Tag: Editorial

While the Manipur traffic police’s new drive to enforce parking norms in Imphal’s two busy commercial streets of Paona Bazar and Thangal Bazar is welcome, the brutal blitzkrieg yesterday in which the police literally swooped down and damaged vehicles parked in the Paona Bazar area was unfortunate. It was unfortunate for no other reason than that there was no warning issued to the vehicle owners that the parking norm introduced about two months ago was to be enforced without compromises from the date. The government had indeed prohibited parking on these streets and an alternate parking space was created along the western bank of the Naga River after evicting a vegetable vendors market there, causing much heartbreak to these hapless daily wage earners. But Imphal residents, including the sporting vendors, generally accepted the move in the belief that the pain was for a greater common good of Imphal city.

The new parking norm worked for some days before the authorities forgot it had introduced the norm, and consequently vehicle users too soon came to not give two hoots about the new norm. The vehicles were back on the busy streets, congested it as before. All this was happening right before the noses of traffic policemen, reinforcing the belief that the new norm was just another one of those laws of the Manipur government which had a value only on paper and not in practice. Soon enough the traffic chaos in the Bazar area was back to where it was. This newspaper had even commented that the government deserved to be taken to court by the vendors who were evicted to create the new parking space, for the purpose for creating it was being allowed to be defeated so casually and callously. All of a sudden the traffic authorities seem to have woken up from its slothful slumber and swoop down causing much distress to unsuspecting vehicle owners who had parked their vehicles on Paona Bazar having been led to believe the new parking norm was dead and gone already. Many of them ended up with damaged vehicles as well.

A stitch in time would have saved nine. Had the traffic authorities made an effort to ensure the public of its intent of enforcing the new norm beforehand, nobody, or at least not many would have been so blatant about jumping it. In this sense, the fault for the ugly incident yesterday was as much of the traffic authorities. The department should have shown some humility and courtesy by at least issuing a warning that vehicles would be confiscated and their owners penalised if they continued to park their vehicles in the prohibited areas. The objective should have been to enforce a law and not ensnare unsuspecting people into a trap and then punish them. That the latter has actually happened does betray an inborn attitude of the policing system in the state and indeed the entire country. The intent of policing in this case is not so much to ensure the law runs smooth to the benefit of everybody, but to demonstrate a sadistic pleasure in making everybody know the power over ordinary people that those in the commanders’ seats of the state wield. If humility is still considered relevant, the department at least should tender a public apology for what happened at Paona Bazar yesterday.

Other than the unnecessary hiccup caused by the brutish nature of the police action, there can be no argument about it that what is being done is an absolute necessity. In fact, this should be just the beginning. As vehicles continue to crowd Imphal city, city authorities must be prepared to even introduce no engine vehicle areas within the city. These areas could then be open only to pedestrians and cyclists. Apart from decongesting, the city would suddenly begin to acquire a manageable as well as a healthy clean look. Such an outcome would be priceless. There is another thing that traffic authorities must enforce. Public transport vehicles, such as shared auto-rickshaws and minibuses must be allowed to stop only at certain designated stops. At this moment, they stop wherever a putative passenger waves, regardless of where they are, sometimes almost causing accidents. Tough measure have to be taken to ensure the laws are respected, but let us once again reiterate the point that the authorities must change their attitude – let the motive be to make everybody respect the law for their own good, and not trap people just to punish them and get cheap thrills out of it.

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Leader Writer: Hrishikesh Angom

Few days back IFP carried a story under the headline “Tobacco products sold openly inside Manipur University campus”. The story exposed the sale of tobacco products inside the campus of Manipur University by defying the prohibition imposed on the sale of such products around educational institutions. The Prohibition on Sale of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Around Educational Institution Rules, 2004 framed under section 6 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 strictly prohibit the sale of tobacco products within 100 yards of any educational institution. However, such rules were violated inside the campus of this prestigious central university.

The Manipur University authority cannot simply give lame excuses for the violation of rules under the Tobacco Control Act. After all it is a central university and its standards should never be compromised. The prohibition on the sale of tobacco products around educational institutions has been imposed all over the country with the objective of making educational institutions tobacco-free. The Delhi High Court had even issued directives to the authority of Delhi University to set up nodal officers to check sale of tobacco products within 100 yards of their affiliated colleges. The scenario of anti-tobacco campaign has reached new heights in other parts of the country but it is yet to be started in our state. The public places in our state are filled with smokers and various other tobacco consumers who not only harm themselves but also pollute the surroundings. The Manipur University authority might have not taken the matter seriously but it should take up all measures to check the sale of tobacco products around the university campus. The anti-tobacco campaign may also possibly fail in the state if the intellectuals and experts at Manipur University go on allowing the sale of tobacco products inside the campus.

