Patricia Mukhim

143 Days for Manipur Mayhem: The Centre Must At Least Give Biren Singh Marching Orders Now

What rankles the most for all those who have watched Manipur’s descent to chaos is the fact that the man holding the reins of governance and failing miserably to do so is still presiding over the chaos and loss of over 170 human lives and the displacement of, at least, about 70,000 people from their hearths and homes.

When large sections of the Indian populace have all but forgotten Manipur, there are a few brave hearts who believe that discussing Manipur is important so as to allow a sliver of light to filter into what is currently a clouded cloak that shuts out reason and hope. Hence a webinar on the above topic was held recently.

But the thorny question that remains unanswered is – How do we create platforms for societal conversations when the divide between the Kuki-Zo group and the Meitei is unbridgeable? Even those who are supposed to police wrongdoing are caught in a bind as they are overtly partisan towards one community. The Manipur Police has lost its credibility, as it is seen to be a Meitei Police and not the Manipur Police. The Assam Rifles by virtue of having been in Manipur for too long a time has developed familiarity with the Kuki-Zo people and perhaps empathy for them too in the midst of what is a humanitarian crisis of unspeakable proportions.

Representative image of a Manipur Police checkpoint. Photo: X/@manipur_police

The army which is, perhaps, the only neutral force is operating under the aegis of the state security apparatus. But perhaps what rankles the most for all those who have watched Manipur’s descent to chaos is the fact that the man holding the reins of governance and failing miserably to do so is still presiding over the chaos and loss of over 170 human lives and the displacement of, at least, about 70,000 people from their hearths and homes.

Also read: What’s Behind the Manipur Violence and Why Stopping It Poses a Test For Modi

If a state within a federal republic is unable to put a halt to the killing and mayhem for 143 days (as of writing this article), the correct thing to do is to remove him and bring in central rule. This would at least be seen by the Kuki-Zo people as an attempt to heal their wounds. But it appears that the Union home ministry has been indulging in some sort of talks with different groups in Delhi. These talks obviously are not reaching anywhere because what leaders from both communities speak inside closed doors cannot be shared. Once outside, the negotiators have to adopt the correct posturing to convey to their people that they have not given in, nor given away an inch.

Points of conflict

In this bleak scenario, perhaps, the only institution that can bring in a semblance of order is the Supreme Court. There needs to be a Supreme Court-monitored committee with a timeline to study:

(a) The inherent and legacy problems around land, and a clear declaration from the Geological Survey of India as to the mineral resources detected in the Hills of Manipur. This transparency is critical in order to put the lid on all kinds of wild assumptions that fuel fear in one of the groups and opportunism in the other.

(b) The narcotics trade, normally controlled by militant outfits, is a smoke-and-mirrors issue. At the moment, there are only allegations and counter-allegations as to who is actually knee-deep in this multi-crore trade. Why can’t we have clarity on this? Who are the beneficiaries of the drug trade? Here too, we need a completely independent inquiry. Let’s not forget that in February this year, 50 kilograms of opium valued at Rs 10 crore was seized from the secret cavities of a vehicle. The supplier, Loyangamba Itocha, a Meitei, and Ranbir Singh, the buyer, were both arrested near the Badarpur border. This calls out the lie that only the Kuki-Zo are involved in the narcotics trade.

As far as the state is concerned, since the issue of land is at the heart of the conflict, there is an urgent need for a cadastral survey to get a grip on who actually holds how much land in Manipur. In a country governed by a robust constitution, and with protective clauses like Article 371 C, to protect tribal interests, can we have parallel ancestral land-holding systems without any land reforms?

For instance, the Kukis follow two distinct land ownership practices: the traditional and the modern chieftainship. In the traditional system, the chief who usually is the head of the clan (eldest male in the family lineage) owns the whole land in his name. Apart from his own kinsmen, he may allow kinsmen who are not of his lineage or even other clans to settle in his jurisdiction but legal ownership is in his name. He may transfer the land to his younger brothers to establish a new village, but that village will bear the initials of the parent village name.

