‘It is doubtful if the people of Arunachal Pradesh understand the basic ideology of the BJP’

Thankfully some wisdom has dawned on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre. The bill banning cow-slaughter has been pushed into the freezer for the time being. The BJP is certainly in a dichotomous situation. On the one hand it has to please its strident frontal wings — the RSS, the VHP et al. On the other the party is conscious of the fact that it needs to first get a toehold, then a foothold and lastly a stronghold in the northeastern states. And these are the states where beef is a staple.

Voices of protest from the Northeast must surely have reached the ears of the BJP leadership in Delhi. Any attempt to stubbornly pursue the cow issue at this point is as likely as hell to boomerang very badly on the party. Strategically, it needs to tread more cautiously and not bulldoze its policies on the northeastern polity, a polity that is already so estranged from mainstream attitudes, such as imposing uniformity of culture. The BJP should not forget that the food habits of the ethnic communities of the region are themselves a unique culture. At the moment the BJP’s sensibilities towards the region seems to have been fine-tuned. Putting off the cow issue now is a gambit for greater gains in the forthcoming polls. Moreover, this is a crucial moment for the party as it seeks to establish a single-party rule in Arunachal Pradesh with 36 legislators going saffron.

BJP poll plan

Political destabilisation of states not ruled by the BJP will be the gameplan between now and the crucial Lok Sabha polls. Sadly, the impact of this destabilisation process is nobody’s concern. Unlike other bigger states where governance is more or less corporatised and much work is established by multi-lateral lenders/donors; in the Northeast there is over-dependence on the government for all development schemes. Meghalaya chief minister D.D. Lapang once addressing a public gathering said, “No government can work if the ministers do not have their hands free. Their hands are not free because they are all the time holding fast to their chair lest someone takes it away from them.” This is not just Lapang’s misgivings but the eternal predicament of governments in an evolving democracy like ours.

Because of political uncertainty, no government has the stamina to exert its political will. Decisions that are good for the polity in the long run have to be aborted under so-called public pressure. What is public pressure anyway? Are they voices of protests from a few interest groups? Only when wide consultations and public hearings have taken place and a consensus for or against an issue emerges can governments be sure of what the consensual thinking is. For instance, in Meghalaya the government is trying to push through an ordinance called the Meghalaya Maintenance of Public Order, which puts a cap on bandhs and hartals of any kind, making them illegal instruments of protest. By coincidence or otherwise, a cabinet discussion on the ordinance came on the eve of the proposed bandh by the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU). The students’ body wants to register its protest against the harassment of innocent villagers in West Khasi Hills by the Achik National Volunteers’ Council (ANVC) militants.

Rumblings in MDA

The proposed ordinance has already caused rumblings within the six-month-old Meghalaya Democratic Alliance. Two legislators of the KHNAM (KHNAM is the party spawned by the KSU before the last election) who are part of the Lapang ministry, Paul Lyngdoh and Lamphrang Malngiang, have vociferously protested outside the cabinet, thus causing Lapang some embarrassment. They did not show up for the cabinet meeting that pushed through the ordinance. Voices of dissent have surfaced within the government. They feel that the two KHNAM ministers should be dropped for defying the cabinet and taking the issue to the public domain. Such rumblings are fertile grounds for political adventurers. Sensing that the non-Congress coalition of forces could become a threat to the Lapang ministry, the Congress is trying to create rifts within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and wooing their legislators with plum posts. Conversely, the NCP is also trying to woo Congress wannabes with promise of the chief minister’s post. All these power games, I am sure, have the blessings of the high commands in Delhi.

Both in Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh the political chessboard is very busy at the moment. Considering that no man is yet born who can do two things — play political games and push developments programmes — at the same time the latter is bound to suffer. In such situations things usually remain in a state of suspended animation. A region already steeped in backwardness because of its inability to adequately absorb central funds will be pushed further down the development index. Who then is to blame here?

Centre’s strategy

The Centre always lays blame for under-development or lack of development in the region on the state governments. However, leading personalities in the Union government are not averse to creating political conflicts in the Northeast for their own gains. Recently, on my way to Delhi, I met a huge contingent of MLAs from Arunachal Pradesh at the Guwahati airport. They were on their way to the national capital not for garnering more funds for their respective ministries but political confabulations and to strike a deal with the BJP leadership for the marriage of convenience in their state. One only wonders at whose expense they travelled to Delhi and back. Will the BJP high command summon to Delhi legislators from different states, who have an itch to topple popularly-elected governments? Did the people of Arunachal Pradesh repose their faith in the BJP in the last elections? Certainly not. But our political system is such that legislators have no compunction about embracing any party so long as they get plum portfolios in the ministry.

Arunachal debate

It is doubtful if the people of Arunachal Pradesh understand the basic ideology of the BJP. It is no way near to the ideology of the party/ies they had elected in the last election. But do the people have any rights at all to decide whether they want the BJP or not. Choices dictated by the whims and fancies of their elected representatives are foisted upon them and they can do nothing. This is where some independent citizens’ forum needs to be created in the region. Just because a large number of the people of Arunachal Pradesh are illiterate does not mean that they can be taken for granted. If MLAs could have their way they would be pleased if the people did not ask uncomfortable questions. Hence, as far as they are concerned ignorance of the people is a better weapon to manipulate their minds and wills.

The way things are moving now one is unsure about the commitment of the NDA government to solve the ongoing socio-political conundrum in the region. The Centre is itself unsure how to treat rebel leaders like Thuingaleng Muivah and Isak Chisi Swu. These two men have been pushing India to toe their line. They have invariably decided where the next meeting should be. When they last visited New Delhi they were treated almost like heads of state of some sovereign nation, accompanied by an entourage of government leaders. This is confusing to say the least. Is the confusion created intentionally? Or is it a lack of foresight and hindsight? Or is it merely a drama for political expediency of the BJP?

The Northeast can no longer be a political chessboard for powerful players to amuse themselves. This region needs to come into its own because it has the expertise, the resources, the skill and even the manpower to do so. It needs to transform itself into a corporate entity like Andhra Pradesh (but without its poverty and its farmers’ suicide stories) and hard sell its potentials to the outside world so that it does not need to depend too much on Union government largesse. As long as governments here function like minions of the Centre they will be manipulated like puppets. If only the political class learn to come out of this mindless subservience!