Manipur News

By Manas Maisnam
I came to know from a social networking site a few months back that every year, 13th of August is observed as “International Lefthanders Day”. Frankly speaking, I have heard of Valentine’s Day, Friendship Day, Youths’ Day etc.; but Lefthanders Day? Never had I heard or was aware about it. Being a left-handed person, I felt extremely delighted that one day in a year is designated by the left-handed community to highlight problems, inconveniences and sometimes prejudices, we encounter in a world which is predominantly comprised of right-handed populace. It is a well known fact that almost exactly 10 percent of the world’s population is left-handed and why left-handed persons are in such minority is still an unsolved mystery.

Till date, there has been no satisfactory explanation on why the right hand became the dominant hand for majority of mankind, or how a person becomes either right-handed or left-handed. Many interesting and thought-provoking theories have been postulated by experts, but none of them are able to give a conclusive proof/ reason to why humans are predominantly right-handed. Whatever may be the reasons, it is accepted that being either right-handed or left-handed also largely depend on the surrounding environment one grows up, apart from other factors like genetics, hereditary, birth defects etc.  As for example, my son, who is a normal right-handed boy has become a “lefty” as far as usage of computer mouse is concerned. Ever since he started using my laptop a few years ago, he didn’t change the side on which the mouse was kept (I keep it on the left side). Instead, he clicks the mouse with his left hand. Now, he is not conversant in using the mouse with his right hand. I even observe that he moves the mouse to left   side, if he happened to use someone else’s computer!

Out of the many tests used by experts, two simple tests will be helpful in ascertaining the handedness of a person. Firstly, a left-hander will tend to draw a side profile picture facing right, while a right handed-person will draw it facing left. Secondly, a left-hander will draw a circle in anticlockwise direction as compared to a right-handed person, who will draw it in clockwise direction.

The prejudice against the left-handers has been in existence throughout the history. Till not so long ago, left-handers were stigmatized and oppressed owing to socio-religious reasons. In ancient times, left-handers were denounced as servants of devils. Many negative aspects of human life were made to be associated with the left hand. In our country, the left hand is considered to be “impure” and one is not supposed to touch food, sacred objects with left hand. In some other parts of the world, women were not allowed to use their left hand during cooking, fearing the food might be poisoned by sorcery. Only a few decades ago, in Japan left-handedness in wife was enough ground for divorce! During Victorian period in England, left-handed students were forced to write with right-hand. Women, who are so called ‘weaker sex’ (though personally I don’t subscribe to this concept), are described in our own parlance as “Oigee Lamdang Oibee” and the males, who are supposed to be ‘superior’ are described as “Yetki Lamdang Oibaa”. At social or religious functions, the place for women is on the left side of their male counterparts. There is no need to elucidate on which hand is given more prominence vis-à-vis the preceding two phrases and description.

According to some study, forcefully changing the inborn left-handedness of a person due to societal prejudices might lead to depression, introversion etc. owing to overburdening of the non-dominant part of the brain as the dominant part of the brain remains unchanged even if the handedness is changed. But a voluntary change of handedness doesn’t appear to lead to such consequences. On National Geographic channel, I once saw a programme where a right-handed woman, who was a squash player, voluntarily participated in an experiment to study the effects of change in handedness. In the experiment she had to change herself to a left-handed woman within one month. Initially, she faced trouble performing daily activities or hitting the ball with squash racquet. But as time progressed, her capability to use left hand gradually improved. Even her reflex actions became oriented towards left hand. By the end of the month, left-handedness improved and could even play squash with her left hand. There were no negative impacts on her mental health owing to the changeover of the handedness from right to left.

My grandfather and his two brothers are left-handers. During my childhood, I heard stories about how their elders restrained their left hands and forced them to pick up morsels of food by right hand. Tearfully, they complied and thus, outwardly became right-handed persons, but their inherent left-handedness still remains for they use the left-hand while performing day to day works. Thankfully, for me there was no pressure to change the use of my hand and I eat, write and draw with my left hand. However, in deference to religious customs, I use my right hand while offering/ picking flowers or offering money at religious functions. I manage to do it somehow with some tacit support from my left hand!

