The last educated man from South – The controversy monger

Samarjit Kambam *

V Shanmuganathan addressing 13th session of 10th Manipur Legislative Assembly on February 19 2016 :: Pix - DIPR

Seems like the Governor of Meghalaya in the flesh and blood of Mr V Shanmuganathan (now resigned) is a guy at the wrong time and place. During his short stint as Governor of Manipur, he had already created a ruckus during the grand inaugurations of two institutions – Manipur University of Culture in tandem with Manipur State Film and Television Institute at Palace Compound, Imphal on 12th of August 2016 as the Chief Guest by his invitation for 100 words on the definition on ‘Culture’ which was an open and disgraceful challenge against the various eminent personalities congregated there as well as to the whole people of Manipur.

Everybody is unique in one way or the other. A dumb and dumber person may possess some set of skills which a highly educated one doesn’t. Being a governor of a state doesn’t necessarily imply that he is omnipotent and all knowing.

It was a show of pride with ego getting the better of him and unfortunately he could not control his egoistic impulse on that august gathering comprising of the incumbent Chief Minister of Manipur and a host of distinguished personalities and many cosmopolitans from the state.

His invitation for 100 words on the definition on ‘Culture’ and having a cup of tea with him to the one giving the best answer has short-circuited the turn of events into an uglier one. His bizarre action took everyone by surprise. He may be highly educated but the knowledge inculcated in his brain was used in an improper and precarious way.

Course, getting the privilege of having a cup of tea with the governor, considered as First Citizen of the state is a matter of great honour. But who the heck would want to have a cup of tea with a character like him for the people of Manipur had taken him to be more illiterate than an illiterate person.

Well, he came, lost his dignity (his own doing) and left Manipur. With knee-jerk speculations, he was taken more like a monster lurking in a dark alley. After his short stint of cameo appearance as Governor of Manipur, he was recalled as Governor of Meghalaya which he earlier was.

To the people of Manipur he was more of a liability than an asset and his return journey to Shillong’s Raj Bhavan was taken as good riddance by all and sundry. In fact, his personality may be taken as dry as a skunk. A perfect mix of high degree of expletives would act as right modifiers to define his persona and ring his name.

As though not satisfied with his fetish for loss of dignity in Manipur, he as Governor of Meghalaya has created another ruckus not expected from a person of the chair he sits on. There also he portrayed a vast spectrum of various odd and unpalatable activities. Instead of being a shark among scurrying fishes, he was hanging by the second’s needle as though the voice his sanity has bade farewell to him. Seems like his FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) from controversy is deeply ingrained in his blood.

In Raj Bhavan at Shillong, Mr V Shanmuganathan, a former RSS (Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangh, a moral policing unit of BJP) had created another storm, a storm of scandal big enough to render himself from his governorship. Reason? Making Raj Bhavan of Meghalaya into a “young ladies club”, making it a place where young ladies come and go at will on his direct orders with many of them ladies having direct access to his bedroom.

Mixing business with pleasure? He has destroyed the sanctity of Meghalaya’s Raj Bhavan and tainted its image. At age 67, his impulse had got the better of his professionalism. That’s why many staff working in Shillong’s Raj Bhavan wrote to the Prime Minister and President of India for his removal from the chair of Governorship of Meghalaya. A Madras University Gold Medallist who often claims to have dedicated his life to the nation and always talks like a patriot on being motivated by Swami Vivekananda and RSS ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay turned out to be a person of split person personality with negativity getting the upper hand. Swami Vivekananda must be steering in his grave at his shameful act.

Besides tarnishing his image, he has tarnished the image of RSS, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena & BJP. Quoting a woman who had applied for the job of a Public Relations Officer (PRO), local media had reported that he had hugged and kissed her during the interview. The memorandum of the Raj Bhavan employees cites of incident of a nurse being harassed when she was in the Raj Bhavan on night duty.

Although he denied all the charged labeled against him, President Pranab Mukerjee accepted his resignation which shows that things had gone quite deep. The angst and hatred towards him by the people of Meghalaya is quite palpable and hanging thick in the air as per comments made by National Commission for Women, Meghalaya wing. If those were true, then he had desecrated and compromised the sanctity of Raj Bhavan of Meghalaya.

As a result, there are demands galore for inquiry against his behaviour which is very lewd of a Governor of a state. He is also taking charge of Governor of Arunachal Pradesh. After the inquiry, if the charges heaped against him turn out to be true, he cannot be considered as First Citizen of Arunachal Pradesh but a sub-standard degenerated human. Heaven knows what he would be brewing up at Arunachal Pradesh also.

Better that the central government deploy him somewhere else, far away from North Eastern region of India because he doesn’t fit within the perimeter of this particular region. In fact, he may be considered as the last educated person from South India.

People learn a lot from their mistakes but it seems like mistakes are learning a lot from this guy.