In the modern chieftain system, the chief allows all the villagers to have legal land ownership documents by giving a no-objection certificate so that the patch of land is registered separately in the name of the occupant/owner within the village jurisdiction. One reason why the affluent Kukis want to settle in Imphal is due to the autocratic traditional system of land ownership where the villagers live at the mercy of the chief at all times. Interestingly, the Nagas and Mizos have abolished the traditional chieftainship system and the land is owned by the community and state respectively. This, therefore, is an issue that the Kuki-Zo people have to resolve.

Local power dynamics

Inequity is the breeding ground for conflicts. How are the power dynamics in Manipur? Who calls the shots? Who is controlling the narrative and the police and administration today? It is naturally the Meiteis since they now have complete control over Imphal Valley. It has been purged of all Kuki-Zo tribals. Recently, a soldier from the Kom (Naga) community living in Imphal was mercilessly killed.

Manipur chief minister Biren Singh. Photo: Twitter/@NBirenSingh

When the rule of law is non-existent and the chief minister of the state does not feel safe to travel to the hills how can anyone speak of bringing peace? Chief minister Biren Singh has lost the confidence of the Kuki-Zo groups. His continuance in office is a sore point for them. Every action of the state government today is viewed with suspicion, especially after senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers of the Kuki-Zo community have been arbitrarily removed from their former positions and given insignificant postings.

There is a sizeable presence of Kuki officers in the Manipur administration. Today, they are unable to join their services for fear of being lynched if they come to Imphal Valley.

The Supreme Court had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to go into the various human rights violations and sexual abuses, but even here a fair and impartial investigation is impossible due to interference by different Valley-based groups. Recently, five youths dressed in camouflage and moving around with arms impersonating the special forces were arrested, and the Meira Paibis (women vigilante) called a 48-hour bandh and resorted to other shenanigans to demand their release. Where is the state in such a situation?

Also read: The Tribal Politics Behind the Manipur Conflict

There is palpable inequity even in the rehabilitation of displaced persons. Meiteis displaced from Chandel and other districts were provided housing in chief minister Biren Singh’s constituency in Imphal. No such efforts were made to rehabilitate the Kuki-Zo groups which are displaced by the thousands.

From all accounts, it appears that the two communities have reached a point of no return. The Nagas, meanwhile, seem to have joined forces with the Meiteis in opposing any settlement for the Kuki-Zos. It’s a case of my enemy’s enemy is my friend. But this bonhomie might last until the Naga Framework Agreement takes effect and new boundary lines are drawn. This will lead to another outburst of dissension. Manipur is, therefore, a cauldron that will continue to brew poison. It would take a high degree of statesmanship to deal with the situation. Politicians are the cause of all dissensions. Looking to them to resolve conflicts – which they are largely responsible for igniting– is a fool’s errand.

And what’s the point in having over 40,000 boots on the ground that are essentially sent to Manipur with their hands tied? It’s a no-win situation anyway as we look at it.

Patricia Mukhim is the editor of Shillong Times.

Normalising the Death of a Free Press

A good chunk of the media is sold out to the establishment while the rest of us seem to have internalised the need to discipline our minds by not offending the power holders because the consequences are fearful to contemplate.

Now that the brouhaha and the noise of the G20 have slowly, but surely, subsided and the applause has ended, it’s time to get down to business, but not in the usual way.

Even while the G20 conclave was ongoing and all media attention was focused on the dignitaries and their excessive displays of affection, Manipur had not ceased to exist. However, its tyrannical distance ensured that it received no attention from the visiting heads of the new ‘Global South’, a term that only geopolitical experts and diplomats can play around with.

To the ordinary Indian these impressive-sounding words are not going to make a dent in their lives. Those at the bottom of the economic ladder live with the bare minimum salaries and have no assurance of where the next meal will come from. This is what’s happening in the relief camps of Manipur, particularly in the hills where rations and essentials through the formal government route have not been arriving as they should.

