Meghalaya governor quitting over sex scandal is uncommon in India
In India, we have made an uneasy peace with political scandals (read graft exposés), but our love for a sensational tabloid story will hardly let allegations against Meghalaya governor V Shanmuganathan go unnoticed.
While everyone was busy debating free speech (the lack of it in present-day India) and the much-palpable patriotic-moralistic hypocrisy, the murmurs in Meghalaya almost went unheard until the staff decided to send a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It was truly unprecedented. Probably for the first time in the history of independent India a person holding one of the highest offices in the country has been forced to step down after his staff members (of Raj Bhavan) revolted against him following allegations of sexual harassment.
 |
| Image: Facebook |
Although the authenticity of the letter or the allegations are yet to be verified, the charges against Shanmuganathan are unsettling reminders of the horrors that plague public offices. How people occupying positions of power abuse their authority.
Shanmuganathan was appointed as the governor of Meghalaya on May 12, 2015, after the state was without a permanent governor for over four months.
In a country where the gubernatorial office has mostly become a post-retirement (from active politcs) reward for high-profile acolytes after their parties fail to accommodate them in the cabinet with every change in state/national governments, no one really ever bothered to know about Shanmuganathan or his "activities".
When he took oath of office, the regional units of the BJP in the Northeast glossed over his credentials. Shanmuganathan, who also holds additional charge of Arunachal Pradesh, is a veteran RSS (joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 1962) leader who later joined the BJP and served in many party positions.
He was also in-charge of the defence, research and documentation and overseas friends of BJP cells.
Interestingly, the BJP leader is also described by his loyalists as a prolific writer, who has written three books relating to "culture and social aspects" in Tamil.
In the Northeast though, Shanmuganathan is infamous for his "cultural knowledge". While holding the additional charge of Manipur governor, he had asked a few well-known cultural personalities from Manipur to write a 100-word definition on culture and they will be rewarded with the honour to have tea with him in the governor's residence.
Noted Manipuri filmmaker Aribam Syam Sharma, in an open letter to him, termed his request as a case of "culture shock". "At least, the shock was on our part. The culture, the milieu which has shaped your excellency’s tastes and sensibilities are markedly different from the culture of Manipur, it seems," he wrote in the letter. Following the controversy, the Centre had removed him from Imphal Raj Bhavan within a few days.
Notwithstanding his "credentials", the crisis in Meghalaya will have wider repercussions for the BJP government in Centre.
It is believed that the BJP after its spectacular win in Assam last year, have been trying hard to "do an Arunachal Pradesh" and topple the Congress government in Meghalaya. Just when the Lotus finally bloomed in Arunachal Pradesh and a Manipur election coming, Shanmuganathan controversy is certainly not something that the saffron party was looking to address.
Perhaps one more reason why despite a letter to the prime minister, there has been no word on the matter by the PMO or anyone else in the government so far.
Here is the full text of the letter:
Respected Hon’ble Prime Minister,
We would like to draw your kind attention to our grievances against the Governor of Meghalaya, Shri V. Shanmuganathan. We feel, he is demeaning the position of the Head of the State. He is rude, arrogant, temperamental, and untruthful. Above all, he has seriously compromised the dignity of the Raj Bhavan and unfortunately made the Raj Bhavan into a “Young Ladies Club”.
We would like to clarify at the onset that we are not interested in his personal life, but when his activities hurt the decorum and prestige of the Raj Bhavan as well as the sentiments of the Raj Bhavan employees who are very much attached to the Raj Bhavan, it becomes our concern. From the time he has taken over, the employees are going through severe humiliation, mental stress and torture.
To prove the above allegations, we will later give certain facts with papers and photos which we believe will convince you of our charges against the Governor.
1. He is in the habit of telling lies. For example he went around telling people that he was alongside our great leader, Former President of India, Late APJ Abdul Kalam during his last breath in Shillong, but in reality he was sleeping in his bedroom and only after the call from the Hon’ble Prime Minister made him run to Bethany Hospital, Shillong, although, he was advised to visit Late APJ Abdul Kalam earlier. This is just an example; there are many such instances.
2. He shunted the Principal Secretary to the Governor overnight, who had an impeccable integrity and strong moral character, because he was not supporting the Governor in his nefarious activities.
3. After the Principal Secretary to the Governor was removed, he has turned the VVIP’s dining room (a very old historical room with a rich legacy) into office and made the incumbent Secretary to sit there and has reshuffled the staffs from the Governor’s Secretariat and made only all the young girls from the Secretariat to work for him. He has transferred his own Private Secretary, who is a male, to the Governor’s Secretariat when he should be attached personally to the Governor.
4. The newly appointed Secretary to the Governor does not take any interest and hardly attends office. When some of the lady staff members went to this Secretary to complain against the Governor’s activities and misbehaviour towards them, he simply turned a deaf ear.
