Manipur News

By Nameirakpam Bobo MeiteiWhat hope does a state give to its people? The hope that their state is altogether a different establishment in which every individual can claim his or her rights, and if this state turns out to be quite the contrary, and its conducts barely reflecting the wishes of its people, instead of giving hope it has begun to terrorise its very own people, then should people come forward to court a establishment which is willing to treat its people as subjects rather than respectable citizens? When a state has reached a point where no one feels the need to approach it to seek justice and all that it can bestow to those who have empowered them is tyranny should people live on under it?
One academic laid down several questions regarding the conducts of the Indian government in the state of Manipur on removal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act(AFSPA), one among them was “How many people in India know about AFSPA and the existing problem of insurgency in the reason and why people are gung-ho in asking the Act be repealed when they themselves have no solution to the existing insurgency problem?”
Only a clause in the Act is what people need to know, the clause that gives complete immunity to guilty security personnel. While attempting to solve a complex prolonged-matter the state has to be consistent and any fruitful result is for the betterment of the people. But what if their attempts have proved futile while enough damage has been to a people who are caught up in the conflict? What difference can one see between those proscribed groups, the state is fighting supposedly on behalf of the people, and its soldiers, which have been given the task to handle and have turned against those who they have sworn to protect? Should we expect that state agents behave just like those proscribed group or worse than them because they happened to be caught up in a conflict zone?
Here one doesn’t overlook the existing insurgency, while one is asking the Act be repealed from the affected region. One understands that existing problem should be solved, perhaps with a different approach altogether since the old approach of “combat and destroy” doesn’t prove productive, and can expect to be more human; start conducting in a fashion that reflects the wishes of the people, human rights not being violated and if violated they should have faith that justice will be done.Some say why the elected representatives in power don’t say much against it and how they have come back with a majority to power? But why did the government give in the army’s opposition to the removal despite strong recommendation by several committees set up under the behest of prime minister? Even if the state government wished how much of its wish could be carried out when it finds itself in a situation in which New Delhi can easily override state power? If one is to talk about the voting back Ibobi government in Manipur, which didn’t say a word against during election campaigns, one could also question the overall maturity of Indian democracy. Despite the clear knowledge that BJP leaders were responsible for the demolition of Babri Mosque why they have voted back repeatedly in a secular India?
Perhaps India has become a virtual military state in which civilian concerns are no more valued in the regions suffering from insurgency. If India claims that it has the power to destroy external forces at wars then it should also be convinced of its ability to eliminate those elements which have only been considered detrimental, and if it cannot, then perhaps it should reconsider its strategy and try to address the decade-old problem through political means. Unfortunately no serious initiative has come forward from New Delhi except some leaders dropping at election times and scattering few lines asking to “join the mainstream” when those who have been living in the very heart of Delhi from this region don’t feel that they are treated as a part owing to the cast attitudes of the people. One just have to look at the ongoing decade-old peace dialogue between NSCN(I-M) and Delhi, what milestone both the parties have brought forward before a person who was boy when the peace talks started and now the author of this piece?   
If New Delhi wants people from this region to join the so-called “mainstream” perhaps it should value the dignity of those who live in the so-called disturbed zones under the sly shade of Armed Forces Special Power Act. How could a humiliated people come forward to join a “mainstream” which it sees as the violator of their basic fundamental rights and making a mockery of their dignity? 

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IMPHAL April 26: The 2 day Multimedia campaign on the achievement of SPF government and flagship programmes concluded at the Trade Centre conference hall today. The function was organized by district information officer of Chandel.
The inaugural function held yesterday saw Lunminthang Haokip,ADC of Moreh as chief guest and A Balkrishna , joint director of DIPR as president. Various community leaders and other officials attended the function.
The chief guest in his speech voiced the need for the Moreh residents to be well informed about the various developmental schemes and projects provided by the centre, such knowledge will go a long way in benifiting the populace. Moreh can become a tourist hub if development takes place and if the schemes are properly implimented,he said.
In the technical session ,retired DIO of Chande and Ch Ibungo,DI of Chandel,medical officer Dr.Priyokumar among others briefed the gathering in regard to the different falgship programs undertaken by the government.
The community  leaders present at the function voiced dissapproval regarding the absence of some officials who would throw more light on the subject and further requested that such another program aimed at delivering information to the masses regarding the public benifit schemes should be held in future soon.