And look at the media! Did a single one of us ask the prime minister, who otherwise visits the region he calls “Astha Lakshmi” several times during the election season, why he doesn’t care to visit a state in deep turmoil and ruled by his party?

It is strange that the media has no access at all to the prime minister of the so-called “Mother of Democracy”. It is true that a good chunk of the media is sold out to the establishment while the rest of us seem to have internalised the need to discipline our minds by not offending the power holders because the consequences are fearful to contemplate. But how did we arrive at this juncture and where is the spirit to fight the demons that are chipping away at the democratic pillars?

Also read: At Least 194 Journalists Were Targeted Across India in 2022: Report

Manipur’s media coverage

Let’s turn our attention to Manipur and the media coverage from the troubled state. One thing is clear: the mental, emotional, social, and political divide between the tribes, occupying the hills of Manipur and those in the Imphal valley, is complete.

People from the region who flit in and out of these seven states for varying reasons have a better idea of the cultural and ethnic sensitivities as compared to the journalists flying into Manipur from the outside, with tight deadlines to meet.

It also depends who the journalists speak to and whether they have figured out that at this juncture, there is no such thing as a ‘sane’ voice that can give them a non-partisan, objective account of things as they play out on the ground. Talk to one group and it’s their account; talk to the other and it’s their carefully curated narrative.

How can a journalist, without any training in conflict reporting, operate in a region that has never really been psychologically and emotionally integrated with India?

Besides, who really waits for the traditional/legacy media these days? People avariciously consume social media and YouTubers, most of whom present their narratives, often without mediation or language moderation. Reading the news that is edited in New Delhi or elsewhere feels bland to those that have learnt to rely on instant news.

There’s another section of the media that has been told by their editors what to look for and why. In these polarised times, the media has taken a big hit but journalists don’t seem to have the moral courage to fight back.

Several instances of discrimination, but no questions

The ongoing Internet ban is not uniformly applied and seems to favour one group against another. To meet their deadlines, reporters had to go to the IPR office in the Imphal valley to send their news across. This would mean that Imphal still had a semblance of internet connectivity; the hills were completely cut off.

In Manipur, both groups have learnt to control the narratives and project themselves as victims. The reality is that the hill tribes are more badly affected due to logistical disadvantages. They also have no outlet outside Manipur, except through Mizoram, which requires a lengthy drive on what is often referred to as ‘offroad’ terrain.

A noted singer and lyricist, Mangboi Lhumdin, who also was a village volunteer along with four others, died as a result of a bomb attack. Lhumding was taken to Mizoram for treatment but died on the way.

The video of the two Kuki-Zo women paraded naked shook the conscience of this country and the world, but even that was short-lived.

Also read: The Manipur Crisis in Numbers: Four Months of Unending Violence

No G20 member wanted to ask any questions on that horrific video. They were probably all bamboozled to ask only diplomatically correct questions.

Recently, the discrimination meted out to tribal students by the Manipur University was out in the open. Out of 76 students studying Psychology in Rayburn College, Churachandpur, only 10 students passed. After the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) complained to the Vice Chancellor, the results were reviewed and drastically changed within two to three hours. The number of passed students went up from 10 to 41.

The ITLF has asked the University Grants Commission to carry out a comprehensive audit of the results and transfer the tribal students to other reputed state universities. It is evident now that the Kuki-Zo people (students, office-goers, university employees, etc.) will not be able to return to their jobs/university/businesses in the valley.

This brings us to the next question. Will the Imphal valley – which has been a hub of diversity for as long as we can remember – become an exclusive home of the Meteis? Is diversity going to be lost forever? How do people of the same state be divided by barricades and bunkers where each side sees the other as the enemy? Who is going to be the first to smoke the peace pipe?

For now the Nagas are waiting and watching the developments. There is no knowing what the Naga reaction will be if the Kuki-Zo people dig in their heels on the separate administration issue.

