Patricia Mukhim
SIXTY years in the life of a nation is an important milestone. India at 60 is poised to be a world leader which has gained preeminence as an emerging economic giant. The journey has not been smooth or uneventful. Storms and stresses, bloodshed and violence are pockmarks in the annals of our history. Although each storm is weathered, not by statesmanship or any genius of statecraft but by the irresolute will of the people, they have left an indelible imprint in the hearts and minds of those who were unfortunate to be at the wrong place and time when the tide of communal violence took its toll like a raging tornado.
Media houses must do their bit to jog people’s memories about this 60-year expedition. Statements and words of wisdom and some filibustering mainly from India’s political class and the articulate “elite” will form the substance of many a talk show. The poor will continue to wallow in their hapless existence, living off tall promises with very few actually taking responsibility to make their lives easier. India proudly proclaims its nine or 10 per cent growth rate but this password is available to less than 200 million Indians. The remaining 800 million continue their struggle for survival with a meagre Rs 20 per day wage. They cannot afford two full meals a day, leave alone a nutritious one.
So who will deliver this destitute population living under blue plastic-sheeted roofs which you see from a flight that lands at Sahar airport in Mumbai or from a helicopter carrying the high and mighty who have an aerial view of the devastating floods in Bihar and Assam? VIPs and their perfunctory visits create confusion because security forces go into overdrive to protect them. They tread on the poor who live by the roadside, also under plastic sheets because their homes have gone under water. Even the plastic sheets are hard to come by as there are more people than there are sheets. Was it Indira Gandhi who said, “The meek will inherit the earth but not the headlines”? Yes, the headlines today are gobbled by those who matter and who make India matter; those who can afford to raise a toast to this country because it has joined the nuclear super league, even if the deal has churned up such bi-partisan bile in an already fractured political formation.
It would have been good if the pulse of every Indian were to beat in unison in hailing the 60th birthday of the nation. Unfortunately, Tagore’s prayer, “Where the mind is without fear/And the head is held high/Where knowledge is free... Into that heaven of freedom/My father let my country awake”, is still a dream. Many will get their mukti or azadi only after they breathe their last and enter the pearly gates of heaven. Then all differences will melt into nothingness and being “Indian” will no longer be a compulsion since heaven has no nationality.
Coming closer home, what could this 60th anniversary mean for us in the North-east? There are ethnic groups and newly evolved communities here who are yet to identify themselves as “Indians”. They continue to strive for a nation-state of their own definition and consider India only a “close neighbour”. We may lampoon this idea and term it a delusion of grandeur but all Nagas swear by the Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim, continue to celebrate their own Independence Day on 14 August every year and pay their taxes faithfully to this government since it is the only institution they respect.
Over the years the North-east has been the guinea pig of fallacious policy prescriptions from a Centre that has not understood the heartbeat of this region. When you invest in the wrong things you get twisted results. India has never been shy on hyperbole when it comes to suggesting remedies for the North-east. The region too is conditioned to live on this placebo which comes in reinvented prime ministerial packages. The current hype which has raised the hopes of the North-east is India’s Look East Policy. We are cajoled that the North-east would gain from the spinoffs of India’s trade with South-east Asia. The moot point is whether India is serious about this. Hopes were raised that Myanmar is supplying gas to India and the pipelines would traverse through the North-eastern states. Now we are told that Myanmar has had a change of heart and is selling the gas to China. What do you call this? Another instance of a failed foreign-cum-commerce policy? Again, the much hyped plans of developing the Kaladan waterway of Myanmar to link up with Mizoram, and also development of Sitwe port as a commercial outlet are probably languishing in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Extrapolations from scholars of South-east Asian politics inform us that the Myanmarese are not enamoured with the tardy implementation of bilateral trade agreements with India. China, meanwhile, puts it money where its mouth is. While India recognises China’s aggressive South-east Asian policy, its own priorities appear blurred. This incoherence could further retard the economic progress of India’s North-east as the region is landlocked and unable to find viable markets for its natural resources. The Look East Policy with its options of renegotiating border trade and creating other viable linkages would have given the North-east a new confidence and cut its dependency on Central government dole.
