Daijiworld.com | Google News RSS Feed Sarkar, the author of “Mothers of Manipur”, said “a… more »
Daijiworld.com | Google News RSS Feed
Sarkar, the author of “Mothers of Manipur”, said “a powerful new language of poetry was emerging from the extreme edge of the country like Manipurand Kashmir to talk about the troubled times in the state”. “A poem is not a bullet but a nuclear bomb.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/odes-to-turbulent-times-from-indias-bhasa-poets-daijiworld-com/
Namrata Goswami In common parlance and academic literature, good governance is the prime indicator of… more »
Namrata Goswami
In common parlance and academic literature, good governance is the prime indicator of the success of a state. While many would argue that India’s experience with governance after independence is mostly unique based on a delicate interplay between a modern state and a traditional society, it is also equally true that governance in India depends to a large extent on individual rationality, which is “bounded by the local context and embedded values, based on the perception of sanctions, welfare and identity as well as general trust.” Thereby, the level of governance in a state is conditional on its ability to transform citizens into stakeholders in the process of governance itself. This in turn is co-related to the pay-off structures in which abiding by the rules is viewed by citizens as offering an incentive structure for a better living.
The most important indicators of good governance are institutions based on rules, absence of disorder, riots, murders, unwarranted state closures, and violence of any nature. As far as we can see, the Indian state since independence has been committed to individual rights based on the constitution, and no one group or community has the right to deter the free movement and entrepreneurial aspirations of another.
In stark contrast to this optimal understanding of governance in the Indian context, the culture of ‘bandhs’ (state closure) paramount in the Northeastern states like Assam, Manipur and Nagaland goes against the notion of individual rights, is a stigma on the effectiveness of local governance structures, and is unconstitutional to say the least. For instance, Manipur suffered from ‘bandhs’ almost every day during the two month-siege of the state by Naga groups earlier this year as a protest against Thuingaleng Muivah, leader of the NSCN (IM), being refused entry by Manipur to his native village due to security concerns. When the author was in Manipur in August 2008, there were nearly 19 bandhs in that month alone due to protests related to the doping controversy of Monika Devi, the weight-lifter from Manipur during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This resulted in all roads being closed, prices of basic commodities tripling, and a loss to the local economy in crores. While the ‘bandhs’ were underway, called either by armed groups like the United National Liberation Front of Manipur (UNLF) or the Manipur Civil Society organizations, the state functionaries including the Secretariat merrily closed down as well without any accountability whatsoever. For local government officials, it was just one more holiday added to their list of holidays in the official calendar for which nothing is deducted from their monthly pay. So, state government employees might be absent for nineteen days of the month including Sundays and other holidays and effectively work for less than 10 days a month and yet get their full monthly salaries.
This ‘bandh’ culture, while coming down drastically in states like Mizoram and Tripura with a pro-active public and responsive state governments, is a disease in Assam and Nagaland. The call for ‘bandhs’ in Assam are issued by the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), the All Assam Students Union (AASU), or any other local group through local newspapers, and is strictly observed by the local people. ‘Bandhs’ in Assam have a rippling effect all over the Northeast as most basic commodities like rice, pulses, medicines, vegetables, poultry, etc., reach the other states via Assam either by road or by rail. In Nagaland, ‘bandhs’ are called by either the NSCN (IM) or the National Socialist Council of Nagaland led by S S Khaplang [NSCN (K)] and is followed by the local people for fear of being killed, despite great hardship caused by multiple ‘bandhs’ in a month.
While the fear of the locals to abide by the diktat of the armed groups is understandable, what is perhaps not acceptable is the adherence to these ‘bandhs’ by the local state authorities. The very fact that state governments cannot negate this ‘bandh’ culture, and are unwilling to ensure that common people are secure during the ‘bandhs’ even if they defy it, smacks of the lack of legitimacy and democratic grounding of these governments. It is also an abysmal state of affairs when armed insurgent groups like the ULFA or the NSCN (IM) with a membership of 1000 to 5000, respectively, can hold the entire population of a state amounting to millions hostage by just issuing the call for a ‘bandh’. This culture of ‘bandhs’ has resulted in crores of rupees in losses for the local economies, especially the private sector. The most affected are of course the daily wage workers, who are dependent on day-to-day earning to feed their families.
Governance in the Indian context is dependent on “the ability of the modern institutions to accommodate embedded values, undertake strategic reform and maintain the difficult balance between force and persuasion in the management of law and order,” as argued by Subrata K. Mitra in his book The Puzzle of India’s Governance (2006). It requires not only effective party systems, but also a federalism that works well for the common man. The ‘bandh’ culture in states like Assam, Manipur and Nagaland are not only a negation of individual rights but goes against the strategic choices of many, thereby throttling citizens’ initiatives. The most adversely affected from the ‘bandhs’ are the common people in these three states, while the local state governments absolve themselves of any responsibility to counter this culture, when they should ideally have been at the forefront punishing those who disturb public order. (It is important to note that ‘law and order’ is a state subject in India and hence states in India are obligated to maintain a secure environment based on the ‘rule of law’ for their citizens).
The time has therefore come for citizens of Assam, Manipur and Nagaland to stand up against the negative culture of ‘bandhs’ issued by armed groups who invariably represent only themselves, and hold their state governments accountable for poor governance, in order to enable their future generations to have a progressive and peaceful life.
