Rebel Turned Politician

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anti-influx agitation in Assam, ANVC-B, Asom Gana Parishad, Fidel Castro, Garo nationalistic agenda, GHADC, GHADC 29 seats, HNLC, James Sylliang, Judges Field, Julius Dorphang, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, revolution, revolutionaries

Leaders of armed revolutions often hold those seats of power once they fought against. But everyone cannot become a Fidel Castro. They end up succumbing to the ‘system’. Once they are exposed to the easy access to wealth, they try to get accustomed to the so-called system. Sometimes, these revolutionaries turn up worse than the leaders whom they ousted from power. Very soon, the people start realising – oh, it was a mistake to elect them to power! They are no better than the others! They are often seen faded into oblivion. They cannot sustain the glory they had during the ‘revolution’.

Prafulla Kumar Mahanta was a revered name in Assam because of his leadership in the anti-influx agitation. The momentum of his popularity gave him two stints in power. But today, he is littered with taints of scams. He is blamed for downfall of Assam’s ‘very own’ party Asom Gana Parishad. He is no longer a force to reckon with. The people may not have imagined about this kind of a situation when lakhs gathered for the AGP leaders’ swearing in ceremony at Judges’ Field in Guwahati in 1985. Same is the case with Meghalaya’s surrendered Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) chairman Julius Dorphang and his colleague James Sylliang. They are no longer any force to reckon with. Despite being elected public representatives now, they have are not seen doing significant work for welfare of their communities.

Meghalaya might be having another set of ‘revolutionaries’ holding the seats of power very soon. The leaders of now-disbanded Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC) and its breakaway group ANVC-B are waiting with bated breath for the election to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC). In fact, the two outfits agreed to join ‘mainstream’ on condition that the GHADC seats would be increased in order to accommodate them. Although the elections are going to be held with the same number of 29 seats, the former rebels have geared up to join the election battle. Given their present popularity – and not to overlook the money and muscle power – some of them are likely to become public representatives. It will be interesting then to see with all powers in hand how far they would carry forward their Garo nationalistic agenda.

(Published as editorial in The Meghalaya Guardian on July 24)

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Ritual Bandh

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bandh, boycott, Champion Sangma, GNLA, HNLC, Indian Constitution, Julius Dorphang, Khasi-Jaintia people, kidnapping, killing, looting, rehabilitation package, Republic Day, Sainkupar Nongtraw

Julius Dorphang must salute the tricolor this Republic Day. The present MLA and former chief of the proscribed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) had no qualms in taking pledge of upholding the Indian Constitution once he denounced. Dorphang, one of the most silent MLAs in Meghalaya assembly, ‘sacrificed’ his ideology apparently for personal gains. The jailed Garo Hills National Army (GNLA) chief Champion Sangma is also on his way to the ‘mainstream’. These leaders once claimed to have believed that rights of their tribes could not be protected through peaceful means. So they took up arms and engaged in all kinds of crimes – killing, kidnapping, looting… They did not believe in the Constitution. They faithfully practised the ritual of calling bandhs on Independence Day and Republic Day. Finally, they reaped the benefit of the government policy to reward what critics term ‘criminals’ with rehabilitation package. While these people, who orchestrated major crimes on humanity like indiscriminate killing, get the red carpet from government, petty criminals continue to languish in jails due to delayed trials.

Like every year, the HNLC called a bandh to boycott this Republic Day too. In the press statement, the outfit leveled all kinds of allegations against the Union of India. HNLC publicity secretary Sainkupar Nongtraw termed ‘illegal’ celebration of Republic Day within their ‘jurisdiction’. Dorphang might have spoken the same language once. The irony is that the same outfit is crying for government attention for peace talks. Several political parties, ostensibly to appease Khasi sentiment, are holding government responsible for delaying the peace talks with the outfit. They have been demanding appointment of interlocutors to initiate peace talks between the HNLC and the government.  However, it has become difficult for the government to maintain soft approach towards militant groups who want peace talks and resort to violence at the same time. The hard line approach had to be adopted following BJP-led NDA government’s directive not to hold talks with any outfit which indulges in violence. The government’s lack of response towards HNLC’s call is also due to the police perception that the outfit is just a spent force now. The outfit’s claim that holding Republic Day in Khasi-Jaintia Hills is ‘illegal’ and its desperation for talks with Indian government are contradictory. The public, who still have some sympathy left for HNLC, should notice such hypocrisy of the outfit that claims to have been fighting for the rights of indigenous Khasi-Jaintia people. Given a chance to be in a position like that of Julius Dorphang, these underground leaders would take no time to sing paeans of the Government of India.

(Published as editorial in The Meghalaya Guardian on January 24, 2015)

It’s irony all over

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bandh, BSF, crowd, Durga Puja, FIR, firing, Gandhi Jayanti, HNLC, Jaintia Hills, magistrate, Meghalaya, Mookhep, Non-Violence Day, revellers

Everyone fired, but none did the killings. Initially, the BSF and now the police claimed to have fired in the air to control the mob protesting a ban on coal mining. The incident at Mookhep in East Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya in the evening of September 24 is turning murkier every day. The government is yet to come clean even as all fingers are pointed at sate security forces. Various organizations straightforwardly sought action against police, even though there is no proof so far as to whose bullets killed the duo and injured many others. Confused and perplexed, the government even hinted at involvement of a third force behind the incident.