Addiction to Central government funds has crippled the region. What can a region celebrate when even after 60 years of independence the people still lack the basic ingredients that make life worth living. The public distribution system is a dismal failure leading to seasonal famines because subsistence agriculture is no longer sustainable. Farmers are advised by policy planners and their horticulture missions to grow fruits instead or rice. When the fruits are harvested they become the personal responsibility of the growers. No one cares if the fruits rot for want of processing units, cold storages and market linkages. A desperately disempowered farmer with no options short-sells his produce and sinks under a debt burden. Still, no one cares. The farmer in this region has no voice, no constituency and no representative.
Sixty years have gone by but roads are a luxury afforded only by residents of state capitals. Villages languish without such basics as water and sanitation. Health care is accessed only by those with income to visit private doctors and hospitals. Most primary health centres are without doctors and medicines. Pregnant women still die during childbirth because health centres are inaccessible. The human development index of the North-east reads like that of Sub-Saharan Africa. Without being alarmist, the NFHS survey II shows Meghalaya’s Infant Mortality Rate to be as high as 89 per 1000 live births. The Maternal Mortality Rate does not appear in the official statistical data but hovers around 45 maternal deaths per 1000. Figures in the other states vary only very slightly.
In a region isolated from the mainland, this feeling of remoteness is accentuated by the lack of air and train connectivity. What we call roads are mere patches of stones coated with slush. Engineers in this part of the world do not know the meaning of “all weather roads”.
It is sad that one should list these failures on an occasion of national pride and celebration. But to sweep these ills under the carpet would be an exercise in self-deception. One wishes to shake off these feelings of pessimism, but how? A nagging thought is whether India does indeed have the best interests of the North-east in its mind. Perhaps, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could give us the answer. After all, he represents this very backward part of the universe called “India”.
(The author is a Shillong-based columnist and activist, and can be contacted at patricia17@rediffmail.com.)
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Source: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=14&theme=&usrsess=1&id=166768
SIXTY years in the life of a nation is an important milestone. India at 60 is poised to be a world leader which has gained preeminence as an emerging economic giant. The journey has not been smooth or uneventful. Storms and stresses, bloodshed and violence are pockmarks in the annals of our history. Although each storm is weathered, not by statesmanship or any genius of statecraft but by the irresolute will of the people, they have left an indelible imprint in the hearts and minds of those who were unfortunate to be at the wrong place and time when the tide of communal violence took its toll like a raging tornado.
Media houses must do their bit to jog people’s memories about this 60-year expedition. Statements and words of wisdom and some filibustering mainly from India’s political class and the articulate “elite” will form the substance of many a talk show. The poor will continue to wallow in their hapless existence, living off tall promises with very few actually taking responsibility to make their lives easier. India proudly proclaims its nine or 10 per cent growth rate but this password is available to less than 200 million Indians. The remaining 800 million continue their struggle for survival with a meagre Rs 20 per day wage. They cannot afford two full meals a day, leave alone a nutritious one.
So who will deliver this destitute population living under blue plastic-sheeted roofs which you see from a flight that lands at Sahar airport in Mumbai or from a helicopter carrying the high and mighty who have an aerial view of the devastating floods in Bihar and Assam? VIPs and their perfunctory visits create confusion because security forces go into overdrive to protect them. They tread on the poor who live by the roadside, also under plastic sheets because their homes have gone under water. Even the plastic sheets are hard to come by as there are more people than there are sheets. Was it Indira Gandhi who said, “The meek will inherit the earth but not the headlines”? Yes, the headlines today are gobbled by those who matter and who make India matter; those who can afford to raise a toast to this country because it has joined the nuclear super league, even if the deal has churned up such bi-partisan bile in an already fractured political formation.
It would have been good if the pulse of every Indian were to beat in unison in hailing the 60th birthday of the nation. Unfortunately, Tagore’s prayer, “Where the mind is without fear/And the head is held high/Where knowledge is free... Into that heaven of freedom/My father let my country awake”, is still a dream. Many will get their mukti or azadi only after they breathe their last and enter the pearly gates of heaven. Then all differences will melt into nothingness and being “Indian” will no longer be a compulsion since heaven has no nationality.
