by a huge motor cavalcade which include buses, cars and what have you. Every evening; each candidate spends thousands of rupees if not laks to hire these vehicles to carry his supporters from their respective villages to the meeting place. The host local Dorbar Shnong (where the meeting is held) can help curb the expenditure of the candidates by allowing only the candidates and few of his supporters to come and canvass in their village. If all the Dorbar Shnong can stops this madness during the election; I think half of the candidates’ expenditure is saved. Better still, instead of allowing the candidates to campaign in their village on different dates, the Dorbar Shnong can instead organize a common platform for the candidates to debate in front of the people.

I don’t know how civil society group would address a peculiar problem like people asking money from the candidates. During election people literarily come to beg money from the candidates for their medical checkup, buying books for their kids, money to pay their children schools fees or admission fees and even buying nappy for newborn babies. Young people particularly boys queue in front of the candidates’ houses to seek sponsor for picnic, musical concert, excursion trip and even for drinks. How can we do away with the practice of visiting candidates’ houses during election for a cup of tea or a few plates of rice and pork? There is joke doing the round in Jaintia hills about a certain candidate who came up with a clever idea to test his chance of winning the election. He thought since there are so many people who came to dine in his house on the voting day, simply counting the numbers of used plates will help him guess the numbers of votes he will get. The numbers of used plates almost exceed half the numbers of the voters in the electoral roll of the constituency. From the numbers of used plates our candidate was very confident to win the election. But on the counting day, contrary to what was expected, he did not even get quarter of the votes polled and loss the election. Since then we have a saying in Jaintia hill ‘don’t ever estimate your chance of winning the election by counting the numbers of the used plates.’ This is another election problem that the civil society needs to be creative enough to come up with idea to discourage people from visiting the candidate’s house during election.

There is another practice perhaps peculiar only to the Khasi Pnar society and that is when the Dorbar Shnong decides to sponsor a candidate because he is from the village, he is the son of the soil or for other reasons. Of course everybody knows that there is no such thing as 100 percent unanimity in any kind of community decision and very often than not, the minority who do not conform to the majority’s decision were denied their rights to votes and even ostracized by the village. We have instances where houses of those who opposed the DS (majority) decision were burned to ashes. DS should be discouraged from sponsoring candidate because it is undemocratic and it is against the tradition.

Political observers in the state have a reason to cheers when the churches too have taken a stance against rampant corruption in the state. Pastors of the Presbyterian Church in many of its gathering; be it the Assembly or the Synod used the pulpit to speak against the evil of corruption, this is indeed a reason to be optimistic. Albert Sweitzer on one of his trip to the USA; visited Chicago and many people waited to welcome him at the railway station. Setting foot on the railway platform; Albert Sweitzer saw an old woman struggling to carry her bag, instead of walking straight to the dignitaries and press people waiting for him, he immediately went to help the woman carry her language and then return to meet the welcome party. A journalist watching in awe at what had happened can’t help but remarked ‘that was the first time I saw a sermon walking.’ While the church’s move to rid corruption from the society is a good sign, it is equally important that the church start to walk the talk. There are many ways churches can involve in the process of bringing clean electoral process by not favouring a candidate just because he belongs to the flock is one. Allowing the members of the congregation to exercise their free choice without direct or indirect influence from the church is another. A reporter friend told me of a big church meeting just before the MDC election. The church leaders made a special seating arrangement for all the candidates which are members of the denomination. At a certain part of the service; the priest walked to place the candidates sat and introduced them to the gathering and pray for them. No, there is nothing wrong with praying for anybody if it is done at the right place; the right time without any ulterior motive.

There are plenty that the church or civil society can do to improve the electoral system in the state, perhaps the church can also help by instructing its members not to visit the candidate’s house or ask money during election. The church and the civil society can work together and form election watch group and help publicise candidates with criminal antecedent and other information which will help voters make an informed and conscious decision when they vote. These are just few areas that faith groups and civil society can do to create an atmosphere conducive for free and fair election. The need of the hour is for the people to start doing something that will not make us live to regret the next five years and blame ourselves for not doing enough to bring change.

Corruption: The manifestation of u Thlen in the Khasi Pnar Society

2011-05-23T00:41:00.000-07:00

Myths, legends and folktales are not merely stories to be told around the hearth of the Khasi-Pnar homes; the stories are not just myths but ways by which our ancestors pass on the intrinsic values and traditions from one generation to another. The stories are meant to be reflected upon in the light of the modern world and to appreciate the profound morals that were neatly woven into the fabric of the stories.

In a nutshell, the folktales have it that when u Thlen (a huge serpent) was killed a feast was made out of it and the entire community took part in the public feast. Legend has it that in a certain family the mother kept wee bit of the meat for her son. Next day, she was shocked to discover that it had turned to a little serpent. The serpent requested the mother to keep it and in return promised to bless the family with immense wealth. But I have another take for the story. U Thlen is a symbol of greed and people’s never ending desire to accumulate as much wealth as they can, using whatever means available without worry of the consequences that their actions might have or can cause to their fellow humans and the environment. U Thlen is a demon to which we are willing to sacrifice truth, justice, equality, integrity, honour, honesty and all the values we hold dear. U Thlen is a devil who kills the human conscience and the human person’s ability to distinguish right from wrong.

Since our ancestors have partaken of the serpent’s meat it has become our flesh and blood. We have all inherited u Thlen in ourselves, u Thlen is innate in each and every one of us; it has become part of our life. Hence in spite of so much talk against corruption it is still prevalent in the society, because u Thlen is within us. The Khasi-Pnar value to earn righteousness has been done away with since our ancestors gobbled the Thlen’s meat. U Thlen which we believe we have killed is still alive in society and it is alive in each and every one of us.

A simple fisherman who lived in a certain island earns his livelihood by fishing. His typical day starts in the wee hours of the morning when he ventures to the sea to catch fish. Every day he returns in the afternoon after catching just enough to feed his family and the rest of the day he slept on his boat. One day a rich man from the city came holidaying in the island. When he saw the fisherman sleeping, he asked him, "Why are you sleeping why don’t you go out fishing?" The fisherman replied "I have already caught enough for a day’s need for my family." The rich man again asked him, "Why don’t you fish the whole day to get more money?" The fisherman asked, "What for?" The rich man suggested, "You can get more money to buy a bigger boat." The perplexed fisherman then asked "Why do I need a bigger boat?" "You can go fishing further into the deep sea and get more catch" "Why do I need more catch?" again asked the fisherman. "You can get more money." "Why do I need more money?" "So you can enjoy and relax the rest of your life," replied the rich man." The Fisherman then replied "Why? What do you think I am doing right now?"

The honest, simple and generous Khasi Pnar who lives a simple life is no more. Greed has taken over the life of the simple Khasi Pnar and everyone is in the rat-race to become an instant millionaire. Like my friend said, "Our life is now ruled by everything instant, fast food, fast car and fast money. No, there is nothing wrong in getting rich by fair and honest means but accumulating wealth by infringing on the right of others or by flouting the rules for self benefit, by cheating and employing other unfair means to gain undue favour is wrong. Ka ‘Hok’ which has many meanings in English like (kaba hok) ‘righteousness/truth’, (ka hok) rights and (ka jingbishar hok) justice has lost its meaning in the contemporary society. A Khasi Pnar who lives by the cardinal principle to earn righteousness is no more; the last few of them live in the village far from the madding crowd.

There are regular reports in the news papers of those in power from MLA to officers who are involved in corruption. It seems we still believe that it is alright to steal from the government and we therefore have no qualms of stealing from what really belongs to the people. Even if we do not directly take home from office articles like registers, papers, locks, file covers and etc, there are those who do not attend office regularly and spend paid time for their own vested interest. Are they too not indulging in corruption? Their salary is being paid by the government and it is expected of them to attend to their duties and give their time to serve the public. We see government employees accumulate wealth beyond their known sources of income and are still proud of it. How else do you explain things when an engineer whose wife is also a government employee suddenly resigns and declare that he has wealth worth crores of rupees? Nobody questions where all the money comes from. Instead we shower accolades on the person. How can one earn so much money if one considers his known sources of income only? But people have accepted this new way of life. If anyone starts raising questions about it, people will say that he is jealous.

Religious orgnisations too are run by people so it is only fair to expect that they reflect their member’s thoughts, aspiration and action. Look at the educational institutions runs by religious orgnisations. Consider the school fees they charge. Even a prospectus of a reputed school costs three hundred rupees a copy. Only in Meghalaya would one find schools funded by the government on a deficit pattern which means that all the teachers are being paid by the government and they still charge exorbitant tuition fees. Educational institutions have now become the geese that lay golden eggs for the religious organizations. In Jowai religious organizations are even competing among themselves to run markets. Trees in the cemetery are cleared to give way to a market instead of converting the same to a memorial park. The church which has committed to abide by the law instead constructs permanent sheds after receiving the demolition order from the JHADC. An organization with an objective to preserve and protect culture and tradition has seen to it that the archery ground (madan-siat-thong) of the Pnar is done away with to make way for a super market.

The Khasi Pnars are now worshiping wealth and (ka hok) righteousness has no value anymore. U Thlen inside us has won the day; we no longer treasure the invaluable land, waters and forest for we have put a price tag on everything. The forests are not our perennial source of livelihood anymore, animals and trees are no longer our fellow creation. The land is no longer our mother or else how would we sell our own mother (mei-ram-ew). We no longer respect rivers and hills which we consider divine. Ka Umiam, ka Kupli, ka Myntdu ka Umngot, ka Kynshi, u lum Shillong u lum Bah-boo bah-kong are all under the hammer waiting only for the right price.

We worship wealth and we have disregarded that which the community considers to be a taboo (ka sang ka ma) and shame and feeling bad on account of our own wrong deeds and action (ka rain ka rem) is no more. We honour a person not because of the principle by which he lives and by how he carries himself but by how wealthy he is. U Thlen inside us even influences our decision making. Tell me of an MLA who is not a crorepati. We even elect our MLA and MDC based on their wealth.

Therefore a poor man does not stand a chance to win an election no matter what his credentials and accomplishments are.

A kind and caring society has now given way for a society in which a person is only concerned about his individual needs and his own vested interests. Gone are the days when a woman gave birth and relatives, friends and neighbours would come visit the mother and the brand new baby and also bring with them food (ja khon-boo) to feed the two. Among the Jaintias, during the mourning period, friends and relatives would visit and bring food for the bereaved family. During bereavement relatives and friends would visit the family to offer their service to help the family. Now that is gone forever particularly in the towns and cities. We are all busy now, busy to earn more money at the cost of a loving, sharing and caring community.

The Khasis believe they have no written script or no sacred book because our ancestors had accidentally swallowed the scriptures while crossing a flooded river on their journey en-route to the hills. But the Khasi Pnar does have their own un-written Bible in the form of myths and legends passed on from one generation to another and the holy book also extends to everything around us from the nature to the Universe. And by swallowing the book it also implies that the book becomes part of us. The holy text of the Khasi Pnar dwells in the soul of the individual and therefore the human soul is the ultimate authority in one’s life. It therefore calls on each and every one of us to do a soul searching, to introspect and find out where we have gone wrong and how can we rid off u Thlen from us? (The writer is a scholar, an elder of the Unitarian Church and a columnist)
http://www.theshillongtimes.com/23 May, 2011

Countdown to 2013: Prospect of regional parties in the state

2011-05-17T00:40:00.000-07:00

The clock is ticking and in about 22 months or less than two years time, the state will go to poll again and in some way the next election will be a level playing field in the sense it will be fought on the new reorganized constituencies. Hence even if the various parties are yet to come up with their plan and strategy for the ensuing election, candidates have already done several rounds of visits to the new area to acclimatize themselves with their new constituencies. Having said that, one was reminded of the report that the two regional parties the UDP and the KHNAM already enter into negotiation to at least have a pre-poll alliance if not a merger in the near future. It seems like the regional parties already have their eye on the election and they are preparing for 2013.