A left-handed, or southpaw person has to face many a practical difficulties and inconveniences while performing day to day activities. This stems out from the fact that almost all the tools, machineries and gadgets used in our daily life or for educational purpose are manufactured to suit its usage by right-handers, who are 90 percent of the total global population. During my student life, using a burette in Chemistry laboratory was a bit problematic, because the tap was placed on the right side with the graduation marks facing the user. If I had to use the burette, controlling its tap with my left hand then, the burette had to be turned the other way round. In that case, the graduation mark was away from me and I had to look around to get the reading. Such problems occurred with a mini drafter too. In fact, during my college days, my mini-drafter was placed during drafting classes only for cosmetic purpose. I hardly used it. Even taking lecture notes in a classroom filled with writing pad chairs was also quite troublesome. As the pad was fixed on the right side of the chair, I had to drag in another empty chair and keep it at my left side to keep my notebook. But if the classroom happened to be fully occupied then I was left with no other option but to twist my torso and write on the notebook placed on the right side. There are many other tasks in everyday life which a southpaw person finds it hard to perform owing to the non-conformity of the tools with his handedness; for instance, pulling a generator’s cord. Most of the modern gadgets have their buttons and knobs on the right side and when used by a left-hander, it is bound to create some difficulty.

Acknowledging these practical difficulties faced by the southpaw community, a shop at London is selling products designed especially for left-handers. They range from scissors to cameras. Even the clock on sale in the shop moves in anticlockwise direction with the hourly markings as mirror image of the conventional clock!

In conclusion, we the left-handed community should not feel inferior to others or embarrassed on account of our handedness. Nature has meant us to be left-handed and we should respect it. Parents should not try to force their left-handed children to change the handedness.  Despite all odds and challenges, we should look at life through a positive prism and try to get maximum advantage from it.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/08/a-lefthanders-musing/

By Manas Maisnam
I came to know from a social networking site a few months back that every year, 13th of August is observed as “International Lefthanders Day”. Frankly speaking, I have heard of Valentine’s Day, Friendship Day, Youths’ Day etc.; but Lefthanders Day? Never had I heard or was aware about it. Being a left-handed person, I felt extremely delighted that one day in a year is designated by the left-handed community to highlight problems, inconveniences and sometimes prejudices, we encounter in a world which is predominantly comprised of right-handed populace. It is a well known fact that almost exactly 10 percent of the world’s population is left-handed and why left-handed persons are in such minority is still an unsolved mystery.

Till date, there has been no satisfactory explanation on why the right hand became the dominant hand for majority of mankind, or how a person becomes either right-handed or left-handed. Many interesting and thought-provoking theories have been postulated by experts, but none of them are able to give a conclusive proof/ reason to why humans are predominantly right-handed. Whatever may be the reasons, it is accepted that being either right-handed or left-handed also largely depend on the surrounding environment one grows up, apart from other factors like genetics, hereditary, birth defects etc.  As for example, my son, who is a normal right-handed boy has become a “lefty” as far as usage of computer mouse is concerned. Ever since he started using my laptop a few years ago, he didn’t change the side on which the mouse was kept (I keep it on the left side). Instead, he clicks the mouse with his left hand. Now, he is not conversant in using the mouse with his right hand. I even observe that he moves the mouse to left   side, if he happened to use someone else’s computer!

Out of the many tests used by experts, two simple tests will be helpful in ascertaining the handedness of a person. Firstly, a left-hander will tend to draw a side profile picture facing right, while a right handed-person will draw it facing left. Secondly, a left-hander will draw a circle in anticlockwise direction as compared to a right-handed person, who will draw it in clockwise direction.