It seems that the people quite understand the harmfulness of tobacco, but in reality it is not so. The statutory warnings written on the packs of cigarettes or gutka cannot alone control tobacco in the country. The prohibition imposed on the sale of tobacco products to minors and around educational institutions is an effective way to control tobacco in the country. Anti-tobacco campaigns should be initiated at different levels in order to sensitize the people against the use of tobacco products which are carcinogenic in nature.

The health authority of the state should take up the needful step to control tobacco in the state. The public places should be made smoke free and all those who violate the rules should be penalized as per the Tobacco Control Act. Moreover, use of tobacco products could pose serious threat to health and so everyone should join the anti-tobacco campaign for creating a healthier and cleaner environment. The authority of educational institutions should also not allow the sale of tobacco products around their institutions. It would be unwise on the part of a premier educational institute of the state like Manipur University to simply allow the sale of tobacco products right inside the campus by ignoring the rules of Tobacco Control Act. The state can attain the tobacco-free status only with support and active participation of the youths and students.

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The unification move by a number of underground organisations operating in the state, as reported in the local media today, is something which would raise hope amongst all in

the state, both those who believe a conclusive solution to the problem of insurgency through negotiation is the need of the hour, as well as those who think that the war must

be fought to its logical end. Nobody will deny that in the absence of such a common front, either of these goals would remain elusive, and in fact even effort towards realising

them would have remain a non starter. The second option, that of fighting the war to its logical end is pretty straight forward, and need no further elaboration, whether this

is desirable or prudent is another matter altogether. On the first proposition, that of reaching a resolution without having to fight militarily, there is much to be said. As

long a united front is absent, and as long as the decision of a single group remains not ratified by a united will, no peace overture can ever gather steam or legitimacy. This

is perhaps what has been inhibiting many of the parties from exploring peace possibilities other than through violence.

The logic of a prolonged conflict is such that certain very peculiar equations come to dominate its dynamics in more ways than one. As for instance, increasingly the situation

is one in which those who opt for peaceful negotiation of precisely the demands that led to the insurrections in the first place, are prone to earn the stigma of weakness and

betrayal of cause, charges which more than likely would stick too. Tough posturing for all the years always makes it seem a comedown to accept anything that seem softer than

the previously vaunted stances of uncompromising violent struggle till the actualisation of the dream that made the struggle inevitable when it was launched. The turnaround

would hence also become vulnerable to be portrayed as show of weakness by the hawks amongst the insurgents’ ranks, although we all know how false such perceptions can be. To

opt for peace is not an easy thing and it take plenty of courage to actually step forward and state the conviction. Given the commitment, there is also little that cannot be

settled by democratic negotiations that bloody wars seemingly can.

There is yet another dimension to what can be terms as “transforming conflict” and bringing it to a route of peaceful dialogue. While the conflicts last, the rhetoric and

indeed ideological drives being such, many lives, many of them brilliant, would have been lost to the cause. Turning around and changing direction of the struggle after all

that have happened would hence be burdened with a heavy conscience. The question that would nag the leadership in such circumstance would be about how they would explain the

shift in approach to the soul of those who made the supreme sacrifices in the course of the struggle till then. Would such a decision to change course amount to sending out the

message that those who lost their lives died in vain?

This last question and the answer to it is vital in any peace approach. It is a very sensitive question and should be treated as such by all parties involved on either side of

the conflict, if they are interested in lasting peace ultimately. Phrases such as “misguided youth” or “misled brethrens”, returning to the “mainstream” etc, are extremely

insensitive in this sense, and although perhaps not visible immediately, would leave residues of guilt and disapproval in the minds and hearts of many, sowing the seeds for

future trouble. The approach hence should be one of treating the new approach, if any, as a continuance of the struggle, and that this new turn was a logical consequence of the

road the conflict has been on thus far. That is to say, that it must always be acknowledged that those who lost their lives in the earlier stages of the violent struggles, made

invaluable contributions to the overall progress of the struggle, and that it was their sacrifices which made it possible for the struggle to make the new turn. Indeed, any

historian of insurgency would vouch that this indeed is always the case. It is unfortunate but seldom false that it is the language of violence that made an insensitive

establishment listen to the issues being articulated in the first instance. It is only after this attention has been won that people can begin talking meaningfully of a

peaceful negotiated settlement to the problem at hand. This being so, the genesis and history of an insurrection must be given the respect they deserve first before a new non

violent course to conflict resolution can be thought of as a meaningful alternative.