Last year the oldest vernacular daily U Nongsain Hima brought out a special issue in commemoration of the newspaper golden jubilee celebration. It was an honour to be asked by the Editorial board of the paper to contribute an article on the subject ‘Is there a future for the regional parties in the state?’ or if I may rephrase the question as ‘do the regional parties in Meghalaya have any future?’ My first point was the fact that the state of Meghalaya was created to fulfill the regional aspiration of the Khasi, the Pnars and the Garos; the desire of the communities to protect their rights, their unique customs and traditions and their expectation to be able to govern themselves according to their hope, dreams and aspiration. Unfortunately somewhere down the line after the goal of having the state created out of then composite state of Assam was achieved, like lion in the pride, the leaders spend their time fighting for the spoilt. That was the beginning of the imminent fall of the all powerful All Party Hills Leader’s Conference (APHLC). Some of the leaders went to join the Congress, while some alpha mail started to created space for themselves and formed new regional parties namely the People’s Demand Implementation Council (PDIC) and Hills State Democratic Party (HSPDP) and still some retain the APHLC (which the leaders of the hill state movement believed they had buried in Mendipahar) albeit in the shadow of its former self. That was the history of the origin of the regional party in the state in a nutshell; but after the unfortunate incidents of leaders tearing apart the colossal hills state movement, there were continued efforts to regroup the fractioned regional parties. One such incident was the three flags alliance (lai lama) a movement to unite the regional parties which culminated to the formation of the new party, the Hills People Union (HPU). Unfortunately the effort became futile because leader like H.S. Lyngdoh of the HSPDP refuse to join in the movement. Then the United Democratic Party (UDP) is again the latest outcome of that effort to unite the regional parties but again this move was unsuccessful not only the HSPDP remain adamant but another faction came out to light in the name of the Meghalaya Democratic Party (MDP).

It is ironic that a United Regional Party is the only answer to the Congress challenge in the state. If the regional parties remain divided; it will only make the Congress’ candidates chances of winning the next election much easier. Since the early history of the state, Congress party is viewed by the people as ‘ka parti dkhar’ even today there is still a large anti-Congress section in the population of the state. Hence a disunited regional party only splits the regional party vote bank and they will also not be able to capitalize on the anti-incumbency factor. Then there is another factor at play here, the National Congress Party (NCP), although the NCP is yet to make it presence in the Khasi, Jaintia and Ri Bhoi District, its candidate can play a spoil sport to either the Congress candidate or the regional party candidate. The only way regional parties can match to the might of the Congress is if they are able to have a pre-poll alliance or better still to unite and the reported move between the KHNAM and UDP is a step in the right direction.

The other argument is UDP being part of the government alliance is going to do more harm than good to the party; the party will share the wrath of the voter and like the Congress it will also be affect by the anti-incumbency factor. By being part of the alliance with a national party which has its own national agenda without discrimination between fellow Indians, the party therefore has to compromise its principle to protect the interest of the indigenous people of the state in the altar of coalition politics. But the factor that will hurt the party the most or rather it should embarrass the party workers is the role the party play in the coalition. In the never ending musical chair game played by the Congress MLA, UDP is playing a second fiddle to the Congress or rather it has become passive participant in the coalition. In the present dispensation the UDP has become like an ever-prepared, always-willing-bride waiting for whoever grooms the Congress bring forth from Delhi and any groom will be fine as long as the party is accommodated in the coalition.

The message the UDP leadership gave by act of commission and omission is also confusing to say the least, at one point of time the leadership were vehemently against the transfer of land to the companies particularly the cement companies and then the same leader gave a statement in the press that he is supporting Lafarge mining in his own constituency. One would expect a seasoned politician like Dr Donkupar to reserve his statement on the subject since the matter in still in the court. One would also expect Dr Don to take into consideration the development in the case that was obviously unfavorable to the company but rather than doing that he chose to support the multinational company which in turn could affect the local indigenous people of the area. The other unique tradition of the people of the indigenous people of the state is their respect for the environment, and one would expect Bindo Lanong minister in charge of mining who is also a leader of a regional party to see that the mineral policy is passed thereby upheld the tradition of the people and protect the environment but he too failed to do so and failed the people.

If the UDP which is a major regional party is hoping to be a strong contender in the 2013 election, they first of all need to relook at the party’s ideology and decide on its future course of action. The need of the hour for the party is also to completely revamp the organization especially in the leadership level. The current leadership has failed the party as common people are now of the impression that the UDP is directionless and it’s only interest is to remain in power come what may. If the report of UDP-KHNAM merger is true, one would expect bah Bindo and bah Don to hand over the mantle to a younger generation the like of bah Paul, bah Ardent and bah John Kharshiing. That will give a new lease of life to the party workers and hope for people of the state who are longing for change. The hope for a united regional party is also brighter given the fact that the HSPDP now looks like a spent force. It leader’s long battle with age now seems to be waning, add to that Reverend Basaiawmoit is now caught in a catch 22 situation, the party’s hope to be a king-maker after the election 2013 is dwindling. In the recent past the party has not been able to have any influence beyond the border of the West Khasi hills; it is therefore in the interest of the aspiration of the major tribes which has driven the hills state movement 4 decades ago and in the interest of the state in general that HSPDP also merge to form a united regional party. A united regional party and only that can pose a challenge to the Congress party; HSPDP also has a young female aspiring politician in the person of Finola Lyngdoh Nonglait who can contribute immensely to the new movement. It is up to the regional parties to rekindle the flame and revive the regional spirit of the hills’ people, if the hills state movement can unite the entire region, what stops the regional party from having its own resurrection? In the light of the recent state Assembly election result, where we see the rise of the regional parties, it is high time for the state regional parties to introspect and decided on their further course of action.

Of Apples and Potatoes

2011-05-05T00:16:00.000-07:00

(The article that The Shillong Times did not carry but find space in some other English dailies of the state of Meghalaya)
The statement of my friend Dr Richard Ford of Clark University, New York that ‘all politicians in world are the same, it looks like they all graduate from the same school’ is once again prove right. No matter how highly educated or how refine the person is, he will surely one day show his true colour - that he is politician. The statement made by non-other than a respectable member of the house bah Manas Chaudhury comparing teachers and legislators as potatoes and apples is one such instances that brought to the fore the true colours of a politician.

I respect bah Manas not because he owns the Shillong Times but because he is one of the most outspoken members of the house and he is also one who speaks sense in the floor of the house, but I fail to understand why he has to justify the enhancement of legislators pay and pension by comparing the politicians as apple and the teachers as potatoes. The question is why comparing them with teachers; why not comparing politicians with engineers, doctors or accountants? I personally do not see the relevance. It is wrong in the first place for bah Manas to rate himself and his comrade in the house. In the interest of justice and fairness he should let somebody else to rate the legislators, how can he ascribe marks in his own report card. Of course there is nothing wrong with the self-aggrandizement; but it is only fair if someone else did the rating let somebody else decide whether politicians are apples, allu or ullu.

The fact that the disparaging comparison between the legislators and the teacher was made by non-other than the former minister of education; also speaks volume about the attitude of the legislators towards the teachers. It reflect our leaders collective attitude towards the teachers, perhaps it is because of this attitude that the legislators have towards the teaching fraternity that teachers has to take to the street even to get the salary which is rightfully theirs- because they are just cheap potatoes. One seldom sees engineers, doctors, accountants or people of other profession having to hit the street to demand their rights, but one sees teacher association of every hues and colours from lower primary level to college level having to hit the street every now and then.

‘Respect cannot be acquired; it has to be earned’ so goes the saying, do the general public respect the politicians? Well; one only has to look back at the recent Anna Hazare movement and the kind of placards or slogans the people carried to arrive at the conclusion whether people in this country respect their politician or not. The most popular placards are those which condemn every politician as corrupt, it is the kind of image people have of their politicians. Although I do not subscribe to the idea that all politicians are corrupt but since majority of them are, I don’t think it is over generalization either. Few good apples will never be able to change the basketful of bad apples, in fact the other way round will happen and in no time we will have a basketful of rotten apples, if I may use bah Manas own analogy. I think it is basically because our politicians has huge respect-deficit that they rely on the artificial factors to impress people of their status by having their vehicle attached with beacon lights, big security presence and a long motorcade to follow them. In fact the longer the convoy of cars that follows the politician, the more the importance is given to the person. As a matter of fact the respect that politicians have is short-lived, and to some extend is artificial, people respect politicians as long as they are in power, once they are defeated, people’s respect for them also fade away.

On the other hand, teachers have the respect of their students as long as they live. On many occasion one can still see elder people; well placed in the society, and if they happened to meet their former teachers they would bow in respect and if one is a smoker one would immediately extinguish his cigarette as a mark of respect. If I wore a hat, I would immediately remove it from my head if I meet my former teacher, similarly I will remove my hands from my pockets if I am to speak to my teachers. Till now I wish I can repay for what my teachers had done for me but that is not what our teachers expect from us. Like the famous poet I feel, ‘I have a promise to keep and miles to go before I sleep.’ It is said that we cannot compare the trouble our parents has to undergo for our upbringing with our care for them when they are old. When our parents nurture us to grow they raise us to grow and bloom like a flower; they prepare us for the future, but our care for them when they are old is our effort to help them journey towards the end. There is a big different here, the former is the journey of hope and the later is the journey of hopelessness. Like our parent our teachers too; spend their lives to see us grow and become success in our lives and that is their reward. Most of the teachers are not wealthy, but they are happy because they consider the success of their students as their wealth. They smile when the meet their old students and you know that is a genuine smile a smile that says I am happy for you. I don’t think they call teaching a noble profession for nothing, so bah Manas; not only the analogy is wrong but the two professions are incomparable.

I happen to know quite a few former politicians; I was fortunate to live in the same neighbourhood with some of them. I admire late ma Edwinson Bareh, late ma H.E.Pohshna, late ma B.B.Challam and most of all late ma Larsingh Khyriem but I am sorry they did not get the same respect I give my teachers. The present generation of politician needs to work harder to get even close to the respect we gave to the former politicians. Going back to bah Manas analogy how can we compare teachers with politicians from Jaintia hills and call them apples? Some of the MLA have not even graduate ‘kot sim rit’, another is not even matriculate, while one is a mere matriculate and still one only passed his twelve class. Of the 7 MLA representing the district only two hold a bachelor degree and another MLA hold a PhD. Now look at the list of the recently appointed government LP school teachers and one will find that the list not only comprises of majority of teachers with bachelor degree but even few with postgraduate degree. I am sorry bah Manas I beg to disagree, giving a choice; if I have to compare politicians with teachers; I will still hold teachers in high esteem nobody can take that away from them. They are the mother of all the precious stones.

Well as for apple and allu, in Meghalaya apple is the fruit of the rich and a potato not only goes with everything but it is one of the important items in the stable diet of everybody- rich or poor.