Coming closer home, what could this 60th anniversary mean for us in the North-east? There are ethnic groups and newly evolved communities here who are yet to identify themselves as “Indians”. They continue to strive for a nation-state of their own definition and consider India only a “close neighbour”. We may lampoon this idea and term it a delusion of grandeur but all Nagas swear by the Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim, continue to celebrate their own Independence Day on 14 August every year and pay their taxes faithfully to this government since it is the only institution they respect.
Over the years the North-east has been the guinea pig of fallacious policy prescriptions from a Centre that has not understood the heartbeat of this region. When you invest in the wrong things you get twisted results. India has never been shy on hyperbole when it comes to suggesting remedies for the North-east. The region too is conditioned to live on this placebo which comes in reinvented prime ministerial packages. The current hype which has raised the hopes of the North-east is India’s Look East Policy. We are cajoled that the North-east would gain from the spinoffs of India’s trade with South-east Asia. The moot point is whether India is serious about this. Hopes were raised that Myanmar is supplying gas to India and the pipelines would traverse through the North-eastern states. Now we are told that Myanmar has had a change of heart and is selling the gas to China. What do you call this? Another instance of a failed foreign-cum-commerce policy? Again, the much hyped plans of developing the Kaladan waterway of Myanmar to link up with Mizoram, and also development of Sitwe port as a commercial outlet are probably languishing in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Extrapolations from scholars of South-east Asian politics inform us that the Myanmarese are not enamoured with the tardy implementation of bilateral trade agreements with India. China, meanwhile, puts it money where its mouth is. While India recognises China’s aggressive South-east Asian policy, its own priorities appear blurred. This incoherence could further retard the economic progress of India’s North-east as the region is landlocked and unable to find viable markets for its natural resources. The Look East Policy with its options of renegotiating border trade and creating other viable linkages would have given the North-east a new confidence and cut its dependency on Central government dole.
Addiction to Central government funds has crippled the region. What can a region celebrate when even after 60 years of independence the people still lack the basic ingredients that make life worth living. The public distribution system is a dismal failure leading to seasonal famines because subsistence agriculture is no longer sustainable. Farmers are advised by policy planners and their horticulture missions to grow fruits instead or rice. When the fruits are harvested they become the personal responsibility of the growers. No one cares if the fruits rot for want of processing units, cold storages and market linkages. A desperately disempowered farmer with no options short-sells his produce and sinks under a debt burden. Still, no one cares. The farmer in this region has no voice, no constituency and no representative.
Sixty years have gone by but roads are a luxury afforded only by residents of state capitals. Villages languish without such basics as water and sanitation. Health care is accessed only by those with income to visit private doctors and hospitals. Most primary health centres are without doctors and medicines. Pregnant women still die during childbirth because health centres are inaccessible. The human development index of the North-east reads like that of Sub-Saharan Africa. Without being alarmist, the NFHS survey II shows Meghalaya’s Infant Mortality Rate to be as high as 89 per 1000 live births. The Maternal Mortality Rate does not appear in the official statistical data but hovers around 45 maternal deaths per 1000. Figures in the other states vary only very slightly.
In a region isolated from the mainland, this feeling of remoteness is accentuated by the lack of air and train connectivity. What we call roads are mere patches of stones coated with slush. Engineers in this part of the world do not know the meaning of “all weather roads”.
It is sad that one should list these failures on an occasion of national pride and celebration. But to sweep these ills under the carpet would be an exercise in self-deception. One wishes to shake off these feelings of pessimism, but how? A nagging thought is whether India does indeed have the best interests of the North-east in its mind. Perhaps, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could give us the answer. After all, he represents this very backward part of the universe called “India”.
(The author is a Shillong-based columnist and activist, and can be contacted at patricia17@rediffmail.com.)
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Source: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=14&theme=&usrsess=1&id=166768