The prejudice against the left-handers has been in existence throughout the history. Till not so long ago, left-handers were stigmatized and oppressed owing to socio-religious reasons. In ancient times, left-handers were denounced as servants of devils. Many negative aspects of human life were made to be associated with the left hand. In our country, the left hand is considered to be “impure” and one is not supposed to touch food, sacred objects with left hand. In some other parts of the world, women were not allowed to use their left hand during cooking, fearing the food might be poisoned by sorcery. Only a few decades ago, in Japan left-handedness in wife was enough ground for divorce! During Victorian period in England, left-handed students were forced to write with right-hand. Women, who are so called ‘weaker sex’ (though personally I don’t subscribe to this concept), are described in our own parlance as “Oigee Lamdang Oibee” and the males, who are supposed to be ‘superior’ are described as “Yetki Lamdang Oibaa”. At social or religious functions, the place for women is on the left side of their male counterparts. There is no need to elucidate on which hand is given more prominence vis-à-vis the preceding two phrases and description.

According to some study, forcefully changing the inborn left-handedness of a person due to societal prejudices might lead to depression, introversion etc. owing to overburdening of the non-dominant part of the brain as the dominant part of the brain remains unchanged even if the handedness is changed. But a voluntary change of handedness doesn’t appear to lead to such consequences. On National Geographic channel, I once saw a programme where a right-handed woman, who was a squash player, voluntarily participated in an experiment to study the effects of change in handedness. In the experiment she had to change herself to a left-handed woman within one month. Initially, she faced trouble performing daily activities or hitting the ball with squash racquet. But as time progressed, her capability to use left hand gradually improved. Even her reflex actions became oriented towards left hand. By the end of the month, left-handedness improved and could even play squash with her left hand. There were no negative impacts on her mental health owing to the changeover of the handedness from right to left.

My grandfather and his two brothers are left-handers. During my childhood, I heard stories about how their elders restrained their left hands and forced them to pick up morsels of food by right hand. Tearfully, they complied and thus, outwardly became right-handed persons, but their inherent left-handedness still remains for they use the left-hand while performing day to day works. Thankfully, for me there was no pressure to change the use of my hand and I eat, write and draw with my left hand. However, in deference to religious customs, I use my right hand while offering/ picking flowers or offering money at religious functions. I manage to do it somehow with some tacit support from my left hand!

A left-handed, or southpaw person has to face many a practical difficulties and inconveniences while performing day to day activities. This stems out from the fact that almost all the tools, machineries and gadgets used in our daily life or for educational purpose are manufactured to suit its usage by right-handers, who are 90 percent of the total global population. During my student life, using a burette in Chemistry laboratory was a bit problematic, because the tap was placed on the right side with the graduation marks facing the user. If I had to use the burette, controlling its tap with my left hand then, the burette had to be turned the other way round. In that case, the graduation mark was away from me and I had to look around to get the reading. Such problems occurred with a mini drafter too. In fact, during my college days, my mini-drafter was placed during drafting classes only for cosmetic purpose. I hardly used it. Even taking lecture notes in a classroom filled with writing pad chairs was also quite troublesome. As the pad was fixed on the right side of the chair, I had to drag in another empty chair and keep it at my left side to keep my notebook. But if the classroom happened to be fully occupied then I was left with no other option but to twist my torso and write on the notebook placed on the right side. There are many other tasks in everyday life which a southpaw person finds it hard to perform owing to the non-conformity of the tools with his handedness; for instance, pulling a generator’s cord. Most of the modern gadgets have their buttons and knobs on the right side and when used by a left-hander, it is bound to create some difficulty.

Acknowledging these practical difficulties faced by the southpaw community, a shop at London is selling products designed especially for left-handers. They range from scissors to cameras. Even the clock on sale in the shop moves in anticlockwise direction with the hourly markings as mirror image of the conventional clock!