Environment talk but no action in Meghalaya

2011-05-05T00:10:00.000-07:00

(This article was carried by The Shillong Times (TST) on the 25 of April 2001)

Perhaps it was the first the time in the history of the state Assembly that environment issue popped up for discussion for the maximum number of times during the last sitting of the house. If the recently concluded budget session is to be chronicled in the history of the state, it should be for the reason that environment issue figure in the busy schedule of the house. A member of the august even question the way environment clearance was issued to some cement companies to established their units and mining areas on forested area which is against the Indian Forest act. But the issue of land grabbing by the cement companies is perhaps one subject that took even some of the season MLA by surprise. It was this unpleasant discover that made a major coalition partner of the government to demand for a cabinet order to stop transferring land to any company before the land transfer act is duly amended.

In fact our MLA should not be surprise of the fact that the entire elaka Narpuh in now in the hand of the prominent cement companies. This writer had once written an article on the editorial page of this paper wherein it was categorically mentioned that in Lumchong village; the only plot of land that the villagers own is where their houses is (The last of the farmers of Lumchnong). This writer had trekked on the entire stretch of the Lukha River from Sunapyrdi (Sunapur) to Khatdum only to find that entire land has been surveyed and mapped and survey marks of many cement companies can be found dotted everywhere which indicates that the land is owned by certain company. I was not surprise to read in a regional newspaper (Guwahati edition) that a certain cement companies has claimed that it now has limestone reserve of more than 300 million tons in Meghalaya. But the big question is not how can a huge plot of land be transferred to a cement companies which is a non-tribal entity, the question is how on earth can these companies exploit the mineral when the entire stretch of land is still covered with green forest! When this question was asked in the house, the honourable minister of Forest Dr. R.C. Laloo’s replied was that the state depends on the information supplied by the JHADC. What technology or expertise does the JHADC has in its disposal to do the job, when even it’s CFO is only a pure science graduate. Why didn’t the government call for remote sensing data from the North East Space Agency in Umiam? The blame for illegal transfer of land to the companies lies squarely on the shoulder of the so called ‘local directors’ of the companies who are paid by the companies to act as a stooge or front for the companies whenever there is a problem with the locals. The modus-operandi is the companies paid their local directors to buy land from the villagers in their names for a song and then transfer the land to the companies and by power of attorney the land is at the disposal of the companies. Many of these local directors cannot even recollect the numbers of land holding that they help acquire for their respective companies. It was a greats relieve to read of the recent government official statement that the present government has decided against permitting any new cement companies in the state, but the question is for how long? Or will this government last for daring to do so?

Once while walking on my way to the church, a young advocate who came out of the DC’s office court in Jowai on his way to the District Council court, while walking along with me (referring to my writer’s-block during his last few months) said, ‘I do not see any of your article lately, anyway the one I like most is about the facebook (I think he meant the article entitled ‘How facebook help save the caves in Nongkhlieh’). My answer to the young man was ‘it is true we have been able to rid off a multinational cement company from creating havoc in the Nongkhlieh area, but I am sorry we have not been able to save Nongkhlieh from the destruction made by our own people’. It is true that coal mining is going on full swing in the elaka Nongkhlieh, very soon the famous caves with all its fantastic formations and the unique cave creatures found only in this area will vanish, and who are we going to blame for allowing this to happen? The buck must stop somewhere and in my opinion the buck stops on the table of the Deputy Chief Minister who is also minister in charge of mining for the delay he made in enacting the Meghalaya mineral policy. Mr Bindo Lanong is to be remembered in the history of the state for allowing the destruction of the caves in the Nongkhlieh ridge, by not doing what he should do. By act of omission he is responsible for the damage and Lanong and his party will have to pay a huge price for this in 2013. Had he been able to enact the draft policy and use a provision in the draft to declared Nongkhlieh ridge as Ecological Sensitive Area (ESA) the caves can still be protect from destruction. But the deputy chief minister chose to keep it pending and sit on it despite the promise he made to make sure the policy sees the light of the day by the beginning of this year. I am afraid by the time, the policy is enact it will be too little too late, as a matter of fact there is not much to save in Jaintia hills even now except for the caves on the Nongkhlieh ridge.

And then there was Salman Khursheed’s clarion call to the miners to stop mining near the river, obviously, nobody will pay heed to what the minister said. I doubt if the minister himself is serious when he made the statement, it looks like the minister made the call just because it is now a day fashionable to talk about preservation and protection of the environment particularly the water bodies of which he is in charge. Even his junior minister seems to have forgotten what his senior said minute after he utter those words; everybody knows that for ma Vincent H. Pala the occasion is only a photo op. It is suicidal for him to speak against mining for it is also like biting the hand that feed.

After visiting many of the big rivers in the district, I wrote an article on the condition of the rivers in Jaintia hills district which was carried by an English monthly magazine published from Shillong (Jaintia hills: the land of the dead rivers) way back in 2007. In Jaintia hills it is easy to count the number of rivers that has not been polluted because there are very few rivers that are still safe for human use; in fact there are only a handful of them. The four major rivers that are still free from pollution are the Myntang, the Mynriang which is a tributary of Myntang, the Umngot and the Mynkhen, these rivers were fortunate enough not to suffer the same fate the other rivers did, simply because there were no mining activity along their courses. Perhaps it is only in Jaintia hills where one can even change the course of the river to enable a person to do mining on the public land. As for Salman Khursheed’s call, well for a start our honourable minister seems to be ignorant of the topography of the land, the fact is no matter where one mines, once the monsoon rain falls, the effluent from the coalmine will gradually flow to the rivers. So it does not matter whether one mine near the river or far away, the sewage will flow downstream, this is a simple law of gravity even a young kid know. Not only active mines cause pollution, even exhausted and abandoned mine continue to cause environment degradation because coal owners do not think it is their responsibility to close the unused mines.

Many rivers downstream of Kongong and and Phramer including Myntdu has been polluted not because there are mining activity upstream but because Kongong and Phramer are stockyard of coal and water runoff from the area polluted the river downstream. There are coal stockyards everywhere where coal is stored and these stockyards too; cause pollution. So, it is not as simple as Salman Khusheed think it is, pollution is not only from the active mines.

What is the government waiting for? Or rather what is the honourable Deputy Chief Minister Bindo Lanong waiting for? Another Anna Hazare like agitation? The department already has the mandate of the stake holders which include mine owners, environmentalist and the District Councils to go ahead with the policy, why delay?

Khasi Pnar: A community in transition

2011-01-16T23:13:00.000-08:00

By HH Mohrmen

Recently much space on the editorial pages of The Shillong Times was devoted to the debate about the Khasi Pnar land tenure system, Khasi Pnar polity et al. What looks like a debate on the some attributes of the Khasi Pnar culture and tradition is in fact a debate on the changes manifests in the society (ka jaitbynriew) in transition. We therefore owe so much to Broncostar Thyrniang, Morning Star Sumer, Prof Kynpham Singh Nongkynrih, Michael N. Syiem and of course our own Kong Patricia Mukhim for kick-starting an enlightening debate.

To begin with, I think it is important to understand who is a Khasi Pnar? I always use the two words ‘Khasi Pnar’ in one breath and without a hyphen. Khasi Pnar is one and the same people much like Siamese twins; they are identical, inseparable yet unique in their own ways. For me the debate started by the patriotic folk song "Khynriam u Pnar, u Bhoi u War u dei u paid Khasi baiar" ends here. Therefore rather than using the nomenclature ‘Khasi’ as an inclusive name for the tribe, I use ‘Khasi Pnar’. The next question that begs for an answer is, ‘What does it mean to be a Khasi Pnar?’ A Khasi Pnar is defined by his identity and when I say identity, I means sharing a common culture which includes language, food habits etc. But the word culture itself begs for definition every time it is being used.

In order to understand the culture one must know and understand the stories, the myths and the legends of that particular culture. Rev Dr John Buehrens in his book ‘Understanding the Bible,’ said, to understand the western culture one must at least know the stories in the Bible because much about the western culture is in some way or the other connected with the stories in the Bible. Some are also of the opinion that the western jurisprudence the world uses has its foundation in the ten commandments of Moses. I think it is the same with the pan Indian culture too. One will fully understand the culture if only one is well versed with the stories and myths abounding in the civilization.

It is the same with the Khasi Pnar culture; one needs to know the stories of the tribe to be able to understand and appreciate its customs and traditions. If we talk about Khasi Pnar hospitality, one must know the folktale about u kwai, u tympew, ka shun and ka duma sla (the betel nut, betel leaf, lime and tobacco leaves ) . To be able to appreciate the clan system of the Khasi Pnar, one must understand the stories of the great maternal grandmother (Iawbei) and the great grand maternal uncle of the clan and the great grandfather of the clan. Almost all the Khasi Pnar clans have fascinating stories about the genesis of their respective clans. In some cases, these stories also relate to the Polity of the area if the clan in question is the royal clan, like the story of ‘ka Li dakha’ and the Sutnga clan of Jaintia syiemship and the story of ka ‘Pahsyntiew’ in the Nongkrem syiemship. To be able to understand the reason why the Khasi Pnar adopts the matrilineal tradition in their lineage system, one needs to know the story in this regard. It will also be difficult to understand the community’s attitude and reverence for nature if one is ignorant of the many stories like the ‘ka Iew luri lura’, ‘ka krem lamet, krem latang’ and thousands of stories that our ancestors weaved in their efforts to try to understand the mysteries of mother nature. One would also need to understand the reason why our forefathers have the tradition of keeping the sacred forests to be able to understand their wisdom in relation with mother earth.

But the crux of the debate is that the Khasi Pnar like any other community is in the process of constant evolution and right now we are at the cross roads. Like many of the young Khasi Pnar, I question the relevance of our dorbar shnong in its present form. We may have moved away from the archaic tradition that only those who sport beards can take part in the dorbar, but, we are yet to have a female head of the shnong. And for that matter if we have one, what do we call her or what would her designation be? Certainly not Rangbah Shnong! How democratic is the institution which does not guarantee equal rights to members of its community? I would also like to see a reformed dorbar shnong run by professionals specialized in community development and not by people who belong to a different profession and become Rangbah Shnong just for the sake of it. Dorbar Shnong (village or town council) is a serious business; the job cannot be performed by someone trying to serve two masters and on a voluntary basis. I also have my reservations with regards to the Syiemship and Daloiship. Why is it that for no fault of mine and just because I was born in the wrong clan, I cannot inherit the chieftainship and neither can I be a Myntri, a Laskor or a Daloi? I consider this undemocratic! With regard to the land tenure system, is it wrong to conclude that the Wah Umkhrah and may other rivers lost their pristine glory because of the present land tenure system? We assume that once we own the land we also own, the stream and rivers and everything in it. These are only some of the features of our tradition that need re-examining in the light of the modern world.

In the year 2009, I visited the Native American museum in Washington DC. I was fascinated by the collection of Native American arts and artifacts and I was deeply touched by the videos screened continuously in the sections allotted to more than 200 Native American tribes in America. I spend much time watching these videos and realized if there is a common thread that links the many documentaries, it is the dilemma that the tribes are facing in their efforts to cope with the modern way of life and simultaneously keep their traditions. In my humble opinion the question is, ‘How do we move forward with some of these antique traditions?’ This is the dilemma that the Indigenous People are facing the world over. To clear the cobwebs from my mind I continued to discuss the issue with my friend and guide Bob Tripp and I remember saying, ‘It is the question of how much of the baggage from the past we can carry to the future?’ Bob’s remark was, ‘Perhaps they are not even baggage’.