Also read: Full Text | Manipur Crisis: Steps That Should Have Been Taken and Should Be Taken Now

The media has forgotten to remind our audience of the torture meted out to chief minister N. Biren Singh’s adviser, a Bharatiya Janata Party Kuki MLA, Vungzagin Valte, who is partially paralysed, per reports. But by far we failed in our journalistic ethics when we reported what Tushar Mehta, the Solicitor General (SG), told the Supreme Court. He said the bodies lying unclaimed in the morgues are those of infiltrators.

How did the SG establish the identity of the dead? Should the media not have questioned that report?

Clearly the media has a lot to answer. Although some sections of the media have provided analytical coverage, offering readers insight into the evolving situation in a conflict-ridden state, which is in a civil war-like situation, where people are caught in the binaries of oppressor and oppressed.

Having spoken with friends from both the hills and the valley, coupled with the facts available, it appears that only a section of extremists from both sides is responsible for waging a conflict that has inflicted immense suffering on thousands.

Writing about the “cultural miasma of fear and exhaustion” in North America, Peter Stockland of the think tank Cardus says this is “producing a cynicism so deep and murky and toxic that it verges on the sin of bearing false witness against reality.”

I believe this is what has happened to the best minds both in the hills and in the valley.

Patricia Mukhim is the editor of Shillong Times.

Note: The article has been edited to to correct the wrong placement of quotation marks in the penultimate paragraph which gave the impression that Peter Stockland was commenting about the situation in Manipur. The final sentence is the opinion of Patricia Mukhim and not of Stockland.

What My Hometown Ayodhya Taught Me About Pseudo-Nationalism

The definition of nationalism has been subtly manipulated into something that suits the political interests of certain individuals.

I was born in Ayodhya, the terrestrial realm of Hindutva ideation and the land recently at the centre of political controversy – the Ram Mandir/Babri Masjid case.

Although I didn’t grow up in the streets of the town, every few years I found myself on the concourse of the amply debated-upon temple. While growing up, I was narrated Ramayana folklore many times. But back then, I didn’t have the slightest idea that my investment in these tales would go on to become the measure of my loyalty and devotion to my country.

Over the years, the more well-versed I became with the facts, the more distanced I grew from the tales I had always listened to with great fascination while growing up under the roof of my practicing Hindu family.

I spent the majority of my childhood in Lucknow. My sense of understanding of religion was always very personal. I never believed in unrealistic conjectures revolving around fables, and no one in my family ever forced me to do so.

Something I couldn’t have fathomed was that a few years down the line, my religion would be used as a weapon against something as basic as my right to express my beliefs. The definition of nationalism has been subtly manipulated into something that suits the political interests of certain individuals. Any person who isn’t perceived as being an ardent follower and unquestioning worshipper of the Hindutva ideology is conveniently labelled ‘anti-national’.

This chauvinistic branding of Hinduism stems from the minds of those self-aggrandising individuals, who have morphed the organic connotation attached to nationalism by associating it with Hindutva extremism. Quasi-nationalists are running this brigade of patriots, who have somehow marred the line between one’s religious beliefs and their love for their motherland. Anyone whose ideologies do not not align with or are against these radicals, is denounced as being against the country itself.

If refusing to support the dogmatist agendas of a particular ideology makes me anti-national, then so be it.

No longer will I be worried of being erroneously referred to as someone who hates my own country just for critiquing of someone’s religiously fundamentalist approach to running the government. It’s a shame the sanctity of popular religious sentiments is being exploited by several self-proclaimed nationalists for their own political gains.My allegiance to my homeland may be questioned, but I have come to realise that when you ask the right questions, the ones who feel threatened have no choice but to resort to such detrimental arguments.

Also read: My Friends Call Me ‘Anti-National’ – Here’s Why I Don’t Mind

Despite hating to have to wake up early, I was always was up before the sun rose on Independence Day just to witness the celebrations. My heart still wrenches every time I read about my people bleeding. The only difference between my sentiment of nationalism and that of the extremists’ is that I never learnt to differentiate between the blood of Hindus and Muslims.

