Chamber choir gives balm to Meghalaya in turmoil (2010 in Retrospect)

SHILLONG - Political turmoil, corruption and a spurt of violence dominated Meghalaya throughout 2010. But the chamber choir music of Shillong’s young talent brought some cheer to the state in distress.

Like in the previous year, Meghalaya witnessed another change of guard April 20 when Mukul M. Sangma was sworn in the 20th chief minister. Sangma replaced veteran Congress leader D.D. Lapang.

Sangma, a medical practitioner, said: “Stability can be achieved only if we share the common objective of serving people in the truest sense of the term, with a sense of commitment, dedication and most importantly a sense of sacrifice.”

Corruption was another issue which hit the headlines.

The Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report accused 15 legislators and two Meghalaya assembly secretariat staff members of producing fake expenditure bills to claim an extra Rs.1.67 crore on a day’s study tour of the British Parliament in 2006.

The one-day tour later turned out to be a 10-day jaunt to Holland, France and Italy.

Another major scam, which hit the headlines, was the Rs.9 crore worth supplies of substandard corrugated galvanized iron sheets unearthed by the Meghalaya Right to Information Movement.

Three women — Fatima Mynsong, Acquiline Songthiang and Matilda Suting — exposed the anomalies in the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Jongksha village by filing a Right to Information application.

However, the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Meghalaya separately convicted seven people, including a retired Indian Revenue Service official and a Supreme Court lawyer for their corrupt practices.

The disputed India-Bangladesh border in the southern part of Meghalaya witnessed a series of unprovoked firings resorted by Bangladesh Rifles (now renamed Border Guards of Bangladesh) on Indian villagers - the last being BDR’s disruption of the joint Indo-Bangla border survey from Dec 13.

Like on the international border, Meghalaya witnessed indiscriminate firing also by Assam Police which killed four and injured many others at the disputed Langpih village on the Meghalaya-Assam border.

The vexed inter-state dispute is yet to be ironed out even though the two states have discussed the issue several times.

Meghalaya also witnessed opposition from Garo tribals for the proposed exploratory drilling for uranium inside the ecologically-fragile Balpakram National Park (BNP) in South Garo Hills district, bordering Bangladesh.

However, the central government set 2012 as the year to start the $240 million Kylleng Pyndengsohiong Mawthabah (KPM) uranium mining project in Meghalaya’s West Khasi Hills district.

The central government and the outlawed Achik National Volunteers Council (ANVC) started their political dialogue for creation of Garoland Territorial Council in Meghalaya’s Garo Hills region, But the law and order situation in Garo Hills witnessed a spurt of violence from the Garo National Liberation Army, led by Champion R. Sangma, a deputy superintendent of police who turned rogue.

Champion’s insurgents have been involved in killing, kidnapping and sending extortion notes to politicians, government officials and businessmen.

But the state police in their battle against the militants also attained good results with GNLA general secretary Gregory A. Sangma and Liberation A’chik Elite Force (LAEF) chairman Dimrim N. Sangma giving up their armed rebellion against the state.

The banned Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council’s (HNLC) general secretary Cherishstarfield Thangkhiew also expressed the desire to hold a dialogue to solve all problems of the tribal Hynniewtrep community.

The HNLC, which staged hit-and-run operations from its hideouts in Bangladesh for over two decades, has been demanding a sovereign Hynniewtrep homeland in eastern Meghalaya.

Another important highlight of 2010 was that the Meghalaya government scrapped the British-era Police Act of 1861 and replaced it with the Meghalaya Police Bill, 2010.

Even as the Congress-led government passed the Meghalaya Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Bill, 2010, declaring shutdowns “illegal” and “unconstitutional”, the state witnessed series of agitations launched by school teachers demanding payment of their pending arrears.

A month later, students of the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) demanded a tribal vice chancellor for the varsity in place of the incumbent A.N. Rai.

After much of disappointment through the year on many fronts, Meghalayans became proud of their state and talent when Shillong Chamber Choir made a record of winning India’s first gold at a choir Olympics at Shaoxing in China.

The group, further hit the headlines when they won the final of reality TV show “India’s Got Talent Khoj 2″ in October and performed for US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama at a banquet hosted by President Pratibha Patil in the Mughal Gardens of the sprawling Rashtrapati Bhavan in November.