The customs and traditions that we have may not be baggage but certainly some can be impediments in the community’s move towards the future. In the tribes’ evolution, we need to re-look at some of these traditions. Some of these customs, traditions and stories were relevant for our forefathers in the era that was, and they should not be a stumbling block for us to move forward and evolve. The rightful place for some of these obsolete customs and traditions are the history books. They should be like a cursor to help us know where we came from, where we were once upon a time and also help us understand the future. These stories will also help us understand and appreciate the wisdom of our ancestors. The stories should be like roots to a tree; their role is to help us stand tall and grow from strength to strength. We must not get stuck anywhere; nothing can stand on the way of the society’s evolution.

To maintain our unique identity, the Khasi Pnar must continue with parts of the culture which are relevant to the present day and keep those that are outdated in the treasure trove of the community. Perhaps a modern day Khasi Pnar is one who speaks his language, understands the stories of his community, lives by the cardinal values of the tribe ‘ban kamai ia ka hok, ban tip briew tip blei bad ban tip kur tip kha’ (to earn righteousness, to know man and know God, and to know his maternal and paternal kin). Perhaps a modern day Khasi Pnar is one who is proud of his traditional attire and uses it with pride when the occasion warrants. And the debate must continue… (The writer is an elder of the Unitarian Church, an environmental activist, columnist and a thought leader)
http://www.theshillongtimes.com/editorial.html

What is it about winter?

2011-01-12T01:27:00.000-08:00

Come December and it is the onset of the holiday mood among the Khasi Pnar. We may now attribute this to the festive season beginning with Christmas and end with a bang on New Year, but winter has always been a fun time for the Khasi Pnar even before the advent of Christianity and invasion of western culture. Winter may be cold and dry and it would also be a dull time of the year for the community; but the Khasi Pnar seems to know how to substitute the cold, dull, dark and dry season with merriment.

It starts with the Khasi Pnar’s own calendar, I am not sure if the Khasi Pnar has any idea of a year ending in their tradition but winter is certainly a special time. If there is any such thing as year ending tradition among the Khasi Pnar, can that be in the month of July for the Pnar when they celebrate their Behdien Khlam and the month of November for the Khasi when they celebrate Ka Pom Blang syiem? Whatever the case may be, the Khasi Pnar certainly know how o count their days, week and month and have their own calendar. The Khasi’s name for the last month of the year is ‘Nohprah’, which I think derive from the two words ‘noh’ and ‘prah.’ The two words can loosely be translated to ‘Noh’ to throw or rid off and ‘Prah’ is a kind of a basket use as container. The name of the month implies that is the time to ‘noh prah; noh shang’ or ‘noh shang noh knup’. If this interpretation is taken into consideration; then Nohrah means to rid off the baskets and all the farming tools. It is the time to lay back and rest and it also a time for fun and frolic as nothing much can be done during the dull, dry and dark season. All agriculture activities came to a standstill as the topography and the climate of the area during this particular time of the year is also not conducive for any kind of farming. The Pnar’s name for the twelfth month of the year is ‘Kmai-chonglad’, which again comprises of two Pnar words ‘kmai’ and ‘chonglad’. The Pnar word ‘kmai’ means big or massive and ‘chonglad’ mean staying or sitting idle in the centre of the village. In the other words it means: the part of the year which people have enormous time for sitting idle in the hub of the village and do nothing except to meet in the village centre, sitting around the fire, share a smoking pipe and bettlenuts and indulge in never ending chat. We can now imagine what this part of the year means for our ancestors? What kind of life they lived? What did they do during the time of the year when they do not have the kind of entertainment we enjoy now? How did they spend the cold, dry wintry days and nights, with only fire to keep them warm? How did they make use the only time they were free from any kind of farming which is again the only occupation they had then?

Fast forward to the present generation, what does winter means? Rather how does the Khasi Pnar spend this time of the year? Forget Christmas and New Year celebration which is a global phenomenon, other than that; what are the most common activities that people engage themselves during the season? There is an invitation to all kinds of dinner almost on every alternative day, today it would be the wedding, then tomorrow it will be somebody’s birthday and then the next day will be another reason to celebrate. Every picnic spot available is occupied during this time of the year, it can be a family picnic, a picnic amongst coworkers or a picnic among friends and very often than not; the picnic is just another excuse for party and booze and lots of jadoh and doh.

It is also that time of the year that picnic spots were abused and their natural pristine beauty spoiled. Picnickers took the liberty to have fun and litter the beautiful picnic spots and forget their responsibility to clean the mess they have created. If one would take a walk down the Syntu Ksiar the famous picnic spot in Jowai town; one would be greeted with chicken feathers, all kinds of leftovers from plastics cups to paper plates, bottles and what have you.

To add to the joyous season, there are communities excursions to any place worth’s its name; but the most popular excursion destination is non-other than the famous amusement park the Accoland.

Why is it that this time of the year is always associated with feast and fun? Why is it that couple always chose to inter into wedlock during this season? One possible answer is an area with monsoon climate, weather-wise it is much more convenient to organized big feast during winter. May be it is by tradition that it is that time of the year that a large section of the people are free and with no rain to play spoilsport, hence a perfect time for celebration. Whatever the reason to celebrate may be, it is that time of the year when the life of thousands of animals is at stake. It is that time of the year where hundreds and thousands of chickens, goats, cows and pigs were slaughtered if not for picnic then it must be for wedding.

It would be interesting if a survey was conducted to find the numbers of animals slaughtered during this season. I had a walk on the Iawmusiang Street in Jowai on both Christmas Eve and Christmas day and found that the street was literarily taken over by the chicken sellers. The same thing happened on the New Year eve and New Year day, when everything is closed on the first day of the year, the meat sellers and the butchers were only one doing a brisk business.

When it comes to mass animals slaughtering, feast and merriment there cannot be another occasion and another place anywhere else that can beat the New Year day celebration in Jowai. Jowai is famous for its New Year eve and New Year day celebration. The town was literarily lit and warmed by the 20 odd bonfires in the entire town and at the stroke of midnight on New Year eve fireworks and fire crackers lit the skyline of the dark sky of Jowai. The New Year day is a day of community feast, all the 20 or so localities (now they prefer to call themselves dorbar shnong) organized feast in their respective localities. Hundreds of chickens and pigs were again slaughtered for the occasion, but the highlight of the New Year celebration is Jowai is the dance procession where all the 20 odd localities marched to the town centre from every direction of Jowai with music and songs from the sound systems tied on the pickup trucks. A friend from abroad said that the dance procession is similar to the Rio Carnival where people literarily dance to the street. The grand way the people welcome the New Year is also a sign of Jowai being a happy town.

Ironically, winter is also that time of the year with maxim number of bereavement, so the Khasi Pnar people spend much of their time during winter between attending weddings and visiting the bereaved family. Winter is not only just fun and frolic but is also one the busiest season for the Khasi Pnar people, with only less than 10 hours of daylight available; people were always on their toe to finish their chores. So while we journey on the New Year; may we be mindful that life is a never ending walk between joy and sorrow. Happy New Year!

Behdieñkhlam The Greatest Festival of the Pnar

2010-12-05T23:35:00.000-08:00

Behdieñkhlam is the most important and the biggest festival of the Pnars of Jaintia hills District. It is the festival paying obeisance to Almighty God the Creator to bless people with good health and prosperity. The term beh-dieñ-khlam comprises of three words in a Pnar parlance, ‘Beh’ literarily means to chase or to rid away and ‘dieñ’ means wood or log and ‘khlam’ means plague, epidemic or pestilence. Behdieñkhlam literarily means the festival to rid away plague.

The three days and four nights Annual Behdienkhlam festival of the Pnars always starts with the tradition of offering food to the ancestors. In the morning families would visit the market to purchase the best and the finest of fruits and foods available in the market. Come afternoon, families will be busy preparing offering from all sorts of foods bought from the market to offer to their ancestor in a tradition call “Ka Siang ka Pha” or “Ka Siang ka Phur.”

Of course preparation for the annual Behdieñkhlam festival was started many months back but the immediate rituals and sacrifices that precedes the designated days of the festival are the ‘kñia khang’ performed on Muchai; the first day after the market day of the week and ‘kñia pyrthad’ sacrifice to the thunder god on the Mulong the seventh day of the same week. But the festival officially begins on the sixth day (Pynsiñ) of the eight days a week traditional calendar of the Jaintias. The feast of offering food to the death is a mark of veneration and gratitude to the ancestors the forbearer of the clan and the tradition.

In the Khasi Pnar concept of the afterlife, departed souls reside with the Creator and eat bettlenuts in the courtyard of his abode. The spirit of the death (ki syngngia ki saret) every year, decent down to the Earth to partake in the feast provided by the descendant still alive in the world to propitiate the departed souls. Ka Siang ka pha is celebrated by every clan except when there is sickness in the family or if death has just occurred in the family. The family which had just met with bereavement, do not perform the offerings because the annual ‘ka siang ka pha’ has already been offered to the departed souls as part of the last rite of a person. It begins with family informing the children of their maternal uncles or their brothers (khon kha) about the preparation for the offerings to the ancestors. The ‘khon kha’ offers money (pyn-nam) as a token of respect, love and affection to their paternal family. In the Khasi Pnar clan system, the dead body of the deceased is carried to one’s clan’s ancestral house and all the funeral rites are perform in his maternal family home and even the charred bones of the deceased are placed in the clan’s repository stone (mootyllein). This also has a connection with one of the cardinal principle of the Khasi-Pnar known as (ka tip kur tip kha,) respect for one’s family of both mother’s and father’s side.

Since the offering is for all the departed souls, foods of every kind are placed in brass plates and must be in odd numbers 5, 7 or 9. Care is also being taken that favourite food of the deceased is placed as part of the offering which could be anything from fruits, cigarette or even alcohol. The next part of the rites is the role of the maternal uncle to invoke the spirits to partake the offering. The maternal uncle will also pray to the departed souls to bless their descendant with the good health, prosperity and progress in all walks of life. After the Maternal uncle’s invocation, the whole family gathered for the rites, stayed in silence for sometimes in a symbolic moment to allow the ancestors spirit to partake the offerings. Then the offering was shared among the family members.

Only a clean female member of the family is allowed to prepare the offerings, women who is in her menstrual cycle is not allowed to do the preparation. Not all clan perform their offering to the death on Pynsiñ, there are also clan which perform ‘ka siang ka pha’ on Muchai the last day of the festival.

The significance of the ritual is the fact that even though the ancestors had departed from the clan many years ago, their love, respect and reverence for the deaths is still alive. Behdieñkhlam is appropriately starts with the offerings to the ancestors, because every tribal community has profound respect for their ancestors.

In the Pnar weekly calendar “Mulong,” is the day before the market day “musiang,” the market day in Jowai is also the local pay day and Mulong is also the second day of the fest. By the end of the day all the Dieñkkhlam, all 9 round neatly carved logs were kept at their allotted place in the Iawmusiang area. The 9 Dieñkkhlams cut from huge trees were prepared and carried to their respective place by the 7 localities of the town namely Tpep-pale, Dulong, Panaliar, Lumiongkjam, Iongpiah Loompyrdi Iongpiah, Loomkyrwiang and Chilliang Raij being the khon Raij was by tradition given the responsible to prepare and bring two round log called ‘Khnong blai’ and ‘Symbood khnong’. The important aspect of this day is that male members of the Niamtre marches in a dancing procession accompanied by traditional drums and flutes to bring the dieñkhlam from the different woods where the many dieñkhlam were prepared to the town. Early in the morning families are busy preparing ja-sngi (lunch) for every male member of the society to join the community to bring the dieñkhlam.