In conclusion, we the left-handed community should not feel inferior to others or embarrassed on account of our handedness. Nature has meant us to be left-handed and we should respect it. Parents should not try to force their left-handed children to change the handedness.  Despite all odds and challenges, we should look at life through a positive prism and try to get maximum advantage from it.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/08/a-lefthanders-musing/

By Babina
Who will protect us from the hands of dirty politicians & filthy militants?

The biggest fear rising in the minds of every single citizen of the state right now is who will protect and ensure safety of the people in Manipur. Almost all the top political leaders who have set itself up as the guardians of the public trust are rotten and corrupt to the core. All self-declared guardians of the state are dishonest or crooked at heart. Who then is to guard the guardians of the state?

We have a grave situation in Manipur in which personal accumulation of wealth have been closely tied to politicians backed by armed groups and vice-versa either through corruption or extortion. And since positions of leadership have been dominated by these individuals, the two vices of corruption and nepotism have become part of the daily vocabulary of many under our political system.

There is a crippling inability on the part of the political leadership to deal with this issue of militancy. Could it be that this inaction stems from the fact that we are expecting action to be taken from the very people that are corrupt? For, power can and does transform good men and women into corrupt and greedy leaders. And the victims of this struggle for spoils have obviously been the people of this state.

Why is our government doing nothing despite claiming of having concrete evidences of the particular militant organization involving in carrying out the recent bomb blast at Sangakpham that killed 5, including that of a father and son duo and 2 little innocent girls aged around 10 years? How can our state leaders just ignore when armed goons enjoy unbridled freedom to carry out brutal attacks on civilians in broad daylight and go scot-free?

ISTV news on 2nd August 2011 carried that, at a news conference held at New Delhi, Home Minister Chidambaram declared that the bomb attack at Sangakpham was done by the NSCN (IM). Why then is the Govt of India unable to take up any action? Or is it GOI`s one dirty strategy to intensify the ethnic clashes between the Nagas and the Meiteis?

Just like the state government, the self-declared guardians did not care to prevent such inhuman and barbaric act of planting bombs at busy market place. How can they just watch silently the half-torn bodies lying on the same soil like a piece of log? How can they just let NSCN (IM) plant a bomb in such public place and stay quiet, if at all the said outfit was behind the blast? Is NSCN (IM) bigger than PLA, RPF, UNLF, PREPAK, KCP, KYKL, and the endless number of factions?

Whether they realize it or not, but NSCN spat on the face of the many revolutionary organizations operating in the heart of Imphal by attacking the public right under their nose. The very statement given by NSCN (IM), “the fact that some groups in Manipur targeting innocent public in order to make their political statement has become a matter of grave concern” is rather a big shame for our meitei revolutionaries.

Refuting the allegations that NSCN was responsible for the blast at Sangakpham, the outfit also slaps the Govt of Manipur saying that the reaction of the Manipur government and its CM, Ibobi is nothing but an act of impropriety and recklessness, considering their irrational opposition to peace and the ongoing political dialogue between the government of India and the NSCN.

Officially or unofficially, NSCN (IM) has been carrying out its terror administration along with setting up offices in all the Naga inhabited districts of Manipur, although the ceasefire is not legitimately extended to the state.

In a press statement published in The Sangai Express, Manipur Naga Revolutionary Front (MNRF) said the AC battalion of NSCN (IM) is at Phunchong in Chandel district, the NP battalion is in Oklong in Tamenglong district, Kishimung battalion is in Grehang village in Ukhrul district and Huthrong Brigade is in Senapati district. Moreover, NSCN (IM) has been openly collecting taxes at Mao Gate in Senapati, Pallel Gate in Chandel district, Litan Gate in Ukhrul district and at Noney in Tamenglong district, MNRF added.

Why then is the Govt of Manipur as well as the Govt of India giving a blind eye and deaf ear to this outfit? Is NSCN (IM) bigger than the state and central government?