If being impartial while asking for equal treatment for everyone makes me anti-national then that is who I am.

In the last few years, as the claws of extremism penetrated the essence of my already deteriorating faith, I ascertained that this wave of religious fanaticism would have been more appropriate as a relic of a bygone era. The presence of it is alarming enough, but what is more reprehensible is the fact that so many people go along with it without registering the underlying motives of pseudo-nationalists.

The insensitivity towards minorities that has been created needs to be addressed and eliminated. Those who have been neglected for far too long need to be acknowledged and the intolerance for any opposition to merely exist needs to be contained. Only then can we have a real conversation about nationalism.

Aditi Yadav is a Media student from the University of Delhi. She is a trained classical dancer, an earnest reader, a passionate writer, a refined swimmer and a wanderer by spirit. She is a curator of thoughts and a humanitarian by heart. She spends her weekends volunteering to raise funds and find homes for animals.

Featured image credit: Reuters

P A Sangma, the Man Who Would Be President, Is No More

He had great plans for his home state Meghalaya but despite his popularity, found it difficult to deal with hard politics

File picture of former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma

Purno Agitok Sangma, who passed away on Friday at the relatively young age of 68, was a political legend whose name every resident of Meghalaya knows for the way he struggled his way up from Chapathi village in the West Garo Hills all the way to becoming the presidential candidate of the opposition in June 2012. Sangma knew that the Congress Party which once groomed and nurtured him was a formidable foe and that his candidature was doomed; but he knew the symbolism of the contest and didn’t flinch from it.

Sangma cut his teeth in the Congress party where he became the vice-president of the state Youth Congress in 1973, two years after the state of Meghalaya was born. Known as the protégé of Meghalaya’s first chief minister Capt. Williamson Sangma, he went on to become general secretary of the Congress in 1975 and fought the 6^th Lok Sabha election from Tura constituency. So successful was he that it became his pocket borough. He was first elected MP in 1977 and he never lost an election since. He was MP for nine terms with a brief stint in state politics between 1988-1990 and 2008-2012. In between, he had served as a minister under Rajiv Gandhi.

When PA Sangma entered state politics, he did not understand the pitfalls that awaited him. He tried to cleanse the system of the politician-contractor-engineer nexus which resulted in payment of huge compensation for land acquisition for road building purposes. He famously declared that he was appalled that the compensation paid for the land far exceeded the cost of the road.

In fact at one time he said that villages that wanted roads should be ready to donate land to the government. As chief minister, Sangma held weekly meetings where he took stock of every department. He knew what each department did or did not do. This did not go down too well with his ministerial colleagues or indeed with the babus in the secretariat.

Grand plot against him

A grand plot was hatched to overthrow him and some of his own colleagues in the Congress were party to this diabolical power game. Sangma’s government lost its majority and a regional party led-government was formed in 1990. So disillusioned was he with state politics that he resigned his MLA seat and went back to Central politics, where he distinguished himself as the much respected Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1996-1998. In 1999, Sangma was among those who left the Congress on the issue of Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origins and was part of Sharad Pawar’s new outfit, the Nationalist Congress Party.

He returned to the state in 2008 to contest as an NCP candidate. Sangma not only won but also ensured that 14 other candidates won from his party, but regional forces did not agree on making him the CM. This was another blow. Nevertheless, he worked tirelessly to prepare a plan document for Meghalaya after consulting experts from various fields including the famed economist and former Planning Commission member Dr NJ Kurian.

The government he was part of was toppled yet again in 2010, this time by the Congress. The present chief minister of Meghalaya, Mukul Sangma was always his bête noire. Their rivalry was visible even within the house and the media had a field day with captions like “Sangma versus Sangma.”