The third day of the holy week is “Musiang” it is also the last day of the week and on this particular day all the Dieñkhlam and the Khnong are carried from the heart of Jowai town to the respective localities. Apart from the 7 dieñkhlam and two khnong; hundreds of 15 to 19 feet trees called ‘ki Dieñkhlam khian (small Dieñkhlam) were cut by the followers of the Niamtre. 2 or 3 of these tiny Dieñkhlam were kept in the frontage or patio of every house of the followers of the Niamtre. The tiny Dieñkhlam are used when the community dancer come to bless the house with proper rituals and use it to beat the rooftop of the house symbolizing ridding away the plaque and evil spirit from the house and pray to the almighty God to bless the family. Behdieñkhlam will be incomplete without the ‘dieñ.’ KC Rymbai Daloi of Elaka Jowai also expressed his concern about the consequences from the large-scale cutting of trees during Behdieñkhlam. By tradition every tree cut during Behdieñkhlam was done so with proper prayer and asking for exoneration from the Mother Nature (Bei ram-aw) and the Ryngkaw the basa, the gods; the guardian angels of the area.

Muchai is the last day of the Behdieñkhlam festival of the Jowai Raij and it is also the first day of the eight days a week traditional calendar.
It is rather a hectic day for the religious heads of the Niamtre, the day started at the wee hour of the morning with the tradition of ‘kyntiñ khnong’ at the Priestess official house. The programme was followed by the Ka Bam tyngkong led by the Daloi at the clan-house of the first four settlers of Jowai town. But the main part of the festival was the coming together of all the khon (children) ka Niamtre at the sacred Aitnar, a pond in which the last significant part of the festival was performed. The dance at Aitnar was that of the people who finds joy on the arrival of U Tre Kirod (God) with the celebration of Behdieñkhlam. It also symbolizes the oneness of the people and everyone joyfully joins without any distinction. The ‘ia knieh khnong’ traditions where men compete to set foot on the ‘khnong’ symbolize cleansing of the souls and blessing for good health.

The climax of the day is the arrival of the colourful Rots brought by the many dongs of the Jowai town to be displayed at the Aitnar, and all the beautiful Rots are then rid-off as part of the offering.

Dat Lawakor, the last part of the Behdieñkhlam is about the farming community in the Jowai Raij, asking God to indicate which of the two valleys around Jowai, the Pynthor neiñ or the Pynthor wah will yield a good harvest this year. Interestingly, the Pnar sense of direction is only of the East and the West and they have no words for north and south but simply call the two direction as ‘wah’ and ‘neiñ’ which literarily mean up and down.

It is a football played using a wooden ball with no goals. The only rule of the game is that the team which can carry the ball to the designated end wins and the particular direction will reap better harvest that year. So if the team on the upper side of the road wins, the indication is that the Pynthor neiñ will reap a better harvest and if the team from the lower side wins, the valleys in the Pynthor wah will obtain a better harvest.

Dat Lawakor is the last public event of every Behdieñkhlam, although the Daloi, the Lyngdoh and the other religious dignitaries still have a last ritual to finish at the Lyngdoh’s residence called ‘pynlait sarang.’ Finally the Daloi and the other religious head can now go and sleep in their respective wife’s house. To maintain the sanctity of the religious rites, self-purification by way of abstinence from sleeping with one’s partners is observe by religious head. The religious are even prohibits from visiting their respective wives residence throughout the festival.

There altogether 6 Behdieñkhlam festival celebrated by the Pnars throughout the year, the first behdieñkhlam was celebrated by the raij Chyrmang, then followed by the raij Jowai, Tuber, Ialong, Mukhla and raij Muthlong.

How face book help save the caves of Nongkhlieh

2010-11-29T00:18:00.000-08:00

It was the never-ending complaint made by a section of the villagers of the Nongkhlieh elaka (province) against the daloi (traditional chieftain) and the Jaintia Hills District Council (JHADC) which did not get the attention it deserves that made some of the young people in Jowai to rise up to the occasion. I think it was my face book posting of the Luray caves at the Rappahannock County in the USA on my face book account on November 3, which prompted Arwat and Sajeki to start a face book account they named as ‘save the caves and water of Jaintia hills.’ The day before the duo also visited Nongkhlieh to join the villagers in their protest against the plan of JHADC official to survey and mapped the proposed site of the 1.1 million ton per annum cement project of the Lafarge Company. The plan is to survey and mapped the land to enable the District Council to declare the land as non-forested and non-agricultural land thereby base on the recommendation; the council will allow the plant to go ahead. Seeing the plight of the poor villagers and their determination to protect their precious land motivated the two young friends to do something to help the people. From all the available means of protest against injustice- the strikes, the rally, hunger strike, bandhs etc, who would think that any tools in the internet, not to mention a much recent additional internet tool call the face book can be of any help to protect the caves on the Nongkhlieh ridge?

But it did. Now I now understand why no one come up with a plan to make a movie on the life of Tim Berners-Lee and his team at the CERN who started the (World Wide Web) internet, nor has anybody come up with an idea to make a movie on Bill Gates and Steve Jobs but instead a movie is now in the theatre on Mark Zuckerberg the co-creator of the Social Networking site called the Face Book. The moment the page went online, we started inviting friends to the page, and the numbers of friends of the ‘save the cave and water of Jaintia’ grow horizontally. I had the opportunity to camp and joined the Meghalaya Adventure Association (MAA) in one of their caving expedition at Nongkhlieh and wrote two stories about it. I immediately link to the face book page the old articles related to the caves in Nongklieh that I had posted on my blog. The tech savvy duo who created the page on November 5, keep on posting photographs and write-ups related to the caves in Nongkhlieh. In no time the number of friends on this face book page is 444, this is by no mean small feat. But the important thing about the face book is not the nummbers of people joining the face book group, but the postings and the comments and the ideas they shared. Sometimes posting and comments were just polite gesture to show one’s like and support for the cause by clicking on the like button, while other were like debates between members to throw more light on the pertinent issue. Yes, they would not have called it a social networking site for nothing. I was struck by the view posted by Patrick Sawian, who made us realize that it is not going to be an easy task to fight against a multinational like Lafarge whose clout and influence extends from the corridor of power in Delhi to a nondescript hamlet like Shnongrim and anything in between.

Looking back, I realized that I started to involve with efforts to protect this ridge since the winter of 2009, when the Meghalaya Pollution Control Board advertised to conduct a hearing on the Cosmos cement company’s application to set up plan in the area. A day before the schedule hearing I was given the honour to address the dorbar elaka and the decision of the dorbar was unanimous to oppose the the proposed plan. But on the day of the hearing, people from elaka Sutnga came in groups and claimed that the proposed project site does not fall in the elaka Nongkhlieh but instead falls under the elaka Sutnga. On January 7, 2009, I immediately send a protest to the Chief Minister of Meghalaya, the Governor of the state and other concern authorities. I know my protest will not stand a chance against a company co-owned by a (now) power politician of the state, but deep inside me, I belief it is not going to be a futile effort either. I don’t know what happened to Cosmos cement now, but then Lafarge came to the scene; the Daloi who was with us against the Cosmos is now on the other side of the fence. Members of the Synjuk Ki Rangbah Shnong Elaka Nongkhlieh came to meet me every now and then to seek advice and support, but we all know that we are in for a tough job ahead.

It was in times like this; that face book came to our rescue. Of the many friends I invited to the group, one is Anirban Roi, (Jaintia’s own son-in-law); Anirban read the posting and saw the photographs of the villagers protesting against the JHADC move. A journalist who had worked in the state for so long; Anirban understand the situation we are in and he immediately supplied us the list of people we need to send our petition to. I immediately draft petition and send it to Jairam Ramesh, minister of environment and forest Government of India and all the names provided. My request to the Minister is not to issue environmental clearance for Lafarge to set up plan at Nongkhlieh; base on the following reason: That Nongkhlieh the smallest elaka in Jaintia hills comprises of only ten villages and if we allow mega cement plant to come up in the elaka; it will upset the demography of the area. It is also true that the proposed site of the plan is on the upstream of the Letein Valley, the rise bowl of the area, the cement plan will affect the livelihood of the people who solely depend on agriculture for their living. The same area is also the source of the three rivers, ka river Lynju also known as Lukha, river Kupli and Letein. Nongkhlieh is also adjacent to the Saipung reserve forest and Narpuh Block 2 Reserve forest, which the government has proposed to convert to Wildlife sanctuary. The Kut (fort) Sutiang and the Sutiang cave adjacent to it was once use by Kiang Nangbah the freedom fighter in his fight against the British army, the MAA caver also found broken clay pots inside the cave. But the icing on the cake is that Nongkhlieh ridge is famous for the caves. Not only that krem Liatprah (31 km long) the longest cave in Indian sub continent is in the Nongkhlieh ridge, elaka Nongkhlieh is also blessed with thousand of caves. The MAA record has it that in an area of 30 square kilometer (the approximate size of the elaka), it has surveyed and mapped 145 kilometer of cave passages, the elaka has the highest concentration of caves said Byan Kharpran Daly. Brian also informed that the uniqueness of the Nongkhlieh caves is that the cavers have documented two rare species found inside the caves and the caves are millions of years old. What follows then was that Jairam’s mail box was flooded with petition emailed to him from different quarter of the district.

Meanwhile, Arwat, Saje and another friend Russell update on the face book page any development on the issue. Any news item related to the protest was immediately put on the ‘save the caves and water of Jaintia hills’ face book page for the friends to read. Arwat told me once that it is like full time job. Based on our petition Dr. Jayanta Biswas of the National Cave Research and Protection Organisation (NCRPO) also send a petition to Jairam Ramesh with copies forwarded to national dailies. Dr. Jayanta’s petition was carried out as new item on many National dailies the Economics Times and Hindustan Times on November 16, and surprisingly the news was also carried by the Bangladesh newspaper, the Daily Star on November 21.

On November 17, the prominent NGOs of the District in show of support to the people of the Nongkhlieh elaka addressed the meeting with a huge crowd at Shnongrim. The social networking site has done wonder to the cause. Now that the Government has made public its decision not to allow Lafarge to setup plan in the area, the decision would be more meaningful if the same area is also include in the provision of ‘ecological sensitive area’ in the proposed Meghalaya Mineral policy. The matter should not end there the Tourism department and the Meghalaya Tourism Development Forum should start talking to the people in the MAA (the only expert group in the state when it comes to caves) to identify tourist friendly cave in the area and start promoting cave and nature tourism in the Nongkhlieh and Saipung area.

Whose land is it anyway?

2010-11-28T22:51:00.000-08:00

When it comes to mining and saving the environment; the saying better late than never appropriately describe the conundrum the state of Meghalaya is facing now. I never ever involve myself with anything relate to the government but, for first time ever; I attended the meeting on November 25, to discuss on the proposed Meghalaya Government Mineral Policy which the deputy chief minister hope that it will be government’s new year gift to the people of Meghalaya. It would have been an all landowners and mine owners’ affairs with government on the high end of the table had it not been for few young people from Jaintia hills and Garo hills representing the environment groups.