The government must not only have those responsible for Sangakham blast victims brought to justice immediately but also deactivate all militants who have become a law unto themselves in Manipur. So long as they are given freedom to act according to their whims, civilians will not be safe. It is high time they are dealt with appropriately. Else, attempts being made to rebuild Manipur are bound to fail. Needless to say development does not take root in a culture of impunity.

We can`t accommodate terrorism. When someone uses the slaughter of innocent people to advance a so-called political cause, at that point the political cause becomes immoral and unjust and they should be eliminated from any serious discussion, any serious debate. Every leader, and every regime, and every movement, and every organization that steps across the line to terrorism must be banished from the discourse of civilized human life.

If the so called sons of the soil really want to build a new Kangleipak, then they should pull up their socks before the public starts protesting against them. They should stop slaughtering innocent people in the name of revolution before the public starts killing them morally. They should stop being the obstacle to the state`s development before the public throws them out of the very state they are fighting for. They hurl bombs and threaten anybody who refuses to pay them money but they can`t stand up and fight the infiltrators. If they can be the first to impose illegal tax and extort money in the name of the state`s welfare, how can they be the last on earth when it comes to protecting their own people?

Try as we should, the question that I want to pose is this: Is there any hope that we will ever root out corruption and terrorism in this new millennium? Does anyone out there in the corridors of power listening to us? Yes, perhaps they are but many of them not hearing!

The real epidemic in our state is poor political leadership, government economic mismanagement, corruption and insurgency. These are the causes of our continuing crisis and not much else. Accepting responsibility for one`s actions and for a system that has gone badly wrong is the starting point on the road to our economic recovery. I see this as the greatest challenge facing today.

And as civic society, we must continue to pile pressure on corrupt leaders so that in the end they do the honorable thing and resign from their positions of power whether they are politicians or self-declared guardians because the latter can be corrupt as well.

However, my faith in Manipur is strengthened by the fact that brave men will stand against any injustice and by my belief that the people of this state will never lack the leaderships of dynamic and dedicated men and women in the future.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/08/who-will-guard-the-guards-of-manipur/

By Babina Wahengbam
Who will protect us from the hands of dirty politicians & filthy militants?

The biggest fear rising in the minds of every single citizen of the state right now is who will protect and ensure safety of the people in Manipur. Almost all the top political leaders who have set itself up as the guardians of the public trust are rotten and corrupt to the core. All self-declared guardians of the state are dishonest or crooked at heart. Who then is to guard the guardians of the state?

We have a grave situation in Manipur in which personal accumulation of wealth have been closely tied to politicians backed by armed groups and vice-versa either through corruption or extortion. And since positions of leadership have been dominated by these individuals, the two vices of corruption and nepotism have become part of the daily vocabulary of many under our political system.

There is a crippling inability on the part of the political leadership to deal with this issue of militancy. Could it be that this inaction stems from the fact that we are expecting action to be taken from the very people that are corrupt? For, power can and does transform good men and women into corrupt and greedy leaders. And the victims of this struggle for spoils have obviously been the people of this state.

Why is our government doing nothing despite claiming of having concrete evidences of the particular militant organization involving in carrying out the recent bomb blast at Sangakpham that killed 5, including that of a father and son duo and 2 little innocent girls aged around 10 years? How can our state leaders just ignore when armed goons enjoy unbridled freedom to carry out brutal attacks on civilians in broad daylight and go scot-free?

ISTV news on 2nd August 2011 carried that, at a news conference held at New Delhi, Home Minister Chidambaram declared that the bomb attack at Sangakpham was done by the NSCN (IM). Why then is the Govt of India unable to take up any action? Or is it GOI`s one dirty strategy to intensify the ethnic clashes between the Nagas and the Meiteis?

