P A Sangma fondly remembered on his 76th birth anniversary

Tura, Sept 1: The 76th birth anniversary of Garo Hills most famous statesman and political leader Purno Agitok Sangma was celebrated with rich floral tributes by thousands of his supporters and a special programme was held at Tura district auditorium to remember him with an array of intellectuals and academicians witnessing a scintillating talk by one of India’s most prolific journalists Shekhar Gupta.

The founder, editor in chief of The Print, India’s fastest growing digital news platform known for its non-hyphenated journalism, Shekhar Gupta was on his first ever visit to the Garo Hills and was the guest speaker for the 7th P A Sangma Memorial Lecture on the theme “What politicians can teach us about leadership and management”.

“We have never really had a national tribal leader because usually tribal leaders end up being leaders of their own tribe. They don’t become national leaders who speak for tribal rights and others across the country. But Purno Sangma was different,” said Shekhar Gupta before a jam packed district auditorium that was brimming with educationists, intellectuals, well-wishers and supporters of the late P A Sangma.

Meghalaya Chief minister Conrad K Sangma, his brother James, sister and Tura MP Agatha K Sangma and their mother and widow of Purno Sangma, Mrs Soradini K Sangma attended this special event with their families.

Earlier, in the morning, the family visited the Tura catholic cemetery to light candles and pay floral tributes on the grave of Late P A Sangma.

“He (Purno) rose to that national stature and was continuing to rise. I felt India finally had a pan-national tribal leader in Purno Sangma who would be recognized even by the tribals of east central India where there are a lot of economic distress and problems including naxalism. Purno Sangma would have filled that gap or void. Because none of us saw him just as a leader of the north east, or only of the Garos. But his passing away was a loss to India and its tribal community. Even till today India does not have a pan national tribal,” laments Shekar Gupta who has covered the North East from as early as 1981 when he was the correspondent for The Indian Express based in Shillong.

Gupta reminds the gathering that India is the only country in the world with the highest tribal population. Eight percent of India’s population or 12 crore people happen to be tribals in our country.

Turning to Late Sangma’s daughter Agatha who has been representing the Tura Lok Sabha seat after her father for three terms, Shekhar Gupta said, “Agatha has big shoes to fill” given the stature of her late father.

Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma termed his father’s legacy as one that always put his people first.

“He will always be known as a leader who put his people first. This was the guiding principle that influenced all of his decision making , and through these principles, he influenced my siblings and I to join politics,” said Conrad Sangma.

“He is more than the infrastructures built in his name, his way of ;life, his ethics and values will forever immortalize his memory in our hearts and guide us in our journey,” added the chief minister.

Role of Tribal leaders in transforming India

The role of tribals like Late P A Sangma or for that matter another tribal leader Jaipal Singh Munda have had a lasting impact on the country, Shekhar Gupta recalls.

While Purno Sangma made north east proud with his leadership roles, he was also the first and perhaps only Speaker who successfully tamed unruly MPs during Parliament Sessions.

“Purno was by far the most effective Speaker of Parliament,” he said.

As a speaker Purno Sangma knew the vast powers wielded by the chair and he put it to good use. Some MPs like Pappu Yadav and others were very vociferous in stalling parliament, but Sangma was able to discipline them, either through cajoling or threat of eviction. The eviction of Mamata Bannerjee from the house for repeated disruptions is one example of how Sangma used his power to bring decorum to the house.

“Like Sangma there is also another tribal leader to whom we owe gratitude that the country did not become a country with universal prohibition. Jaipal Singh Munda was a tribal leader from Ranchi in Jharkhand who was adopted by a Christian missionary family and went on to complete his education from one of England’s top universities. Munda was selected to join the prestigious Indian Civil Services (now IAS) but rejected it to become a hockey player. He went on to be part of the Indian hockey team at the Olympics where India won its first ever gold medal. Till date, every hockey team representing our country is represented by tribals from the east central part of India (Jharkhand).

By virtue of his success on the field, Munda was selected to be a member of the Constituent Assembly that was drafting the country’s constitution.

“There was a debate in the Constituent Assembly on whether India should become a universal prohibition country. It was Munda who stood up and said you cannot have universal prohibition because for us tribals it’s a way of life, its not necessary a vice. You cannot impose your way of life on us. So, in a lighter mode, we owe it to a tribal who saved us from the tyranny of universal prohibition because we know that it has not worked anywhere in the world,” remarked Shekhar Gupta.

‘Regret Purno didn’t become first tribal leader of India’

A consensus that eluded political parties across the political spectrum led to India missing out on having its first tribal president more than a decade back.

Shekar Gupta recalled the building up of the political battle for India’s next president- the 13th president in 2012 with the ruling Congress pitting its senior leader Pranab Mukherjee against the united opposition candidate Purno A Sangma.

“I regret, Purno Sangma did not become the President of India because he would have perfectly fitted into that role and brought about a change. But at that time Pranab Mukherjee was having internal issues within the Congress,” mentions Shekhar Gupta giving an indication as to why the Congress high command was keen to push out their rebel leader into the presidency.

Rest of India needs to stop looking at North east as just a piece of territory

Shekar Gupta says if India needs to remain united than the rest of the country must stop looking at the north east as just a piece of territory.

“Rest of India needs to give up that insecurity they have of the north east and stop treating it as just a piece of territory. Assam is the pivot around which all of the north east works and I believe if India is to ever break up it will start from the north east,” warns Shekhar Gupta.

He added that the one plus point for the country is that everyone in the north east feels very well connected to India and that should be worked upon to bridging the gap.

“People from rest of India needs to come more often to the north east and see for themselves the way of life,” said Gupta and mentions how the north east is now a major human resources centre with thousands of young men and women working in some of the biggest cities of the country in fields ranging from technology and communication, among others.

He also cited the impact people from the north east has had on the rest of the country and mentioned that the biggest journalist of the country- Arnab Goswami hails from the north east.

Also Read: Conrad urges people to continue PA Sangma’s legacy by following his principles and values

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