The irony is that two fresh FIRs – one by a lady magistrate and a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) – were also silent about the killings. They just claimed to have faced stones and even bullets from the 500 strong crowd. The claims, interestingly, came in the wake of rising doubt expressed by various groups about police involvement in the killings. The two fresh FIRs made rooms for more doubt. Even though the first official statement nowhere mentioned about any firing by police, the magistrate and DSP admitted to have fired in the air to control the mob. What prevented the duo from divulging the fact or for that matter the government to disclose it in the past one week is a matter of question.

Amid all the irony of government and police on the matter, the outlawed HNLC also exposed its bit. The militant outfit called a bandh covering first two days of Durga Puja celebrations, in protest against the firing incident and also murder of a Jaintia youth in Karnataka. When condemnations against the bandh started pouring in, the outfit maintained that Puja is exempted from the purview of the bandh. Yet they would not withdraw it and also made it clear that revelers should ‘refrain from merry-making’, which is part and parcel of any Hindu festival. By saying so, the outfit wanted to project a secular face before the concerned Christian-dominated indigenous population. But, it actually wanted the Puja revelers to stay indoors, which did not happen on the first day of the bandh as shops remained open even hours after the bandh began at 6 pm on October 1. The outfit proved it once again that logic does not apply to their way of functioning. They, who recently offered to sit in peace talks with the government, called the bandh also to protest Gandhi Jayanti, observed as Non-Violence Day, meaning they want violence and ‘peace’ together!

(Published as editorial in The Meghalaya Guardian on October 6, 2014)

Good days ahead

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bandh, Central office, HNLC, Meghalaya, paid holiday, shutdown

Government employees in Meghalaya saved crores of rupees by turning up on the first day of the four-day ‘total shutdown’ called by the proscribed Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC). On the second day, anyone hardly remembered there was any ‘shutdown’ on that day too besides two more days after the weekly holidays. The people have shown that they are mightier than any militant outfit and even the government. This message will pass across many quarters. Although a ‘spent force’, HNLC is still the most influential militant outfit of Khasi-Jaintia region. The outfit still draws sympathy even from political parties besides the NGOs ‘concerned’ about rights of indigenous people. The reason for calling the four-day bandh – arrest of an NGO leader and four others for nexus with the outfit – shows how close their relations are. No NGO or political party made any statement against the bandh. But after the utter failure of the ‘total shutdown’ of state and central government offices, the HNLC and for that matter any organisation will think twice before calling a bandh.

The ‘shutdown’ call was a lucrative offer for government employees to enjoy a six-day holiday package. They have enjoyed numerous such bandhs in the past without really knowing for what the bandh was called. It has been a cheap practice by most organisations to call bandh on days preceding weekly holidays so that government employees, especially those staying away from home, take advantage of the situation and go on long holidays. Shillong-Guwahati tourist taxi fares go up on Thursday evening every time a bandh is called on Friday because Central government employees hailing from Assam make hurry to rush home on three-day holiday. Ironically, Central offices where there are substantial numbers of employees from outside are more ‘faithful’ to the local organizations whoever calls a bandh. There were times when Central offices were found locked when state government offices recorded good attendance.

Thursday’s scene was different because the state government issued special instructions to each Central government office not to pay heed to the shutdown call. Also, for many, the four-day shutdown call was too much for release of a not-so-popular NGO leader and four others who were held for nexus with an outlawed organization. The government deserves complement for making the employees attend their offices and work for what they are paid from the public exchequer. It is also a message to the public to feel the need for showing its might to anyone who take them for granted time and again.

(Published as editorial in Meghalaya Guardian on May 10, 2014)

Why target a community

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Gurkha, HNLC, Meghalaya, Nepali, North Bengal, quit notice

In India, Nepalese or Gurkhas are hardly seen as foreign community. The community is scattered all over India, especially in the North-east and North Bengal. Their settlements are seen even in remotest parts of the region. Acceptability of the Gurkhas in India can be gauged from the fact the Indian Army has an entire regiment named after the community. They can easily adapt to the culture and tradition of the local communities. They have immense contribution in developing the dairy sector of the region’s states. Baring North Bengal where the community is fighting for greater autonomy, they are hardly seen in collision course in other parts of the country. Another exception is Meghalaya where the community is targeted whenever there is a movement against non-tribal ‘outsiders’. The community now faces a similar crisis as the outlawed HNLC has served ‘quit notices’ to Nepali settlers especially those living in the border areas.