Just like the state government, the self-declared guardians did not care to prevent such inhuman and barbaric act of planting bombs at busy market place. How can they just watch silently the half-torn bodies lying on the same soil like a piece of log? How can they just let NSCN (IM) plant a bomb in such public place and stay quiet, if at all the said outfit was behind the blast? Is NSCN (IM) bigger than PLA, RPF, UNLF, PREPAK, KCP, KYKL, and the endless number of factions?

Whether they realize it or not, but NSCN spat on the face of the many revolutionary organizations operating in the heart of Imphal by attacking the public right under their nose. The very statement given by NSCN (IM), “the fact that some groups in Manipur targeting innocent public in order to make their political statement has become a matter of grave concern” is rather a big shame for our meitei revolutionaries.

Refuting the allegations that NSCN was responsible for the blast at Sangakpham, the outfit also slaps the Govt of Manipur saying that the reaction of the Manipur government and its CM, Ibobi is nothing but an act of impropriety and recklessness, considering their irrational opposition to peace and the ongoing political dialogue between the government of India and the NSCN.

Officially or unofficially, NSCN (IM) has been carrying out its terror administration along with setting up offices in all the Naga inhabited districts of Manipur, although the ceasefire is not legitimately extended to the state.

In a press statement published in The Sangai Express, Manipur Naga Revolutionary Front (MNRF) said the AC battalion of NSCN (IM) is at Phunchong in Chandel district, the NP battalion is in Oklong in Tamenglong district, Kishimung battalion is in Grehang village in Ukhrul district and Huthrong Brigade is in Senapati district. Moreover, NSCN (IM) has been openly collecting taxes at Mao Gate in Senapati, Pallel Gate in Chandel district, Litan Gate in Ukhrul district and at Noney in Tamenglong district, MNRF added.

Why then is the Govt of Manipur as well as the Govt of India giving a blind eye and deaf ear to this outfit? Is NSCN (IM) bigger than the state and central government?

The government must not only have those responsible for Sangakham blast victims brought to justice immediately but also deactivate all militants who have become a law unto themselves in Manipur. So long as they are given freedom to act according to their whims, civilians will not be safe. It is high time they are dealt with appropriately. Else, attempts being made to rebuild Manipur are bound to fail. Needless to say development does not take root in a culture of impunity.

We can`t accommodate terrorism. When someone uses the slaughter of innocent people to advance a so-called political cause, at that point the political cause becomes immoral and unjust and they should be eliminated from any serious discussion, any serious debate. Every leader, and every regime, and every movement, and every organization that steps across the line to terrorism must be banished from the discourse of civilized human life.

If the so called sons of the soil really want to build a new Kangleipak, then they should pull up their socks before the public starts protesting against them. They should stop slaughtering innocent people in the name of revolution before the public starts killing them morally. They should stop being the obstacle to the state`s development before the public throws them out of the very state they are fighting for. They hurl bombs and threaten anybody who refuses to pay them money but they can`t stand up and fight the infiltrators. If they can be the first to impose illegal tax and extort money in the name of the state`s welfare, how can they be the last on earth when it comes to protecting their own people?

Try as we should, the question that I want to pose is this: Is there any hope that we will ever root out corruption and terrorism in this new millennium? Does anyone out there in the corridors of power listening to us? Yes, perhaps they are but many of them not hearing!

The real epidemic in our state is poor political leadership, government economic mismanagement, corruption and insurgency. These are the causes of our continuing crisis and not much else. Accepting responsibility for one`s actions and for a system that has gone badly wrong is the starting point on the road to our economic recovery. I see this as the greatest challenge facing today.

And as civic society, we must continue to pile pressure on corrupt leaders so that in the end they do the honorable thing and resign from their positions of power whether they are politicians or self-declared guardians because the latter can be corrupt as well.

However, my faith in Manipur is strengthened by the fact that brave men will stand against any injustice and by my belief that the people of this state will never lack the leaderships of dynamic and dedicated men and women in the future.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/08/who-will-guard-the-guards-of-manipur/

By Amar Yumnam
The basic purpose of having an administration and a governance system anywhere needs to be recalled and analysed at this moment of history when we are celebrating six and a half decades of independence from foreign rule. This is because, despite the recent more or less impressive track record of good growth performance, the meecham praja (common people) seem to be at the receiving end of every mechanism of governance.