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There is a very unfortunate misconception in Manipur about the duty of a citizen with regards to law keeping. This is about the act of reporting by ordinary citizens to law keeping authorities of unusual events they witness which may constitute a breach of law. Rather than consider this attitude as an obligation, ordinary citizens often treated this as sneaking. Perhaps this is a reflection of the respect the people by and large have of the law, all the same this must not result in what the popular adage says, throwing the baby away with the bath water. For the truth is, every citizen must realise the responsibility he or she has to shoulder in the enterprise of law keeping. What may be necessary is, as in countries like the USA, to make this responsibility obligatory by law. That is to say, not reporting a potential crime, especially those which will not result in personal safety compromised, should be made a cognizable offence under the law.
In a lawless and violence ridden place like Manipur, this argument would need some qualification. Ordinary citizens cannot be expected to report on the movement of armed combatants of the raging insurgency in the land. For one thing this would amount to putting their own lives in danger, and for another, insurgency is no ordinary crime and as so many have articulated in the past, it is in many ways a radical expression of dissent, and its solution would have to be nuanced, rather than the usual linear policing crime fighting approach. However leaving this issue for the government to tackle imaginatively but firmly, there are so many other cognizable breaches of law by ordinary citizens which other more conscientious citizens must take it upon themselves to prevent through the invocation of the law using the simple handles available to them. The simplest of these is reporting these matters to the police or other concerned authorities. To take just a few examples, in the past one month, the entire state has been somewhat shaken awake by the aggressive campaign of the government to clean up illegal power connections in the Imphal area. All these illegal activities were happening right under the noses of every citizen, in particular those who have been honestly paying the taxes for whatever amount of power they consume.
Yet in all this while, there has never been even a single report of putative breach of law from any citizen. This is despite the fact that these thefts are from the common pool of service resources and thereby robbing from it by anybody would amount to robbing from everybody, in particular the honest consumers. Thankfully, at least in the case of electricity, there has been a public interest litigation, PIL, which is in a way a last resort in the absence of a citizen vigil which should have been always present. The despairing fact about Manipur is, electricity is just one case of neglect of citizen duty, for there are plenty more. Water supply is another very prominent one. Today, if a survey were to be done, half of Imphal households would be tapping piped municipal water illegally, and in manners not prescribed, making siphon holes larger than allowed, thus depriving other consumers of their shares of potable water. Yet again, as in the case of electricity, everybody witnesses this but apart from a bitter frown here and there, nobody has thought it his duty to complain that he is being robbed in broad daylight.
Having said this, the blame for this confounding reluctance of the citizens to keep vigil of public utilities, and also against other similar crimes, must also go to the government, in particular the police. There have been far too complaints of policemen on duty refusing to take notice of complaints by citizens. Instead, such whistle blowers often end up more harangued for they are looked upon by the police with suspicion and the onus of proving their complaints thrown back at them. The time has come for a radical change of attitude both of the police as well as the citizens. If they must work hand in hand, they must both be sensitized as well as made to realise what wonders they can do by cooperating with each other towards improving everybody’s everyday quality of life.
 

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IMPHAL, April 26: The Non Gazetted Employees Welfare Association JN Hospital, Porompat, Imphal has served an ultimatum to the Chief Minister today demanding better service conditions and retirement benefits failing which the association has threatened to launched various forms of agitations on or before May 4.
According to a release of the association, it has submitted several representations to the concerned authorities regarding their demands including improvement of service conditions and retirement benefits etc in respect of the staff Nurse, Paramedical staff and Grade-IV employees of JN Hospital, who had been transferred to the JNIMS Imphal East.
It has further mentioned that, in this regard a general body meeting of the association was held on April 21 this month with L Chandrakumar Singh, president of the association in the chair. The said meetinghad unanimously resolved to launched various steps of agitations, unless the demands are considered favourably by the state government on or before May 4.
As decided during the meeting their steps of agitation will start with the wearing of black badge for dive days from May 5 to 9 next month.
It has further stated that the black badge wearing demonstration will be followed by non cooperation movement from May 10 to 12, sit in protest there after till May 16.
The association will follow up the sit in protest by cease work strike until the demands are fulfilled, the release added.

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