Meghalaya, especially the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region, has seen several pro-tribal movements seeking to oust non-tribal settlers. Lives were lost and properties damaged during these agitations and Nepalese bore a major brunt of the wrath of indigenous tribals. Bengali, Bihari, Marwari, Punjabi and Assamese people were also targeted during the racial violence. There were isolated attacks on Nepalese in the aftermath of Langpih killings in 2010 when four Khasi villagers died in firing by Assam police in the wake of a clash with the Nepali settlers. The area is known as Lumpi in Assam, a testimony of the decades-long boundary dispute. The community was served with ‘quit notices’ by pressure groups and even traditional bodies in many areas, causing exodus of people.

After four years of calm, the same crisis looms over the community in Meghalaya. Lack of development in the border areas is the prime reason for such kind of crises. Minor rifts and tension often fail to reach the authorities. Even if the authorities are aware of such things, they are often ignored, resulting in accumulation of anger. Besides, there are groups with vested interests hell bent on creating communal rifts. The HNLC’s diktat is nothing but a desperate attempt to win back some lost place in the hearts of the indigenous Khasi-Jaintia people. Unarmed pressure groups should now make clear their stand on the ‘quit notice’ to Nepalese, and not just play the ‘wait and watch’ game. Political parties, especially those who cater to regional sentiment, too should come out and appeal to people not to pay any heed to such absurd ‘orders’ coming from the soil of Bangladesh.

(Published as editorial in The Meghalaya Guardian on April 18, 2014)

Behind armed struggle

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armed struggle, Bodoland, HNLC, KSU, Meghalaya, Nagaland, North-east India, ULFA

Nowadays, everybody takes ‘taking up arms for the people’ with a pinch of salt, if not more than that. It’s an open secret that militant organisations of the North-east are doing business, if we can call it so. In business, the trader offers some service or product in lieu of the money paid by the customer. In case of militants, the service they offer is that they spare your life. They collect ‘tax’ from the actual businessman, allowing him to do all kinds of illegal activities. Initially, many of them might have taken up arms for a noble cause, for their community or the nation, but they all end up being extortionists. Of course, it is understood that once a militant commits an act of violence, which he thinks is his job, there is no place for him in the mainstream society. He is bound to carry on with his job and extortion is the only way left for him to sustain his ‘struggle’ for …

No sane person on earth will voluntarily bet his money on the so-called goals of the militant groups. Most people consider unrealistic the demands for sovereign nation or state by Meghalaya’s Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), Assam’s United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), two main National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) factions, National Democratic Front of Bodoland and so on. If there is a referendum, the sovereignty goals of most of the outfits are likely to be fall flat. Then why they are thriving? It’s because of the support they get from the political class, who want these problems to remain so that they can hide their corrupt practices behind ‘bigger problems’.

The recent joining of a prominent Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) leader along with 13 others might make a difference to the almost-defunct HNLC, but not the Khasi-Jaintia community. With the KSU leader Fedrick Kharmawphlang’s network in the mainstream society, the HNLC might recover some lost grounds to strengthen its coffers. It is too early to judge as to what prompted the KSU men jump the track – HNLC ‘ideology’ or its business. But in either case, the loss is of the society which far from seeking a sovereign Khasi-Jaintia nation and does not want the HNLC ‘heydays’ back once again.

(Published as editorial in The Meghalaya Guardian on February 21, 2014)

NGOs’ proximity with outlaws

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Christmas, Durga Puja, HNLC, ILP, Meghalaya

The claim that pro-ILP groups have been ‘democratic’ in their protests has come under further question with a banned militant outfit calling bandh in the formers’ favour. It is understood that the HNLC is struggling for issues to fight for, after realising that their main demand for a ‘Hynniewtrep (Khasi-Jaintia) land’ has not many takers. The rebel outfit, which is dubbed almost non-existential by the security forces, started singing paeans of the ‘democratic’ NGOs since they had started the movement for inner line permit (ILP). In a way, the outfit has been self-contradictory by supporting the demand for ILP, which comes very much under Indian democracy. The HNLC is also trying to tap the public sentiment by demanding release of all the pro-ILP activists, who have been accused of arson, assault and even murder during the three-month-long agitation. The number of the ‘political prisoners’, 70, is quite lucrative for the outfit to back their cause and gain lost ground. Public support is very precious for any outfit as has been shown by the pressure groups too. There have been several instances of reducing bandh hours and ‘exemption’ to some areas from bandhs and blockades. They had even relaxed the agitation during the last Durga Puja, the main festival of the non-tribals staying in the state, although the festival itself was not free of violent attacks.

The HNLC, with its demand for release of the arrested pro-ILP activists to allow them to celebrate Christmas at home, is trying to get closer with the 13 pressure groups. However, it is not yet known whether the HNLC’s call for the bandh has any assent from the NGOs. If there is so, the NGOs can no more claim that their agitation has been democratic throughout. If there is no such backing, then they should make their stand clear although their ‘democratic’ image has already gone for a toss with the arrest of their activists in violent incidents including murder. Meanwhile, the bandh on December 23, which is Monday, will give sufficient reasons for government employees to start their Christmas holidays from December 21, Saturday!

(Published as editorial in The Meghalaya Guardian on December 21, 2013)