Mike Sangma
On any given day, on any of India’s mainstream newspapers, the dead and the dying across India are just numbing figures. Just take a glance at 10th June, front page of TOI, the days Sonam along with others were on transit remand to Shillong: ‘8 falls of Thane local train, 4 dead’; ‘Dad and brother held for killing Gurgaon executive’; ‘2 Friends ran over by tractor in Noida’; ‘1 Cop killed in IED blast in Sukma’. According to some estimates about 27,000 people die every day in India or about 1 death every 3 seconds.
(TOI Tuesday, June 10, 2025)
But when Indore honeymooning tourists go missing and found dead, accusations, insinuations, racial slurs and plain contempt on the people of Meghalaya came down harder than even Cherrapunji’s monsoon downpour.
‘No publicity is bad publicity’, they say. Thank God, this Sonam lady has given Meghalaya the national exposure which no amount of advertising money would have provided. Now the entire India knows the state and that we were in no way responsible for the gruesome killing.
Never in Meghalaya’s history has the entire boisterous national media brigade landed in Shillong in such a horde. Just days ago, these were the same bunch insinuating, maligning, accusing Meghalaya of the crime. Having worked with biggest networks like Times Now, Network18 and TV Today Group, I get that they were just doing their job with predetermined editorial lines in Noida offices. But the damage was done.
But how can the state’s tourism milk a mileage out of the crisis? First priority, create a sleek 30 second TV commercial and get it broadcast for one month on all TV news channels for free. Approach the News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDA) to air it as a reparation for damaging Meghalaya’s reputation. NBDA has all the news channels listed as members. If they are not complying, threaten them with defamation. I am sure they can guilt trip into airing the spot. Second, catch hold of all the influencers who have defamed the state and ensure that they too comply.
The state tourism department has to do it now. Every crisis is an opportunity. Remember, news cycle are notoriously fickle and are dramatically short. Post Operation Sindoor, Meghalaya Police’s Operation Honeymoon had the good fortune of not being interrupted by any major news break. We are a country of 1.46 billion people and there is no dearth of tragedies. Any major news break like the Air India tragedy and Sonam would be just a footnote killer in the nation’s news consciousness. Carpe diem, therefore ‘seize the day’. Hit while the iron is hot. Bounce back me must and bounce we will.
However, on a long term, there are more fundamental issues that will have to be sorted out. The state will have to ensure safety and security of guests, better and more infrastructure has to be created. As someone who has been fortunate to see the length and breadth of this beautiful country, our region is way behind in terms of tourism infrastructures.
I have been fortunate enough to travel across the length and breadth of this country and see how fortune India is to be so diverse and yet we all take pride in calling ourselves Indians.
For any average Indian traveler, especially from the northern belt, Uttarakhand or Himachal is the default choice. Dotted with roadside ‘Pure Veg’ dhabas serving aloo paratha with white butter, mango achaar and chai being the staple traveler’s diet. In the mountains, it’s the exorbitantly priced Maggi noodles. With all kinds of hotels along the highways, even a non-planned midnight drive could land you in the cold mountains in few hours. Goa used to be the default benchmark for beach lovers.
There is an interesting phone conversation of Sonam and her mother-in-law, where she was referring to her fast or ‘Vrat’ and the lack of suitable food available for a fast-observing person in Sohra. Indian fasting rituals are so elaborate and complicated. Monday’s for Lord Shiva, Tuesday’s for Lord Hanuman, nine day fasting on Navratri… Dietary rituals are even more complicated. Some don’t eat garlic-onion, for some meat is a complete no but egg is yes. For an average Northeasterner, who can hardly differentiate between ‘Veg and Non-Veg’ Food, the idea of fasting by choice is almost unimaginable. Few Catholics fast once a year on Good Friday. I don’t know of any Protestants who fast for religious reasons. Therefore, the ability to comprehend and cater to mainstream food-palate will never be there. And that is alright and that is the beauty of this diverse country of ours.
From that perspective, only the seasoned and discerning travelers would muster a courage to plan a trip to Meghalaya or any part of the region. But thanks to the mesmerizing Living Root Bridge, breathtaking Laitlum Canyon and lately the misty Wari Chora, for some time now Meghalaya has branded itself as the ultimate veritable tourist paradise. Many bought the oversell and rightly so. Every Tom, Dick and Hariharan social media influencers reinforced the imagery with their sleek reels and immersive drone footages. This seems to be working. And according to some estimate, a record breaking 16 lakh tourists visited the state in 2024.
I am sure the Sonam syndrome is going to be a windfall for Meghalaya tourism. But remember, once you open the floodgate you also open Pandora’s Box of tourism related occupational hazards.
I am not being racist or regionalist but let’s face the facts. Indians in general are not the best ambassadors of conscious, clean and sustainable travels. Often, they are brass, entitled and plastic littering bunch. Look at Shimla-Mussoorie. Over tourism has killed those beautiful hill stations. Overcrowding, traffic congestion, unsustainable infrastructure and ecologically dangerous hotels and home-stays that are constructed on the Himalayan mountains that would crumble even under minor seismic activity. Unpredictable rains have created havoc, annually washing away roads, houses and hotels. Whether we like it or not, climate change is on an irreversible path.
So, is tourism a panacea to some of Meghalaya’s economic backwardness and unemployment? Not really. Despite being India’s top mountain destination, agriculture, particularly horticulture, still holds sway in Himachal Pradesh as the top revenue generator.
On the issue of why did media and social media influencers were quick to jump the gun to pronounce Meghalaya guilty. Let’s not kid ourselves. If you peel the layer deeper, it comes from some deep-seated fears and biases. And many of these insinuations were coming from those who were personally connected to the state and have experienced those fears in some form or the other. Many of the murmurs came from Bengalis, Nepalese and Punjabi community, some of whose lives were intertwined with our history.
We are all victims of history. Post independence, many of the tribes of Northeast India had difficulty aligning themselves to the idea of Indian federation due to historical, social and racial disconnect. Till late 1980’s and early 90’s ‘We are Nagas and not Indians’ would be first intro line for every Naga youth. Similarly, much of the communal tensions in Shillong in the 80s and the 90s has the underlining theme of ‘Khasi by blood; Indian by accident’.
Somewhere, around the turn of the millennium, things began to change. Many more young people started studying in different Indian cities, started working in international BPOs, shopping malls and showrooms, every service sector began to be staffed by young faces from the region. Many young people especially from Manipur wanted to escape the drudgery of insurgency and ethnic tension of the period. I think this was the tipping point. Many wanted to be a part of a vibrant growing India. For the first time, the Northeasterners wanted to be accepted and acknowledged as Indians.
Irony, however, was that many in the mainstream were not ready for the sudden surge of a demography that were vastly different from themselves. There were cases of racial discrimination and violence. A 20-year-old Nido Taniam from Arunachal was beaten to death in Delhi in 2014. Similar cases were reported in other parts of the country. The issue gained so much attention that till today, Delhi Police has Special Police Unit for North-Eastern Region.
For a country like India, integration will always be work in progress and two or more way process. If it’s racial slur against the Northeast today, tomorrow it is the language row in Karnataka. India is like the boisterous media we harbor – loud, brass, unapologetic. Until then every Indian needs to pass the ‘Media Trial’ by fire and move on.
Mike Sangma is a Delhi based former journalist and media professional. He writes on various social issues and is also keen observer of economic and geopolitical issues. He is a post graduate alumni of Indian Institute of Mass Communication and holds MBA from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.
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(The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of Hub News)