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Mumbai has once again become a target of terrorism. Three bombs went off at three different busy spots in the city, killing at least 10 and injuring hundreds. The toll according to sources in the city is likely to rise still further. It does seem terrorism is here to stay in India, and the country needs to do something quickly to contain the situation. The fact that the attack has come again in Mumbai, the financial and commercial heart of the country is significant, for it does confirm the intent is beyond creation of mere immediate mayhem and panic. There can be no argument these attacks are meant to destabilize the country and to shake up its growing confidence and respect amongst the comity of world nations. But as much as the country needs to react adequately and proportionately to the crimes committed against the nation, it must exercise caution in executing its vengeance. Indeed it is an unenviable situation India is in. It walks a tight rope, and even the slightest over-reaction can cause more damage than good, embittering sections of its population, to be precise its Muslim citizens, upon which the needle of suspicion of the public and officials is already pointing even before the full details of the blasts have emerged. A wheel of violence marked by vengeance and counter-vengeance could be set in motion, just as communal riots after communal riots that targeted the Muslim community have done in the past.
But this violence is not only mindless but also its perpetrators frustratingly invisible. It is a war fought by people who do not come out in the open and declare war. It is even not a full-fledged war, or for that matter a bush-war fought by guerrillas, hitting and scooting to asymmetrically augment their smaller stock of war hardware as well as personnel resources. On the other hand, this is a war with a stratagem of, to use a familiar parlance in conflict writing, inflicting a thousand cuts to bleed the victim white. It does not matter if these methods do not live up to any standard of valour or chivalry that wars through the ages, even the most bitter ones, have seldom abandoned altogether, and when they have been, at least suffered the indignation of the world. Here too there would be indignation from the conscientious world, but the difference in the situation is, the invisible perpetrators of the dirty war would not care. For them, the end is all and the means to the end is inconsequential. Who otherwise would plant bombs stealthily in crowded areas, knowing full well those who end up killed or injured would be perfectly innocent people? It is extremely sinister to think that these criminals would use their ability, and indeed lack of scruples to kill and injure helpless and defenceless ordinary people, as their blackmail weapon.
This war is not only terrifying, but also changing the notion of valour and war itself. It perpetrators would probably be hoping the reaction of the Indian state goes overboard and alienate more people. In fact, it would have planned its attacks in such a way as to bring the situation to such a pass. In an infinite number of ways, even the revolutionary wars and insurgencies of the Northeast are far more tangible, and in the classical sense of the term, honourable. At least the enemies are known to each other and before the lumpen takeover in recent times, care taken not to hurt the ordinary citizenry. The fight in this circumstance is generally restricted to combatants alone. Because this is so, even those insurgencies in the Northeast which all of us who have been observers of their development thought were intractable, now seem much more open to democratic solutions. We would very much like the insurgencies in our land to achieve honourable ends where nobody is left with a sense of defeat but all end up as winners. But even if such a happy future is destined to remain elusive, we hope that none of the insurgencies and revolutions degenerates into the kind of mindless terrorism that Mumbai is witnessing, unmindful anymore of the profile of victims created. There have been tendencies of such a scenario emerging here too, fortunately, good senses seem to be have prevailed on this count, and those activities are on the wane, we hope permanently. In the meantime, in these times of uncertainty, we hope the country is able to remain calm, and while doing the needful, does not at any stage lose itself in any kind of overkill which can only cause hurt to itself in the long run.

