Manipur News

The post Power to the People appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

By Ananya S Guha
Soon we will talk about the Parliament elections. Indeed we have started talking about it, and the inevitable, indeed the inexorable question is whether the Congress will come back to power. After the Delhi case many gloat and say that this is the turn around for the Congress, their ineptitude in handling the whole event was pathetic. Undoubtedly this is true and politicians should have addressed the case as a body politic and not play the usual blame game. After all, they are representatives of the nations, they are the leaders and this was an opportunity for them to reassure the nation as a whole that they are with the entire population and not just the family of the bereaved. After all, it is the people of the country who protested in a sober manner. True there was some violence but you cannot expect an agitated crowd to keep quiet on seeing the police. It speaks volumes of our country men and women that they took out protest matches all over the country.

So in this context, what is power? How do we define it exegetically? The Delhi rape incident has proven that power comes from the people and not from the barrel of a gun. Power is not necessarily political power, it is apostate and can also be anti state, especially when we address issues of law and order and internal security of a nation. It is amazing how reports of rape cases are pouring in from different parts of the country, it is as if there is a dire synchronicity of events and the law breakers are perpetrating this with impunity. It is as if they are saying we will do it more, we have people to back us up, to hell with you and nothing can happen. I see it as a very dark phase of Indian history, society and polity. The body politic and the fabric of a system has been corroded so visciously that there is some thing rotten in the state of ours. Hamlet`s prognosis of the state of Denmark is universal connotation of the decrepitude of a body politic which can be happen anywhere. But there can also be a counter to this – power of the people, voice of the people in unison to protest.  The Delhi protests have been compared to Tahrir Square in Egypt. That is not the point, the point is that anguished voices of the people can deliberate a power and unleash  it in the most becoming manner for which the government or the state can reel with trepidation. Delhi protests and elsewhere in the country were not meant to be symbolic of the Tahrir Square disruption. But in a way they were, because of a deep down recaltricance and misgiving of the common people, read the educated class.

But what happens to that faceless part of India, the amorphos whole we call India? Are they fazed by all this or do they have more pressing matters such as eking out a living and assuring their daily meals? The acrid truth is that the protests did not percolate to the masses because living for them is a struggle every moment, a struggle where they do not know where to go next, or what to do next. In this turmoil is India`s tryst with destiny, in the faceless too there is a power. But the power exhibited by the recent protests in the aftermath of the gang rape testifies to the enormity that is India, who are now fed up with political parties, and responded spontaneously to a macabre event. What struck the people most and hurt them was the manner in which it was done. Let alone regret there was only malice as the assailants badgered the frail body of a woman and with gutless impunity and spite threw it as one would do to a carcass.

Plato`s conception of power was associated with the well being of people, power to do good to society. It is high time that there is a reappraisal of the term power which is inevitably likened to political and administrative power. The very fact that a bandh was called to protest against this incident, where those who called it asked politicians not to be present, or to bandy their political manifestos is indicative how there can be a transference of political power to people`s power.

The Delhi incident has shown us how this is possible and can be possible in the event of this being repeated. Gone are the days when power can be commanded at finger tips, at a hasty summon of ordering people, or can be brutish. The protests which still continue underlie the fact that a powerful body politic actually represents the people and not any political coterie.

And, that is power.

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The post The New Year Hope appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

By Wangkheimayum Bhupendra Singh
As everywhere else in the world, Manipur had also welcomed 2013 with hopes, dreams and desires for a peaceful, prosperous and more productive year ahead. Though the state had been engulfed by agitations during the last fortnight of 2012, the people had nonetheless accorded a warm welcome to the New Year. The season’s spirit triumphed over the various agitations rocking the state and brought new hopes and desires to the people of the state. We are four days into 2013 and what could be a better time than now to sit for a little retrospection of the past year before we head dive into the New Year. 2012 is gone and there were certain uncalled for and undesirable events during the passing year which could have been diverted with better understanding and thinking on the parts of the concern stakeholders.

The early part of 2012 witnessed the general election to the 10th Manipur Legislative Assembly giving the people of the state hopes and aspirations. The election culminated with the Congress coming to power with an unprecedented win and Ministers making all the promises for a better and developed society. Towards the middle of the year, there were also several disruptions. Bombs too had been an integral part of 2012 with certain underground outfits attacking Congress workers and candidates in the run up to the February 28 general election. Explosions continued in the later part of the year also with underground outfits attacking security forces with IEDs. Certain other incidents involving security personnel had also captured the common man’s interest and attention during 2012. The state had also witnessed violent agitations in the last part of 2012, which had even threatened the very ethnical fabric of the state. However, 2012 was not all about bombs, agitations and bad law and order situation. During the year the state had also seen its sportspersons like pugilist MC Mary Kom win a Bronze medal at the London Olympics and bodybuilders Arambam Bobby and Pradipkumar winning the Mr World.

Every New Year is welcomed with celebrations, wishes and hopes before we get consumed by our day to day lives until the next New Year come knocking on our doors once again. 2013 was not an exception and we have already welcomed it with our annual dose of celebrations amidst hopes and wishes. However, just four days into 2013 and the state has already witnessed a ransom related murder case involving two state security force personnel and the gruesome murder of another state police personnel already. Since the formation of the new state government last year, the Ministers’ have been voicing their concern over all issues confronting the state and assuring all possible steps in order to consider the issues and bring a changeover. The government is about to complete the first year of its present term and needs to pull up its sleeves and start delivering its promises and assurances, before the general public loses its trust in the government. Both the public and government should be equal partners in bringing the much needed change in the society as both cannot act on their own without the other. A pluralistic society like ours has individuals and separate sets of individuals with diverse aspirations, interests and desires. In such a scenario, it is bound that individualistic desires and interest will sometimes clash and result in undesired and unwanted events. All sections of our society should be able to understand that we cannot allow such incidents to crop up and also ascertain that one’s aspirations and desires don’t infringe upon each other’s interest and create flare ups. Every community and group have their own sets of separate designs for the year ahead; however the only common desire and wish for all individuals, communities and groups could be a peaceful, prosperous and productive 2013. While we can always put the blame on someone else we should also have the audacity to take responsibility of our own actions and its resultant consequences then only can we call ourselves a mature society. Let’s all hope that 2013 ushers in a year of peace, hope and development in the state.

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