Environment group were the last people that the mine owners expect to see in a meeting like this. This become evident from exchange of words when one of the environmentalists remarked in the meeting that mining in Meghalaya is illegal. No sooner the young-man resumed his seat, a member who is a spoke person of the Khliehriat miners rose immediately and questioned whether the speaker is also a stakeholder or has he been invited to the meeting? If so which organisation did he represent? My understanding is that; from the miner representative perception, stake holders in the mining business includes the government, the mine owners and the landowner only. The mine owners seems to be of the opinion that the three sections are the only groups that has the right to speak in the meeting called by the Government to discuss on the propose Mineral Policy 2010. What we did not say is that the environmentalists represents the stakeholders who cannot represent themselves in the meeting; we speak on behalf of the birds, the animals, the plants, the fishes and yes even the most hated animal the snake. Are we trying to say that animals are not stakeholders in the environment? Are they not part of the environment? In fact these stakeholders were the first settlers of the land; they have been living on these beautiful hills much before our ancestors arrived. We also hope we speak on behalf of the future generation by trying to convince the government to protect the environment for posterity. The CEM of the KHADC also immediately reacted to the comment made by the environmentalist and lectured the young man that he need to update his knowledge on the Khasi Pnar land tenure system which the people has been practiced since time immemorial.

How ancient is the present land tenure system? By saying that the current land tenure is a system practiced by our ancestors, the question that needs to be answer is; when did our people first learn to read and write and use the term like land holding certificates and pattas? Before we use the term land holding certificates and pattas, before our ancestor can read and write, how do they own land or do they own land at all? Isn’t it true that the land tenure system we are using now is one which was introduced by the British or may be later improves by the District councils? Our ancestors have no concept of owning land, they own the land as long as they use it, and once they decided to move on to greener pasture, they leave the land behind and it become a community land again. They take the saying (pyrthei shong basa) ‘earth our temporary shelter only’ literarily. They also occupy only as much land as they can use. This land system is still being practice in many places and one such place is the eleka Nongkhlieh.

The present land tenure system is neither ancient nor traditional; because it only creates more land grabbers whose crave for land and more land can never be satisfied. It is not because the land owner has little or no respect for the nature. It is also not traditional because the land owners and the miners have no responsible towards the traditional mother earth. It is due to the present land tenure system that in the process of mining; land owner and the miners polluted all the water bodies on the surface and even underground. They took for granted that they own the land; by that same right they also own the water in the rivers and the air around. The water in the river is not static; it flow from one place to another, so does the air which encompasses properties irrespective of who own the land. Can the land owner claim that they own the water and the air too? Our land tenure system is to be blamed for making land owners think that once they own the land they also owned the water, the air and anything around it.

Our perception of one’s affinity to the land is also funny to say the least; we think that one who does not live in the elaka or the village has no right whatsoever to utter any words and make any opinion on anything related to the elaka or the village which he is not a resident. A letter was published in the letter to the editor section of U Mawphor dated November 22, 2010, which asked me and my friend Sajeki the so call ‘ma Jowai’ to mine our own business and not to mess with matter relate to Nongkhlieh. The letter was signed by 5 people, who obviously are relatives of the dalloi, but that is not the important issue; the message behind the written words is very potent. The undertone of the letter is since we are from Jowai; we have no right to form an opinion or say anything on matter relate to Nongkhlieh. But the caves in Nongkhlieh (or anywhere else for that matter) do not belong to the people who own the land; neither does it belong to the village. The caves are our national heritage. We may own the land but how can we lay claim to the caves carved mysteriously by the nature millions of years ago. If the caves of Nongkhlieh belong to anybody or anything, it belongs to the strange creatures which live inside the caves hundreds of meters below the ground; their survival depends on the existence of the caves.

In the meeting; matter related to the suggestion in the mineral policy that the miners should keep 3 percent of their profit under corporate social responsible fund came up for discussion. When the miners complained that the percentage suggested in the drafted policy is huge, I remind the meeting the statement in the Assembly made by the then Minister of Agriculture that agricultural activities in the Jaintia hills district of Meghalaya declined due to unscientific coal mining. The corpus funds created is not meant for starting schools, colleges and provide health care only, but it also meant to be use for reclaiming the land and water polluted by mining activities. It also meant to provide livelihood to the people who have lost their living due to mining, so 3 percent is peanuts. I introduced myself by purposely mentioned that if there is anybody who has not been invited to the meeting and enter without permission it is me, I was given to understanding that everybody is a stake holder in this issue. Arwat was right when he remarked ‘when we talk about the future, everyone is a stake holder’. Some way or the other we have been affected and we will be affected by the mining activities in the state, hence we have all the right under the sun on our side. The government should increase the percentage for the CSR base on the fact that in the coal mine areas not only water and air is being polluted, all the roads are in a deplorable condition because; the state roads are made for lesser traffic and vehicles with lighter loads. It is important that government should increase the contribution of the miner towards the CSR fund; the same can also be used for repairing the road damaged by massive coal trucks. It is high time that the government calls a spade a spade and make sure that the miners pay for damaging the environment and the roads.

Although some would say that the proposed Meghalaya Mineral policy 2010 is too little too late especially for most of the mining areas in Jaintia hills, and this was confirmed in the statement made by non-other than a very senior bureaucrat in the mining dept of the state who in just four words said ‘Jaintia hills is gone.’ Yet policies are meant for the future, it is hope that the Mineral policy will help us avoid repeating the same mistake again.

The Doomsday Earthquake that never happened

2010-11-17T23:15:00.000-08:00

This article was also published by the Shillong Times on November 17, 2010.

Every time our grandmother tells us the story of the devastated earthquake that rocked the Khasi Jaintia hills, she always ended it on less tragic and a much optimistic note by telling us the story of the image of an earthquake in Syndai (ka dur u Jumai). The story says that in the village of Syndai about 20 kilometers from Amlarem on the Indo-Bangla border, there is this representation of an earthquake. Now in the many visits that I made to Syndai and the cave, I tried to locate the image from the many sculpture in the village, but I was not able to decide for myself which among the sculpture is the earthquake’s image. The matter was made even more difficult by the very fact that perhaps Syndai is the only village in the Khasi Jaintia hills which has many sculpture including the famous Rupasor bathing ghat carved on a single rock.

The two likely candidate of the legendary image is the cone-head figurine of Lord Ganesh near the Syndai cave and the sculpture of an elephant in the Pubon River. The Khasi Pnar legend of the earthquake also says that after the great Khasi Jaintia quake, to ensure that similar quake would not trouble the people anymore; God detached all the nine fingers of the earthquake except its pointer finger. The one remaining finger was saved for the earthquake to rub lime when it eat bettle-nuts and pan-leafs. If this part of the legend is taking into consideration then the most likely candidate of the Earthquake image of Syndai is the limbless elephant image in the Pubon River, but Syndai has many more sculpture some still covered by the shrubs at Rupasor.

I must also thank whoever started the doomsday prediction for the mere fact that it has made me realize the richness of our Khasi Pnar language. From the many discussions that I had, I learned that only in the vicinity of Jowai, earthquake is known by many names. The Pnar call it ‘u Khmi,’ the Khasi of Puriang call it ‘u Khynniuh,’ and the War Jaintia call it ‘u Kynjun’ and ‘u Khmai.’ I am sure other Khasi dialect would have another name for earthquake and we still say that Khasi language is not as rich as other languages.

The interesting thing about the doomsday forecast is the fact that the traditional image of the earthquake is integrated in the predicted story. The image of a personified earthquake which has a figure of its own; perhaps shaped in the human form or a demon is still lingering in the mind of the tribal people. Or maybe the personified earth quake is also influenced by the Biblical stories of the Almighty God intervening in the history and always side with the faithful.

Local people who have the benefit of reading the vernacular papers were fed with the detail description of the forecast; from the earthquake with 30 kilometers long tail to the detail account of the event which was predicted to start from the War Jaintia area and of course will only hit the Khasi Jaintia only. One can sympathize with the lack of knowledge of the poor villager who started the entire ruckus (unless she had at some point of time watched the movie ‘2012’ and with the invasion of satellite TV, one never know), but to think that the clergy, the church elders and the vernacular press too were part and parcel of the whole commotion is something beyond one’s comprehension. I have nothing to comment on the part played by the section of the clergy and the church elders, but my indignation is against the media particularly the vernacular papers.

My first question to my esteemed colleague in the media fraternity is; are we ignorant of the fact that till date there is no method or device available that can predict the occurrence of the earthquake? Can we allow ourselves to be dictated by the church or any institution without questioning the reliability of the source? Can media persons like the clergy and church elder get carried away in something that cannot be tested and prove beyond doubt? Are we not supposed to cross check and ascertain the fact before we publish any report? What happened to the rule number one of reporting that one must be able to separate fact from fiction? Are we not supposed to report the truth and nothing but the truth? One would expect an upright journalist to ascertain that anybody who made prediction has earlier made a similar forecast that came true and has ample prove to that affect, but sad to say nothing of that sort happen. The media published the story and the write-ups related to the so called ‘prophesy’ like it is the gospel truth which came straight from the mouth of God. The blame for the entire commotion should lie squarely with the media for creating undue fear psychosis in the mind of the people. The media are responsible for bringing the earth quake to the public domain.

We have stories of parents asking their children studying in Shillong or Jowai to return home without fail latest by Sunday evening, and then there are also stories about people shaking hands and biding goodbye to each other like they are not going to meet again in this world. The people at Moowakhon village made a makeshift tent house in the open field which is in accordance with the disaster preparedness procedure. Then we have the Office of the Deputy Commissioner Jaintia hills who asked his disaster management team to be prepare in case of an earth quake. On Saturday people were seeing buying enough rations to last for few days and torchlight sold like hotcake. People in the village made makeshift tent under the bamboo plantation because it is belief that in case of an earthquake it is safer to be beneath the bamboos plants. Other are heard busy preaching to the non-believers ‘to repent for the end is neigh.’ The preachers are certain that they themselves will be save because they has accepted Jesus as their savior while those who have not will not be safe by the earthquake. So, this earth quake also has prejudices and discriminates between the believers and the non-believers.

On Sunday evening, faithful gather in their houses to pray till the appointed time, but before stroke of midnight mobile phones started to ring. I received a call to conform if it is true that the earthquake has hit Nongtalang? Then one of my relatives received a call informing her that Dawki is leveled to the ground and turned to rubbles.

In the cyber world; there is a group of young people using the modern technology available and started a discussion group about the prediction on the Face Book page. I was invited to the discussion and most of those joining the face book group are young people and very few took the issue of the predicted earthquake seriously. Some students who are obviously studying elsewhere in the country jokingly thank heaven for he is not in the Khasi Jaintia hills.

Now the question is should we let those people involved in creating the fear psychosis (especially the press) escape scot free? We should remind our journalist friends that reporting is like a double-edged sword, while one is free to report any news; one is also equally responsible for one’s own report. Freedom and responsibility is like the two sides of the same coin. Imagine the loss of the parents who has to summon their children to come home for fear of the impending earthquake. I know of students who had missed their selection test because they were not able to arrive on time next Monday morning. Who will compensate them for their loss? I am sure readers would have many more stories about the Prophesy.