5. The Governor insulted, humiliated and psychologically tortured officers and staffs of Raj Bhavan, Meghalaya to such an extent that the then Deputy Secretary after being severely insulted and humiliated on 28.10.2016, he suffered from brain stroke in the office during office hours and had to be put on Intensive Care Unit & Life Support immediately at Woodland Hospital after the incident and he later succumbed in the hospital on 3.11.2016.
6. It is pertinent to mention that when the Late Deputy Secretary was struggling for life at the hospital, a lunch party was organised by the Governor for the employees of Raj Bhavan on the very next day, i.e., the 29th October 2016 wherein half of the employees did not take part due to the grief and sadness of the ill health of the Late Deputy Secretary. After his death when the Governor visited the hospital he was more interested in taking Photos and showed no grief.
7. He has distrust towards the Raj Bhavan employees and appointed three Assam rifles uniformed personnel. He has kept them to look after the kitchen, garden and office, even though we have our own Under Secretary to look after the office, Comptroller of Household to look after the functioning of the main building and Horticulture Development Officer to look after the garden, who are all very efficient officers. This shows that he does not trust any staff of the Raj Bhavan who have been working for years with the former Governors and never such thing has ever happened in Raj Bhavan in the past.
8. Due to the virtual absence of the Secretary to the Governor, and with no Deputy Secretary, the ADCs to the Governor are having a free run and there is no check on them. They are arrogant and boss over other employees and use filthy language which is resented by the staff. The Under Secretary, who should be controlling the staff, has been completely sidelined.
9. We can perhaps tolerate all this, but the worst problem is that the Raj Bhavan has now under this Governor become a place where young ladies come and go at will with direct orders from the Governor. The security of the Governor’s house is also being seriously compromised. It is well known that many of these ladies have direct access to his bedroom.
10. The ADC’s to the Governor also know about all the activities happening inside the Raj Bhavan, but they too have turned a blind eye towards the ongoing activities.
11. After his taking over the following appointments were made:
(i) Smti X1 (name removed to protect identity), a lady from Chennai appointed as Personal Cook.
(ii) Miss X2 (name removed to protect identity), from Jorhat, Assam appointed as Personal Assistant and then was given the post of PRO.
(iii) Both the above employees apart from their salary are, as per directions of the Governor, provided with free lodging, food, laundry services, toiletry items, vehicles, and stays in Raj Bhavan as can be seen from the attached photos/videos whereas they are not entitled to such facilities.
(iv) X2’s relatives and friends, mostly young ladies, are entitled to the same facilities and such visits are quite frequent.
(v) Raj Bhavan already has a permanent medical set up with a doctor and two assistants. Additionally a nurse for day duty has been appointed by the Governor. Recently, he has appointed a private nurse on night duty also.
(vi) From 15th to 25th October, 2016 a lady so-called nurse was provided free stay, food etc., and finally left as it is alleged that the Governor misbehaved with her at night. Other so-called lady nurses also stayed at Raj Bhavan at different points of time.
(vii) It is also worth mentioning that whenever the Governor is on Tour outside the State, he is accompanied by Miss X2, except surprisingly for his visit to his home town Chennai. When Miss X2 is not accompanying the Governor on his tour she is enjoying holidays at her hometown, Jorhat, Assam. Further, Miss X2 has no office as she works from her bed room which is attached to the Governor’s bedroom, named “Rilang” and handles his Facebook Account and other social sites accounts.
(viii) When this Governor was incharge Governor of Manipur, X2 used to accompany the Governor to Imphal and stay in the same room with the Governor in Raj Bhavan, Imphal.
(ix) The Governor’s immoral activities in relation to women is well known and can be verified from the staffs of Raj Bhavan, Shillong, the staffs of Meghalaya House, New Delhi and Meghalaya House, Kolkata.
(x) On 7th November, 2016, when the 10(ten) female candidates came for their first interview for the posts of PRO, they were surprised to see that only female candidates are being called and when they inquired about it and raised suspicion only after that the next day i.e. 8th November, 2016, five male candidates were called only as a formality. Out of the five, 2(two) male candidates were selected for the next interview just as an eyewash.
(xi) Attached herewith is the newspaper clipping of Highland Post dated Shillong the 24thJanuary, 2017 under the heading............“Meghalaya Governor accused of ‘molesting’ job candidate.”
The above information are true and are not baseless. We the Raj Bhavan Staff fully support the news.The activities of the Governor are known among the Political and bureaucratic circles in Shillong apart from the media. We expect the Hon’ble Prime Minister to take action and remove the incumbent Governor of Meghalaya and restore the dignity of Raj Bhavan, Shillong, Meghalaya.
Yours sincerely,
Staff of Raj Bhavan, Meghalaya
Shillong
Copy to:
1.The President of India, Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi - 110 0012.
2. The Hon’ble Home Minister of India, New Delhi.
3. The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Shillong.
4. The Chief Secretary, Government of Meghalaya, Shillong.