Manipur Scenario: The situation is worse in Manipur than elsewhere in the country. Whereas the rest of the country has reaped the benefits of modernisation, although the dispersal of the benefits has been an issue, the case is different in Manipur. We have not had the kind of economic expansion experienced elsewhere whereas we have had more than our share of the inflationary trends and growth disturbances. Further, while in the case of other States in the country there are people in the administration who are alive to the fundamental purpose of governance as facilitating the access to administration and livelihood efforts of the common people, we are pained to observe the complete reversal of this principle in the case of Manipur.

We can have multiples of daily life exemplars to drive home this subjugation of the common people. First look at the daily dose of alertness they have to have at their command in order just to be in the business areas of Imphal and cross the streets. They have to bear all the costs of insensitivity of the official vehicles and arrogance of the private ones as well. What I would love to see is the kind of scenario where my senior-citizen “mother” and my aged “father” would feel at home and cared for whenever they set foot in any area of the Imphal city; well, a very unlikely and unrealistic expectation.

I would consider myself as someone who is fairly conversant with own rights and responsibilities. I am also fairly conscious of how to resist encroachments into my personal space and rights arena. But pretending and behaving as if like any of the common men in the street in daily dealings and assert when violated has taught me how hard the daily lives of the commoners are in Manipur. Let me start with an example from an office of the Central government. In a personal post-paid mobile connection for which I have been religious in paying the due bills every month, there occurred recently an interesting development. Even after payment of the dues as reflected in the latest bill, there used to be reminders for payment of dues for at least three to four times a day for about ten days. In the beginning, I had the impression that it must be just machine problems or routine issues. But within a few days, I found all out-going calls barred besides the STD and ISD. When I had sent one of my office assistants to enquire into the status and reasons for the barring of all outgoing calls, two things of great interest emerged. First, the daily multiple reminders for payment of dues stopped immediately after the enquiry for reasons best known to the staff of the department only. Second, the concerned officials sent back my boy with explanations which any reasonable person can immediately establish as nothing more than a bluff. Dissatisfied and angered by this, I did call up a higher ranking officer of the department as a prelude to going for full scale grievance correction complaint. On his intervention, I got the barring removed. But that was not the end. The ISD and STD were still blocked. I had to go for another round of telephonic contacts to get the ISD and STD barring removed.  Now the question that arises here is what might be happening in the case of a commoner who is not so conversant on the various recourses to actions to get his due services delivered.

Further, once the barring has been removed, why does not there exist a system whereby the connection is restored to its full functionality instead of requiring further contacts? Still further, it needs to ponder why the indulgence in full blown bluffing when an innocent person was enquiring about the issue. Similar experiences are undergone daily by the common people while dealing with the offices of the State government as well. Now these suppressive features of governance are superimposed on the rising difficulty of the common people to eke out their living.  The rise in the prices of commodities of daily consumption in an atmosphere of shrinking livelihood opportunities is a reality everybody is living with.

Now the Resolve: Now in the celebration of the August 15, we need to be very sure of at least one resolve. There is no point in making many promises. The need of the hour is reminding ourselves the existence of a majority of the common people in circumstances un-conducive to their functionings. The administration would be doing a yeoman’s service if it at least resolves and ushers in a period where the facilitation of the survival of the common people is the yardstick of the success or otherwise of governance. We all should remember that not only do we all have a common beginning, but we also have a larger set of relatives among the commoners. Let us all try to facilitate each other’s existence, particularly of the commonest of the common people. Nobody would be a loser in this, and the society would be the gainer in terms of peace and stability.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/08/meecham-praja-the-forgotten-common-men-in-manipur/

By Amar Yumnam
The basic purpose of having an administration and a governance system anywhere needs to be recalled and analysed at this moment of history when we are celebrating six and a half decades of independence from foreign rule. This is because, despite the recent more or less impressive track record of good growth performance, the meecham praja (common people) seem to be at the receiving end of every mechanism of governance.