The doomsday prediction is an evidence of the fact that no matter how educate we are, our belief in the personified earthquake is still deeply entrenched in our mind. We seldom use our rational mind and reason before we belief anything, we easily get swayed away by anything especially if it has even an iota of connection with our church or our faith tradition. The entire earth quake drama also speaks volume about our tribal mindset which; like many first nation people, in our effort to move forward we are trapped between tradition and modernity

Unitarian In The Khasi Hills

2010-11-04T00:18:00.000-07:00

Unitarianism In The Hills: An Indigenous Religion With Modern Offshoots
H.H.Mohrmen

Rev. Bert Inkson once said, “Unitarianism is rather a religious way of life than a set of belief.” Unitarianism hence can be defined as a way of life followed by different people in different parts of the World. Unitarianism’s origin as a faith in various parts of the Globe is in fact unique to the culture and ethos of the area in which it exist. In many cases all around the world where Unitarians Universalist churches present, the movement was originally started by individual who experienced spiritual trial and tribulation within ones self, it could be the individual discontent with the faith that he possessed and was struggling to find new meaning and insight to life. In other words it was started by people in their respective area against conforming to any set of beliefs or tradition dictated by certain authority in the power that is. From a historical point of view its origin as a movement can be trace back to a group of people in early Christian era, under the leadership of Arius who started a debate on the issue of the ‘godliness’ of Jesus Christ at a Council was held at Nicea in 325 AD. Since it is a way of life followed by people in different Places, of different Races and of different Cultures, Unitarian Universalism in different part of the Globe is therefore as varied as the people that followed it and each has maintain its own uniqueness. Though it varies with the people that followed it, but in spite of the diversity, it however has a certain common belief that the whole church adhere to, prominent among the many is the freedom of belief, respect of other religions and respect of the dignity of a person, are few of the fundamental principle which bind together the Unitarians Universalist the world over.
Unitarianism in Khasi Jaintia Hills and Karbi Anglong District, like any of its sisters in faith in different parts of the World is a unique religion with an equally unique beginning. The later part of eighteen and early nineteen hundred, Khasi Jaintia society witnesses an emergent of giants and stalwarts of Khasi intellectuals and the doyen of Khasi literature in the like of Babu Soso Tham, Pahep R.S. Berry, Nissor Singh and his brother u Babu Hajom Kissor Singh, the list is however by no mean exhausted. (One must also bear in mind that it was only in 1847 that Khasi language was put to writing using Roman script and the period we are talking here is the late 1800) The mentioned personalities were great littérateurs, and of these H.K. Singh was not only poet and an essayist par excellence but he is also religious reformer in his own right.
Born to a Khasi family whose father was an employee of the mighty British Empire, the Singhs along with few of their contemporary were perhaps few lucky educated Khasis of the time. It is said that in those days one can count on one’s hand the numbers of educated Khasis and H.K.Singh was able to complete his Entrance examination (High School graduate) which is itself a great achievement in those days. H.K. Singh though born a Khasi was converted to Calvinist faith along with the whole family while he was studying at a school in Nongsawlia Sohra (Cherrapunjee). He being an educated and an ardent quest for spiritual truth was well acquainted with the traditional animist religion and read his Bible thoroughly. He read the sacred text from cover to cover and found that the Bible has only reinforced his belief in one God, which in fact is a belief not alien to the Khasis. His studies of the Bible particularly the Gospels convinced him that Jesus himself; a true Jews to the last; worshiped one God, which he called Abba and taught his disciples to pray to this God the Father when they pray in what was latter known as the Lords prayer. At the same time H.K. Singh though he discovered that even the Bible and Jesus teaches about the existence of one true God which is similar to the belief followed by the Khasis, he however is reluctant to go back to the Niamtynrai/Seng Khasi fold (to which he has very close relationship) for other theological intricacies. Basically H.K.Singh was not at ease with what he believed to be the two variant of difficult belief that he cannot comprehend and one must remember that the age we are concern saw the advent of Christianity and the beginning of the people in the Khasi traditional belief to organise themselves to repel the rapid advancement of this new faith in the hills - the Seng Khasi was also started around this particular period. H.K.Singh was essentially caught between the old and new truth and ultimately came up with his own version.
H.K.Singh was struggling with the new truth that he had discovered, he was in search of a faith or religion, which worship one true God as well free human from the bondage of other super natural deities and at long last his search led him to his goal. By divine providence he met one Brahmo (member of Brahmo Samaj) who introduced him to Rev. C.H.A. Dahl a Unitarian Missionary stationed at Kolkata (Calcutta). Singh’s contact with Dahl was like the proverbial ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ and the correspondence between the two has indeed greatly influenced Singh. The communication between H.K.Singh and C.H.A. Dahl came to an end only in the demised of the later, which had shocked Singh and ironically the tragedy happens only two months before Unitarianism in this Hills saw the light of the day. H.K. Singh in spite of all odds went ahead with his plan and started “Ka Niam Mane Wei Blei” Unitarianism in the Khasi Jaintia and Karbi Anglong on the 18th of September 1887 and the rest is history.
Unitarian in the Khasi Jaintia and Karbi Anglong District is like a tree standing tall with its roots deep into the ground and its branches and leaves widely spread receptive of the light and the blessings of the Universe. Its roots are strong and firm in the belief and culture of the people of the region as well as being open to truths from elsewhere.
From a theological point of view, the concept of God Worshipped by the Unitarians in the Hills is the Khasi’s own concept of God the Creator (U Blei Nongbuh Nongthaw) (which is) formless. The Khasi concept of God is in contrary to the western concept that they inherited from Judeo-Christian tradition. The concept of God in a western context is God in an “Anthromorphical form.” – God on whose image man was created or to be precise God in a human shape. God in Khasi Pnar concept is not only of a formless God but also in contrary to other tribal God or gods; the Khasi Pnar concept of God is that of a Universal God. He is neither a God, which have a territory, nor God, which belong and recognize only his own tribe. H.K. Singh preaches of a formless God and a Universal God and he even went a step further by preaching a dual identity of God ‘ the motherhood and fatherhood’ concept of God. Unitarians therefore worship the Khasi original idea of God- a formless God, a Universal God, a Divine Power and a benevolent Benefactor.
Khasi Pnar is a tribe with its own distinct culture and value system. The genesis of any tribe’s culture and value system is based on its Mythological stories handed down by their ancestors since time immemorial from one generation to another. Unitarian treated the khasi-pnar folklore and legends as aetiological account of the tribe that can neither be describe as historically factual or mere mythologies. Like any other tribes or races in the World, the Khasi-Pnar also has its own genesis the “Hynniew trep hynniew skum.” Hynniew trep hynniew skum is a folktales or story as important and profound to the Khasis as the story of Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis for both the Jews and the Christian. The Hynniewtrep story for that matter is as solemn as any mythological stories of any race or tribe. The story does not have to be factually true but they certainly have a profound impact on the belief, culture and psyche of that particular tribe or race.
The Unitarians in the Khasi Jaintia Hills faces no contradiction what so ever between the faiths they followed and the common culture or ethos of the tribe. Believers in western oriented denomination are many a time in a dilemma whether to believe in the teachings of their Sacred Book or to follow the Value System follow by their forefathers since time immemorial. Oftentimes their faith and dogmas being western oriented are in contrary to the prevailing customs and ethos of the society. Being a liberal religion in a unique Khasi Pnar context, the Khasi Unitarians adapt well to the culture and ethos of the society, they follow and lives by the cardinal values of the tribe and continue to respect the traditions values of the tribe. The basic Khasi value system are ‘To earn righteousness’ (Ban kamai ia ka hok), ‘To live honorably and courteously and to know and revere God’ (Ban long Tip-briew Tip-Blei) ‘To know and respect one’s relation both from mother and father side’ (Ban tip kur tip kha). These three basic value systems of the Khasi pnars are like the tri-pot stones (maw byrsiew) in the hearth of the khasi-pnar’s home that provide warmth and feed the entire family. The Unitarians found no contradiction to the Value System; they in fact adhered in letter and spirit to these basic value system. Faiths that were introduce from other areas, naturally carry with them the ethos and traditions of the area from which they originated and therefore they remain out of place to the contemporary Khasi-pnar society. We see that these religious organisations started the process of trying to adapt to the prevailing culture of the people of the area.
Unitarian church though has an alien name and naturally has the influence of Protestantism in their worship traditions, yet they hold tight and fast the intrinsic values of their tribal value system. In fact Unitarian Universalism Church is itself an all pervading and all-encompassing religion it is inherent to the church to be able to easily accept different variety of thoughts and beliefs. Unitarian church in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, is therefore a liberal church with its roots strong in the Khasi Pnar value system while it is also all encompassing and free to reach out to new thoughts and teaching. R.S. Berry in one o the many hymns he generously composed for the Khasi Unitarian hymn book, described Unitarianism as “Ka niam ieid i’u blei ieid i’u briew” (The Religion of love God and love fellow human being), in a nutshell this best describe Unitarian in Khasi Jaintia hills.

Sein Beh Iaw Jowai: Meghalaya’s own Dabba Wallahs

2010-11-03T23:56:00.000-07:00

If the Dabba Wallahs of Mumbai can make it to the pages of the Forbes Magazine, the Economics Times et al, the Sein Beh Iaw Co-operative Society of Jowai deserves at least some space in the editorial page of the Shillong Times. There are two things that these two business organization have in common, that their business model is original in its own right and the unique business ventures are not a copy-paste models of some successful business enterprises or models copied from certain management books. Secondly both the organisations are laymen’s movement in which most of the members are semi literate and the day to day affair of the organization is being run by the members themselves.

Co-operative organization come and go and with one of the two outstanding co-operative societies in Jaintia Hills, the Mowkaiaw Transport Society is now a mere a shadow of its former glory, Sein Beh Iaw which was established on June 23, 1980 is now a 30 years old organization and it is still going strong and doing a good business. Perhaps the success story of Sein Beh Iaw, Jowai is one case study that our own IIM, Shillong can take up for study.

Incidentally while composing this article, my wife shouted from the kitchen asking me when is ‘Musiang’ (the market day in Jowai), the fact is even though Jowai is a growing town and everything is available in the market throughout the week, the significance of Musiang has not diminished. Musiang is the day the town folks look forward to fresh (and many a time organically grown) food products that petty farmers from every nook and corner of the district come to sell in the local market. I was told that an IAS officer from the town posted in Shillong was once asked why he didn’t opt to serve as the Deputy Commissioner of Jaintia hills. The officer who was born and brought up in Jowai replied ‘why would I want to work in a town in which I already know what food each family cooks every morning and evening of the market day? Jokes apart, to understand the principle on which the foundation of the Sein Beh Iaw is set, one needs to understand some of the traditions of the Pnars which has some connection with this business. The business is based on the eight days a week traditional calendar of the Khasi Pnar, yes we have eight days in a week and don’t ask me where did the Khasi Pnar get the extra day in their week? If the Beatles had known about the Khasi Pnar tradition, it would have safe the group the trouble of composing a hit song wishing for a week of eight days. Unlike the western calendar; each day is named after the market in the particular village; hence each major village has one market day in a week which also caters to the need of the villages in its vicinity.

Ma Ronel Chullai reminiscence in the silver jubilee souvenir of the Sein Beh Iaw, the day he first joined the elders in the ‘Beh iaw’ tradition which literarily mean ‘following the market;’ way back in 1948. He recalled starting from Shangpung which falls on ‘Muchai,’ the day after ‘Musiang.’ During those days there were no means of conveyance so they walked on foot the entire week with bundles of goods on their back from one village to another. They stayed overnight at Shangpung and continued the next day to the market at Mynso, they again stayed overnight at Mynso then crossed the river Myntang to reach Barato market. On the same evening they left Barato and crossed the river Mynriang stayed overnight at Lapangap to walk to Ummynso the next day. They returned the same route from Lapangap, to Mynso and it took them two days to reach Jowai again. After walking from one market to another braving the inclement weather and the danger of wild animals, by 1950-54 traders used cycles to commute from one market to another, later on they used Jeeps and by 1956-60 they started using small buses and followed next by the big buses.