** Article was orginally published on November 25, 2010
**Originally published by Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (www.idsa.in) at [http://idsa.in/idsacomments/TheCultureofBandhsandtheAbsenceofLocalGovernanceintheNortheast_ngoswami_251110]
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/the-culture-of-%E2%80%98bandhs%E2%80%99-and-the-absence-of-local-governance-in-the-northeast/
Gautam Sen* May 4, 2012 Of late, G. Gaikhangam, the Home Minister of Manipur, has… more »
May 4, 2012
Of late, G. Gaikhangam, the Home Minister of Manipur, has been speaking to the media on the situation of minors below 18 years of age being forced to join the militant outfits in his state. He has been pointing to the increasing instances of kidnapping for conscription, making the case for reversing the situation, and highlighting the action taken by the Ibobi Singh Government in putting all police stations on red alert, etc. This phenomenon of the extremist militant outfits, particularly the Meitei groups, kidnapping Manipuri children and grooming them as their cadres, is not a new phenomenon. However, the situation seems to be gradually worsening.
The forcible recruitment of children, nurturing them during custody, and when in custody, looking after their day-to-day needs of food, clothing and shelter and gradually indoctrinating them to the operating philosophy of the militant outfits, has been evident for over nearly a decade, if not more. This indicates the inability of the state machinery to provide educational facilities and employment opportunities for the youth as well as the abject failure of successive state governments to provide a milieu in which normal life can be led by the citizens. To an extent, the trend also shows that the political parties working within the state have virtually no concern or space for the minors, and even indicates the acquiescence of the local civil society to the decline in social and family bonds, parental responsibilities and control of adults over their children.
This is an unenviable situation. On the one hand, the state does not act decisively against the militants who are destroying the very fabric of family life and the future of the local children. And, on the other, the people at large are either so terrified by the militants and also demoralised by the ineffectiveness of the state machinery that they see no alternative but to submit to the deteriorating situation and cannot organise themselves to reverse the phenomenon.
The militants have been resorting to this method of recruitment owing to the apparent difficulty in maintaining their cadres from grown-up youngsters or middle-aged people. Furthermore, the advantage of having minors who are less expensive to maintain than adults in the age range of 20 to 30 years, and accept the ideology or norms of insurgency by virtue of having impressionable minds, have not been lost sight of by the militants. However, some of the child recruits did get disenchanted while in captivity-cum-controlled environment within the outfits. In small groups, when they organised themselves and tried to break away from captivity and return to their families, exemplary punishment by way of death by shooting them before their compatriots, was resorted to, to instil fear in their minds. It was out of sheer necessity of circumstances and also, consequent on their reappraised methods of functioning wherein, well-knit versatile small groups of militant youngsters operating in a spirit of camaraderie on a long-term basis were deemed more cost-effective and optimum, that the militants embarked on recruiting their child cadres and managed to retain them under their control.
For over a decade, Manipur has been on the downslide in every respect, be it in administrative functioning, policing or financial management. Governance has been on the decline. The political leadership, particularly of the dominant parties led by the Congress, and except perhaps the Communist Party of India led by Dr. Nara Singh, have been accused of lack of probity. Sagacious intercession in the matters of the state by the Manipur Governor, Gurbachan Jagat, has also been minimal. In this backdrop, the serious long-term implications of the forcible recruitment of children or minors do not seem to have been duly considered by the governmental authorities despite periodic public protests. There have been outcries from the affected parents but the state government has only paid lip service to the issue; it has been virtually unresponsive in the matter of taking effective coercive action against the hard-core militant groups. As a result, the common people are in a state of helplessness.
The state of all-pervasive corruption prevailing in Manipur needs to be counteracted in order to bring about a turnaround in the situation. The condition of joblessness among the youth cannot but demotivate the youngsters. Therefore, instances of minors being lured away by the militant outfits with promises of money and mobiles are not uncommon. Only attractive alternatives can wean away the children from the enticements offered by the militant outfits. An approach which is community or locality based could be an alternative, involving the families at least in the Imphal Valley districts. The principals, headmasters and teachers of schools must be required to be associated with the parents of the child students not only in the matter of education but also in the beyond-the-school-hours activities of the students, and promote vocational and youth activities that empower the latter and enable them to achieve gainful employment. The Government of India may perform a catalytic role to activate such community-cum-family based endeavours with particular emphasis on sports-related and youth activities—areas in which the Manipuris naturally tend to excel—inter-alia by promoting tie-ups with youth organisations in other states. This is because the state government machinery has proved to be totally incapable of performing any positive role in this regard owing to all-pervasive corruption abetted by the governing politicians in connivance with the contractors and suppliers with a behind-the scene nexus with the large group of militant outfits.
If action to counter the child conscription phenomenon is further delayed, a generational schism may develop in Meitei society, reinforcing the militancy, anarchism and mafia-like activities presently prevalent in Manipur, thus making it more ungovernable. This would be a sad outcome to a princely state which merged with the Indian Union on 21 September 1949 with a functioning Constitution of its own and concomitant institutions and polity in place, as against the Union of India which was just about to inaugurate its Constitution after independence from the British.
*Gautam Sen served as Financial Adviser of North Eastern Council with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
**Originally published by Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (www.idsa.in) at [http://idsa.in/idsacomments/TheConscriptionofChildrenasUltrasinManipur_gsen_040512]
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/the-conscription-of-children-as-ultras-in-manipur/