For all his idealism, PA Sangma also had his weaknesses. He pushed his children into politics, thus creating a dynasty. His childdren Conrad, who graduated from the Wharton School of Business in the United States, James and daughter Agatha were all brought into politics; in the case of the Agatha, it could be said, much against her natural inclination. Conrad Sangma was the state’s finance minister between 2008-2010 and proved his mettle but lost the 2013 elections. His brother James Sangma continues as MLA in the opposition.

The only members of the family to have stayed out of politics are PA Sangma’s wife, Sarodini and his eldest daughter Christie, an architect living in Australia with her husband, a doctor.

Much has been written about PA Sangma’s tenure as the Lok Sabha speaker. In a very amiable yet stern way, he was able to control the boisterous Lok Sabha MPs. Many of his erstwhile Congress friends and colleagues are convinced that had Sangma not abandoned the party he would have risen very high in the government and might have even become the consensus candidate and the first tribal to be considered for the post of president.

It was his political naïveté that pushed him into agreeing to join the anti-Sonia campaign in 2004 – a campaign that saw him break with Pawar. At the time when the plot was hatched, there were several senior Congressmen who egged him on to lead the charge. He trusted them and even believed that Sonia Gandhi would yield to pressure from within the party and step down voluntarily. But the NCP split and the UPA government saw Pawar as a senior minister even as Sangma remained outside, despite returning to the NCP in 2005. Some of the senior members of the Congress who are still with the party virtually let him down. But that is politics. Sangma could not read the signs of the times.

Much later he even aligned with the BJP, taking their support as he stood against Pranab Mukherjee for the post of president. He had to leave the NCP again, and lost, but continued to nurse the fond hope that the BJP would award him with a ministry considering his vast experience. That hope remained a dream that was never realised.

AFSPA is Not the Only Way to Tackle Insurgents in Meghalaya

Why is the state relying on this colonial and draconian act when there are many other ways to deal with terrorists?

Chief Minister Mukul Sangma inaugurating a project in Garo Hills

On November 4, a three-judge bench of the Meghalaya High Court asked the Central government to impose the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in the militancy-afflicted Garo Hills districts of the state. The court observed that Central government could enforce AFSPA in the Garo Hills region in order to deploy the armed forces to aid the civil administration to maintain law and order. It said the imposition of AFSPA would be only for the purpose of enabling the civil authorities in the state to effectively deal with militancy so that there would be rule of law. Since then, several civil society groups have objected to the High Court’s observations.

Who is funding terror?

The question to ask is why has the situation in the Garo Hills taken a nosedive? When militancy in Assam, particularly in Bodoland, is largely under control, when the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) is in talks with the Centre, when militancy in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills was brought under control, why is it that the Garo militants remain intransigent? What or who is fuelling their continued acts of terror? Why is the state government unable to act decisively to tame these militants?

This is an answer that only the political establishment can give. Many of them had been hand in glove with militants, using them to win elections. Now these Frankenstein’s monsters have begun to bite their masters.

The high court has correctly observed that law and order needs to be urgently restored in the Garo Hills, but it is fair to ask if AFSPA is the only solution. This is an issue that needs urgent debate. The court order is an indictment on the state government, which has miserably failed to tackle militancy there. But this peremptory order has triggered sharp responses from human rights groups such as the Asian Human Rights Council and others including some local NGOs of the Garo Hills.

It is an indictment of this country’s establishment that an oppressive act like AFSPA continues to be used against it own people and I say this because this provision allows the state to get away with grave human rights violations, including rape and torture and killing by the armed forces. That in 21^st century India AFSPA is still proposed as a solution for restoring the rule of law also reflects the convoluted thinking in the judiciary.

Naturally, the Meghalaya High Court ruling has come as a thunderbolt. AFSPA is unlikely to achieve better results than a coordinated counter-insurgency action that is sharp, quick and can hit the militants where it hurts them most. Their sources of funding need to be blocked and there are ways of doing so. Their access to arms must also be blocked. The chief minister of Meghalaya, Mukul Sangma has blamed the porous border with Bangladesh which allows militants to make a quick escape and bring in arms. He has in fact thrown the ball in the Centre’s court ,asking it to seal the borders urgently.

