Shillong, Oct 31: The call for the implementation of the ILP in our state has met with a stern reaction from the side of the government right from day one. I cannot help but wonder as to why our voice of concern for the welfare of the indigenous people receives such a cold hearted response from those who are responsible to safe guard the interests of the people they govern.
Throughout these months of agitation, “I began to see that our movement has shifted itself from the scene of agitation to the scene of an awareness campaign. Thanks to the government for its adamant attitude in this regard, it has indirectly nurture our agitation into a movement which I believe is already a success story of our struggle”.
When we arrived to discuss on the ILP across the table with the Chief Minister, preconception brewed in on both sides which eventually provided no space for reasonable debate on the matter and ended with both sides taking the extreme views on their stand. This preconception was created a year ago when the Chief Minister was not willing to spell out his comprehensive mechanism and instead buys time to address this long pending demand.
Across the negotiation table, it took just one word from our leader to convince the government that we had come with a close mind. But as one of the member of the delegation present at the meeting, “ I felt that the Chief Minister as a leader of the state should have been in a more open minded to address the statement made by the Chief Secretary the day before the meeting with the NGO’s for which it came out in the paper that the government will make no U-Turn on the government’s stand towards the implementation of the ILP”.
The close minded attitude of the government stands in question as well. Had all these preconceptions been addressed to it could have led the meeting towards deliberation that could have easily ended up as a very constructive meeting. But that’s is all history now, and when the situation has charged up so much today, “I am forced to write this paper to looked back at the cause and the present scenario that lead to all the series of unfortunate incidents and in the process many blatant accusations of criminal activities reduced the movement to the mediocrity of law and order issue instead”.
After all my observation of the ongoing movement and the stand which the government is taking till date, and going through all the write ups that appeared in the newspapers every day, it is far from truth that the Chief minister is really convinced that there is a political motive behind our movement. “We wanted to set aside this pre-conceived speculation that we have not entertained nor would like to see any political tag in the movement”.
As one of the leaders, I would like to make it candid before the people and the government that our stand is aimed chiefly towards the protection of the indigenous in the wake of the wave of mass influx into our minority inhabited state triggered especially by the sudden upsurge of economic globalization which our state stands most vulnerable considering the low level of socio-economic political development.
The center’s attention to our state should be lauded, but not at the expense of exterminating the local population of the state. Perhaps a time will come in the near future, that the issue of identity may not be in the vocabulary anymore, but as of now, we still cherish our identity more that anywhere in the past and this assertion finds expression especially in the widely held-belief that our resources are being exploited at the cost of our environment, society, existence and many uncountable effects.
Such an internal colonialism perception among the locals has further lead to the corollary notion of the relative deprivation and the lack of economic development of the state versus the ‘mainland’. The Government is well aware of this bare truth, but the lack of political will, arising perhaps from the perceived concern to the economic development of the state, shun any form of negotiation and willingness to reconcile.
The truth of the day both parties realize that influx is a big problem. “We all must be clear that ILP in our proposed form is not directed nor aimed at the genuine Meghalaya Citizens who have and contributed to the socio-economic make up of the state and its local people. But the crux of the matter is that the government keeps itself elusive from formatting a clear cut mechanism. Rather than involving the pressure groups as it was done in the High Level Committee, the government shy away from involving the state-holders in the matter”.
The Government Instead of involving the stake-holders in framing concrete mechanism to the question of influx, the government attitude in handing the movement left much to be desired. And here lies the bone of contention between the pressure groups and the Government. We are willing to arrive at any mechanism call it anything, but not the Tenancy Bill in its present proposed format.
“We all understand that no stop-gap arrangement can solve this long pending demand for protection for the local. In fact Tenancy act is already inherent and practiced in the local governance of the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo People. We need the government to come up with a more comprehensive mechanism if not the ILP at all.
“We appreciate the message from the government that came up in the lately in the papers, and being aware that this deadlock has created unwanted situations for the common man and woman of the state, we extend our willingness to come to the negotiation table and we expect that the government on its part will also show its gesture of goodwill by curbing down the arrest of our members. Said Welbirth Rani general secretary of the FKJGP.(SP News)