As per the traditional calendar except Jowai two or more villages share the same market day. The second day of the week is Muchai and it is the market day at Shangpung and Dawki, Pyngkat the third day is the market day in Khliehriat, Iooksi, Mynso and Chiehruphi, the next day is Thymblein; on this particular day market is held at Muktapur, Barato and Khanduli, the next day is Hat and it is a market day at Borkhat and Mookaiaw, followed by Khyllaw the market day in Jowai, Dawki, Sutnga, Kympreng and Namdong, the sixth day of the week is Pynsyin where market is held at Wah-iajer and Rymbai. Mulong is the market day at Nartiang, Jarain Lumchnong, Muktapur and Raliang followed by Musiang the market day in Jowai and the last day of the week.

Sein Beh Iaw co-operative society was organized to help those following the markets and the organization was in a way forcibly thrust upon them by circumstances prevailed then. Initially traders depend on private buses for transportation but the lackadaisical attitude of the private bus owners, forced some of the ‘beh-iaw- wallahs’ to think of an alternative. They decided to join together buy their own bus and not to depend on the whims and fancy of the bus owners. Initially all 121 members of the ‘beh-iaw family’(as they would like to call themselves) contributed as much as they can to purchase the society’s first bus and since they cannot afford a brand new vehicle; they bought a used bus from Shillong. Irrespective to the amount a member contributed to the corpus fund; members were allotted an equal share and it was repaid immediately after the coop break even. The Society’s second bus was financed by the State Bank of India, Jowai and now the Society has 5 buses and another new one will join the fleet soon. The Coop has 15 employees which include bus drivers and helpers and 15 members working on a voluntary basis to run the day to day affairs of the society. The account of the organization is being audited every month and the auditors provide a quarterly audited report to the management and the members meet at annual general meeting on the society’s foundation day.

The market day in the village is not only an opportunity for the villagers and those nearby to sell their local products, but traders even from distance places came to sell their goods once a week to create villagers’ own supermarket where the weekly need of the villagers is provided; likewise traders bought the villagers products to sell them elsewhere. Sein Behiaw is one big entity which contributes to the flourishing traditional weekly market system and perhaps it is not an overstatement to say that the Sein Beh Iaw, Jowai is single handedly responsible for the growth of these village markets. Numbers of unemployed youths in the state is growing at an alarming rate, and the government is yet to come up with any employment policy, helping the village market grow is perhaps one alternative to create employment and at the same time arrest the ever increasing urban migration. The tradition of having market is already in place, it remains for the government to create value in the market by providing modern facilities like cold storage and even transport with cold storage facility, RCC stalls etc, this will surely help create employment opportunity. The corporate houses created modern market for people to come and shop in their malls and super mart; the genius of the Khasi Pnar is they take people’s own super market to the villages.

People often conclude that Pnars are enterprising lot, but the real entrepreneurs are not those coal and limestone mine owners who just happens to own lands with mineral deposits, real entrepreneurs are people like the members of the Sein Beh Iaw who 30 years ago out of nothing created their own business and struggled hard to prosper.

In comparison state run Transport Corporation failed in spite of financial support from the state, one can’t help but wonder what does the Sein Beh Iaw, Jowai has that the Meghalaya Transport Corporation does not have. Perhaps the government of Meghalaya has a lot to learn from the Sein Beh Iaw. The Sein Beh Iaw not only created a viable transport alternative for its members, it has created employment for many drivers and helpers in the buses and occasionally it is also an opportunity to earn extra income for the members. It is also a mean of communication for hundreds of traders depending on its buses to travel from one market to another.

DURGA PUJA IN NARTIANG : A Synthesis of Hinduism with Pnar Culture and Traditions

2010-10-13T02:02:00.000-07:00

Nartiang is one of the oldest villages in the district and it is famous for two things, the monolithic park and the Durga Temple . The two landmarks also symbolized the intrinsic nature and ethos of the village which is unique in itself. Nartiang is a unique case study where two diverse traditions Hinduism and Pnar Culture and tradition blend as one. The pertinent question is “How does the Pnar in Nartiang, adapt their tribal way of life with Hindu religious practices? “How does Durga Puja which is a Hindu tradition blend with the Niamtre which is a tribal tradition- unique in its own right?”

I was not aware of the importance of the Durga Temple in Nartiang in the Hindu tradition till I heard R.S. Mooshahary the Governor of Meghalaya spoke at the inaugural function of the Tourism festival in Jowai in the year 2009. Mooshahary related the Mythology in the Hindu tradition about the death of Sati and the grieve-stricken Shiva carry Sati’s corps everywhere he went. The other Gods request Vishnu to pacify Shiva, so Vishnu sent his discus Sudarshan to destroy the corpse of Sati. 51 pieces of Sati’s body scattered across the sub continent, one piece which is the womb fell in Kamakhya in the Kamarupa region and one of the thighs fell in the area where the Durga temple was constructed in Nartiang.

One may ask why, what is so special about the Durga Puja in Nartiang? One answer to the query, is the fact the Durga puja in Nartiang is being celebrate regularly at the famous Durga temple which is one of the oldest Durga temple in the region (some say about 600 years old). It is also special because the temple was built by the erstwhile Jaintia king and that human was sacrificed in the temple in the days gone by. But the distinctiveness of the Durga Puja in the village is the fact that Nartiang is a place where Hinduism blends beautifully with the tribal customs, tradition and ethos of the people of the village.

Like any other village in the district, the predominant settlers of Nartiang are the Pnar and a large chunk of the population belongs to the Niamtre, but a Niamtre with a difference. The Niamtre people of Nartiang has a distinction of observing both their customs and way of life as prescribe in their traditional Niamtre culture as well as celebrating certain Pujas set by the adopted religion they have inherited from their Kings. In other words Pujas are not the only religious rites and rituals observed by the people of Nartiang, apart from the various Pujas, people also perform sacrifices to appease the tribal goddess Kupli and her husband Yale, the Thunder god (u Pyrthat), the Shillong deity (u lei Shyllong), the innumerous nature god (ki laiphew Ryngkaw ki laiphew basa) and other gods and goddesses in the khasi Pnar pantheon. It is also interesting to note that all rites of passages from birth to death are performed in accordance with Pnar tribal traditions they inherited from their forefathers.

To invoke these gods and goddesses, people use the usual sacrificial animals of the Pnars namely roosters, pigs and goats etc., these sacrifices were performed by the Langdoh and others religious heads of the Elaka; where as the various Pujas were performed by (Wamon) the Priest; a descendant of the first priest since the reign of the Jaintia Monarch when the Durga temple was first established in the village.

The other uniqueness of the tradition adopted by the followers of Niamtre in the village is that people accept a special local calendar which allow them to pay obeisance to the different gods and goddesses they worship. The calendar is divided into different season in which there are seasons for observing pujas as per Hindu tradition and also seasons for performing sacrifices for the traditional tribal gods and goddesses of their ancestors. Since time immemorial, tradition has it that during puja seasons, all the sacrifices to the ‘local’ deities were put to hold and similarly no pujas were performed during the seasons earmarked for performing sacrifices to appease the tribal gods and goddesses. So there is no room for conflict between the ritual as per the traditional Niamtre religion and the pujas, beacuse the season for paying obeisance varies and persons responsible for performing these religious rites are also different.

Shri. Uttam Deshmukhya, Pandit (wamon) of the Durga temple, (who speaks in chaste pnar told this scribe that of the four pujas that was celebrated namely, Holi, Bishari (Manasha puja), and Kartik puja, Durga is the most important and the biggest of them all. Like other festivals celebrated by the tribal, the Durga puja was also greeted with month long drum beating by the Dhulias before the actual puja. Although the Daloi and other traditional heads of the village do not have a significant role to play in the actual rituals of the puja, the Daloi who is the representative of the erstwhile Jaintia monarch in the Elaka, is responsible for arranging all supplies needed for the puja. Of the more than a hundred goats offered, the most important goats offered by the Daloi for the sacrifice is the King’s goat (ka blang syiem), the Daloi’s goat (ka blang Daloi), and the mid-night goat (ka blang syniaw) The mid night goat as the term itself implies is a special offering performed in the mid night of the second day and no body is allowed in the temple during the sacrifice but for the priest all by himself. The goat is dressed like a human with a turban on the head, a dhoti and earrings (kyndiam) on both the ears. Finally a mask of a human face is placed on the goat’s face before its head is chopped. The priest clarified that the midnight goat symbolized human that was used to sacrifice by the kings during the days of yore. To the left of the sanctum sanctorum there is a whole on the ground and the priest explained that the goat’s head was chopped in such a way that the head will roll down from the hole to the Myntang river the same way they did when human was sacrifice, he concluded.

When asked why, unlike the fancy Durga idol used elsewhere, the idol of the Durga in Nartiang is always made of the banana tree? Daloi Mon Dkhar explained, “Banana tree is like a second mother to us, it provides human being with banana which in fact is the first solid food provided to a new born baby. The banana is human’s second food, next to the milk from mother’s breast. That is why Durga is always made of a banana tree in Nartiang.” The offering that people bring with them to the temple is also uniquely traditional, it consist of rice carried in bronze containers, one betelnut, five pieces of pan leafs and a few coins. The other amazing thing about the Durga puja is the chanting of hymns by the Dhulias and some village folks- the hardamuid; these mantras are not in Pnar, but in a strange language that they learned orally from one generation to another. On the last day each family performs the ‘siang ka pha,’ to offer food, vegetables and fruits to their dead ancestors, this tradition is also akin to the “ka siang ka pha” performed at the onset of the Behdienkhlam festivals of the people of Jowai. It is also strange that although the Pnar of Nartiang worships Durga, one cannot see a single picture or idol of the goddess or for that matter any gods and goddesses in the Hindu pantheon in any houses of the villagers at Nartiang.

The two temples in the village, that of the goddess Durga and Lord Shiva are also unique in their own way, these temples have a unique Khasi Pnar architecture; similar to the “Iung Lyntur” or the nearest example is “Ka Ingsat at Smit village.”

While I was interviewing Ma Dontha Dkhar the Pator of the Elaka for this writeup, a correspondent of a certain news-paper interrupted, and remarked “Pator the way I see it, this is a typical puja performed by the people belonging to Hinduism do you call yourself a Hindu?” The wise Pator ignored the query. Later I retorted my journalist friend that the question is wrong in the first place. I said “you may call it whatever you like but to the people of Nartiang this is their religion, the religion where they see no difference in following both their traditional Niamtre customs and beliefs and simultaneously observe the various pujas. This is the religion they inherited from their forefathers, the religion where two diverse traditions converged together into one. It is not for anyone to define it for them?” I responded.

The other uniqueness of the Niamtre in Nartiang is that there is no conversion involved here; the residents of the village or the entire Kingdom would have convert to Hindusim if the King used his might and authority, but the Jaintia Kings were Liberal Kings. Although the King spent a good six summer months every year in the village, the people of Nartiang did not have to convert to Hinduism, they just took certain elements of their adopted religion and they combined it with their own to form a synthesis of these two traditions, and that is the beauty of the Niamtre in Nartiang. This is the lesson that the Niamtre of the Nartiang has to teach each and every one of us, the lesson of synthesizing the goodness of all religion into one.