The situation in the Garo Hills has turned so vicious that civil society voices have virtually been silenced. In this murky and complex situation, the court order has only created greater unease. The Meghalaya High Court needs to read the documents that keep track of abuses by security forces in states where AFSPA is in force and correct its erroneous stance.

Patricia Mukhim is a Shillong based journalist

ABVP Activists Vandalise Don Bosco’s Statue in Guwahati

Locals are shocked at this display of bigotry and communalism in a largely tolerant society

The Salesian Priest Don Bosco (Courtesy : Instituto Maria Auxiliadora)

Ever since the Modi-led NDA government was installed in the seat of power in May 2014, cultural and moral policemen have been on overdrive. I wonder if they know that among tribals, cohabitation is no taboo and consensual sex, whether inside a home or hotel, is no one’s business but theirs. It is shocking to read that hotels in Mumbai were raided to catch couples who choose to go there. What is happening to this country? There are so many criminal activities that go unnoticed, some happening under the very nose of the police but they have no time for real policing work because their bosses direct them to become protectors of people’s morality.

Not long ago came the beef ban. As people whose staple source of protein is beef, we were shocked at this ban on beef. That was when people realised that many more shocks were in store for them. Then pornography sites were banned. Some hack, taking a dig at the Modi Government said, the government actually wanted to ban pork but got the last alphabet of the spelling wrong. What next is what everyone wants to know.

Now let me come to a more sinister story. The Salesian congregation, who are followers of Saint John Bosco, (popularly known as Don Bosco), an educator and friend of the youth, wanted to install a statue of their founder – whose bicentenary year they are celebrating – at Bharalumukh, Guwahati on August 7. The statue was set up late on August 6 and was to be unveiled by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi the next day. Early on that day some student union members of Cotton College Guwahati and members of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students’ wing of the BJP, vandalised the statue, bringing it down and pushing it to the river. The statue was damaged, and so was the cultural thread of the city.

Many from the city, including parents of students and invitees who attended the Don Bosco bicentenary function at Don Bosco School, Panbazar on Saturday evening, spoke with concern at this painful development which threatens to create a religious divide. Those invited to speak on the occasion, and they included the Power Minister of Assam, Pradyut Bordoloi said, “We hang our heads in shame at what happened yesterday. Assamese society has always been tolerant of divergent views and religious practices. Now we are seeing religious polarisation from close quarters.”

Bosconians upset

Many Bosconians (those who passed out from Don Bosco institutions) have expressed their anxiety on social media. Never before has communal politics sullied social relations. The arrest on Saturday of four people including a BJP woman councillor, Sunita Bhilwaria and her husband, for questioning, indicates which way things are going. Hindutva hardliners are spreading their toxic tentacles in the North Eastern region, which is already fragmented by ethnocentrism and divided along tribal lines. Religious polarisation will further divide the polity and also create a fear psychosis among the tribes about whether they are living in a secular society or whether they will now have to conform to food and other social habits that are alien to them.

Incidentally, Union Power Ministe, Piyush Goyal had come to Guwahati on Saturday, August 8 to inaugurate the Don Bosco bicentenary educational seminar. He could not have been ignorant of the events of the previous day which were orchestrated by his party confreres. That this was not made an issue at the seminar is a measure of the large-heartedness of the Salesians who have learnt to serve with dignity and grace in the midst of all kinds of stormy circumstances.

A section of social media activists who are obviously extreme rightist in their views have been spewing venom about why Don Bosco’s statue should be put up in the city when other statues of icons like Dr Bhupen Hazarika or other Assamese saints and heroes are yet to be installed. The counter question to these persons is, ‘but who is preventing you from putting up those statues?’ Should the government be spending its waking hours thinking about statues instead of cleaning up the filth in Guwahati city?