Manipur Scenario: The situation is worse in Manipur than elsewhere in the country. Whereas the rest of the country has reaped the benefits of modernisation, although the dispersal of the benefits has been an issue, the case is different in Manipur. We have not had the kind of economic expansion experienced elsewhere whereas we have had more than our share of the inflationary trends and growth disturbances. Further, while in the case of other States in the country there are people in the administration who are alive to the fundamental purpose of governance as facilitating the access to administration and livelihood efforts of the common people, we are pained to observe the complete reversal of this principle in the case of Manipur.

We can have multiples of daily life exemplars to drive home this subjugation of the common people. First look at the daily dose of alertness they have to have at their command in order just to be in the business areas of Imphal and cross the streets. They have to bear all the costs of insensitivity of the official vehicles and arrogance of the private ones as well. What I would love to see is the kind of scenario where my senior-citizen “mother” and my aged “father” would feel at home and cared for whenever they set foot in any area of the Imphal city; well, a very unlikely and unrealistic expectation.

I would consider myself as someone who is fairly conversant with own rights and responsibilities. I am also fairly conscious of how to resist encroachments into my personal space and rights arena. But pretending and behaving as if like any of the common men in the street in daily dealings and assert when violated has taught me how hard the daily lives of the commoners are in Manipur. Let me start with an example from an office of the Central government. In a personal post-paid mobile connection for which I have been religious in paying the due bills every month, there occurred recently an interesting development. Even after payment of the dues as reflected in the latest bill, there used to be reminders for payment of dues for at least three to four times a day for about ten days. In the beginning, I had the impression that it must be just machine problems or routine issues. But within a few days, I found all out-going calls barred besides the STD and ISD. When I had sent one of my office assistants to enquire into the status and reasons for the barring of all outgoing calls, two things of great interest emerged. First, the daily multiple reminders for payment of dues stopped immediately after the enquiry for reasons best known to the staff of the department only. Second, the concerned officials sent back my boy with explanations which any reasonable person can immediately establish as nothing more than a bluff. Dissatisfied and angered by this, I did call up a higher ranking officer of the department as a prelude to going for full scale grievance correction complaint. On his intervention, I got the barring removed. But that was not the end. The ISD and STD were still blocked. I had to go for another round of telephonic contacts to get the ISD and STD barring removed.  Now the question that arises here is what might be happening in the case of a commoner who is not so conversant on the various recourses to actions to get his due services delivered.

Further, once the barring has been removed, why does not there exist a system whereby the connection is restored to its full functionality instead of requiring further contacts? Still further, it needs to ponder why the indulgence in full blown bluffing when an innocent person was enquiring about the issue. Similar experiences are undergone daily by the common people while dealing with the offices of the State government as well. Now these suppressive features of governance are superimposed on the rising difficulty of the common people to eke out their living.  The rise in the prices of commodities of daily consumption in an atmosphere of shrinking livelihood opportunities is a reality everybody is living with.

Now the Resolve: Now in the celebration of the August 15, we need to be very sure of at least one resolve. There is no point in making many promises. The need of the hour is reminding ourselves the existence of a majority of the common people in circumstances un-conducive to their functionings. The administration would be doing a yeoman’s service if it at least resolves and ushers in a period where the facilitation of the survival of the common people is the yardstick of the success or otherwise of governance. We all should remember that not only do we all have a common beginning, but we also have a larger set of relatives among the commoners. Let us all try to facilitate each other’s existence, particularly of the commonest of the common people. Nobody would be a loser in this, and the society would be the gainer in terms of peace and stability.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/08/meecham-praja-the-forgotten-common-men-in-manipur/