Some with a streak of vengeance even questioned what the contributions of Don Bosco, an Italian, to Assamese society and culture have bee? One even commented that Sonia Gandhi must have ordered Tarun Gogoi to install the saint’s statue, an obvious allusion to Congress politics being the agenda behind the statue. These ideologues are perhaps ignorant of the vast contributions made by Don Bosco institutions across Assam and the North East. One of the most progressive private universities in the region – the Don Bosco University – is coming up in a 250 acre plot in Assam. Obviously it will serve the educational needs of the region. But bigots refuse to see the bigger picture. They are hell bent on accusing Don Bosco institutions of trying to convert people even though this is not borne out by evidence.

Fundamentalism not a good sign

Don Bosco educational and skills building institutions (the first version of polytechnics) are spread across 132 countries and serve at least 15 million people worldwide. Everywhere they are given due respect including even in Communist-ruled Tripura, where a statue of Don Bosco was set up recently to commemorate his 200^th year. Religious fundamentalism of the kind propagated by the BJP and its youth brigade does not bode well for the region. People have to fight these tendencies before they lose their right to speak up and speak out. For the Salesians of Don Bosco, tomorrow is just another day of service to the youth of Assam and this country. They have been magnanimous and said, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” Alas things are no longer so innocent in this country. We are losing our freedom inch by inch and we do not even realise it.

The writer is Editor of the Shillong Times

Shillong Mourns the People’s President who Died There

A report from the North Eastern city where Dr Kalam was much liked and remembered

Rocketman, scientist, thinker and a man of the people (Photo: Tulane Public Relations)

Shillong: On Monday evening, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was trudging up the steps of one of the lecture rooms of IIM Shillong to deliver a lecture on his favourite topic: Creating a more liveable planet. An IIM professor who was on his way out crossed him at about 6.10 pm. “Dr Kalam was heaving and seemed to have difficulty climbing the stairs to the classroom where the senior batch of management students (2014-16) was waiting for him to deliver his lecture”, the professor told this writer.

Inside the class, at about 6.40 pm, the former President collapsed, causing a great deal of consternation among students who otherwise have always seen him hale and hearty. He was immediately shifted to Bethany Hospital, which is barely two kilometres away from IIM Shillong. Dr JL Sailo, the CMD of Bethany Hospital said his team of doctors found no pulse when Kalam was brought in at about 7 pm.

Nevertheless the cardiac specialists from the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health & Medical Sciences (NEIGHRIMS) and the Military Hospital were immediately called to try and resuscitate Kalam who was admitted to the ICU, but it was a vain effort. He had passed on.

IIM Shocked

A shocked IIM Shillong held a condolence meeting at 10.32 pm on Monday evening. For the students and faculty the loss is irreparable.

Social media was flooded with heartfelt condolences remembering the People’s President who will now forever be associated with Shillong.

“Henceforth people will not mistake Shillong for Ceylon. Thank You Sir APJ Abdul Kalam. You have redefined the Indian map and lived your best moments here.” – R Marwein

And now India will Google, “Where is Shillong?” #RIP Dr Kalam – Kynjaimon Amse

Nobody believes the President of India would visit an unknown remote village called Bunglon in Manipur and nobody believes a highly celebrated former President would pass away in remote Shillong. Such is the legacy of the People’s President, APJ Abdul Kalam. Unbelievable! – Roel Hangsing .

For us here, Kalam’s death exposed the shallowness of the so-called national media which despite its clout failed to make this their big breaking news. This writer had put up the details regarding Kalam on her Facebook page only to be told by some media persons in Guwahati that she should not spread rumours. The ‘national’ media were in a flap since none of them had a Shillong correspondent of their own and local media persons refused to speak to them without any official confirmation from government sources. Bethany Hospital is a private hospital and had to maintain some protocol.

But Shillong will no longer be mispronounced or misspelt. Thank You Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. May you continue to teach us through your wonderful books and memorable speeches.

The writer is Editor of Shillong Times