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As Imphal grows and its traffic volume increases, one would have expected, among other things, parking space growing reciprocally. Quite to the contrary, the reverse is happening. Even more surprising (or not surprising) is the fact that there are absolutely no visible attempts by the government yet to address and tackle the issue. After the substantial government salaries hike as per the 6th Pay Commission’s recommendations, together with the ever aggressive sale of car loans by the banks and not the least the ever competitive pricing of lower end automobiles, Imphal as expected is witnessing ever the more traffic nightmares. Already traffic jams are a daily affair and getting worse by the day. Even if it was to be conceded that the congestion is made worse by the ongoing road repair and the sewerage construction works, it is difficult to imagine how things would improve even after these projects are over. The basic and crude philosophy behind city land management which has guided governments after governments in the state has been to convert every bit of available space in the city into real estate, either for those in positions of power to grab or else to auction off on the quiet. Few or none amongst them, it seems, believe in the value of open public space in a city, hence today Imphal is devoid of proper parks or parking areas. It will be recalled, even the Kangla was almost partitioned off and sold off as shop plots if not for the intervention of the conscientious public. Not to be totally deterred, the authorities a decade ago constructed a line of shops along the Kangla’s northern boundary, but thankfully again, these shops were demolished on the intervention of several civil society bodies and campaigns by the media, including IFP.
A similar fate had seemed almost certain for the historic Mapal Kangjeibung, and a line of shops had been constructed on its edge along the BT Road, and this the government was determined to keep even in the face of public protests, but other plans overtook it finally and the shops had to come down to give way to the BT Flyover. Are all these a case of acute and incorrigible political myopia, or else of greed having no limit? Most likely, it is a combination of both. Whatever they are, here we are faced with their consequences, the almost absolute lack of parking space and crawling traffic being the most visible. It is however no point endlessly cribbing over split milk, although the manner in which this milk was spilt would make any outrage justifiable. Instead, it would be far more constructive to think of ways to salvage the situation to the best possible extent. Even if the government has no intent of listening to the strategies we have thought of, at least we hope it would agree to exercise its mind to engage the problem.
First and foremost, prohibit heavy vehicles from entering the Imphal municipal area during busy daylight hours. If they have to enter, let it be after 7pm or 8pm or before 5am. This means bus and freight vehicles depots will have to be built in the outskirts. There is one at Khuman Lampak already, this can take care of the northern end, but there will have to be others for the Moirang-Churachandpur line, Kakching-Moreh line and Jiri-Kangchup lines too. To minimise the need for private automobiles coming out on the streets, introduce an efficient and clean city transport service. This could be outsourced if the government is not up to it. Shift out the existing bus depots from the heart of Imphal, most pertinently the Keishampat and Sagolband parkings. Lastly, construct ring roads around Imphal so as to prevent the city becoming a thoroughfare for vehicles whose destination is not the city. This should not be too difficult for it would be just a matter of upgrading and ringing up existing suitable roads from the existing network. In the long run, the government can also think of satellite cities, say for instance at Mantripukhri, Lilong, Litan, Andro etc. But above all this, the government must first and foremost shed the mindset that a city means one extended bazar constituting of endless lines of shops and nothing else. Tree-lined avenues, green spots such as parks, well marked parking areas, open malls where the city’s denizens can come out for evening strolls or morning walks are what make cities beautiful. India Gate in New Delhi, Eiffel Tower in Paris, The Mall in Washington DC, etc are just few examples. Last of all, just as a suggestion again, as in so many progressive cities all over the world, keep some of the streets free of engine vehicles if not everyday, at least one day a week, preferably on weekends and public holidays.

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A very frequently debated question in Manipur is what constitutes freedom of the press. The classical definition of this freedom is that while news is sacred, opinions are free. That is to say, freedom of the press does not give the liberty for media organizations to tamper with news, but it gives these organizations every right for its editors and leader writers to interpret news events the way it pleases them, just as it is in everybody’s right to agree or not agree with these opinions. In fact the very idea of a meaningful problem solving discourse presumes everybody has the freedom to keep and express opinions without fear or apprehension. The object of a serious discourse hence is to discover a “site” where ideas can interact, interchange, replicate and expand themselves, to borrow a very intellectual understanding of the proposition from the French Philosopher, Michel Foucault, as elucidated in an essay “What is an author?” Against this backdrop, we are of the opinion that even the phrase “freedom of press”, is limited in its scope for the right to keep and express opinions cannot be exclusive to the press alone, but anybody who believes and values a discourse. This dictum that facts are sacred but opinions free must apply to everybody. Any objection to this betrays a fascistic mindset which informs itself that nothing else is worthwhile except its own opinion. This is the surest obituary for the civilized problem solving mechanism (in our case conflict resolving mechanism) known as “discourse”.

We are at a loss to remember how many times this obituary has been written in our society in the past. The bans, the boycotts, and worse still, threats to life and limbs to those who raise dissenting voice have obliterated all scopes for any healthy discourse. Our society has become so rectilinear in its approach and vision of its past, present and future, so very contrary to life’s multifarious nature. It is not just the press alone but practically everybody is expected to fall into line with these approaches and visions. But it is not too late yet. We can still allow the age old wisdom of the free media – that  “news is sacred and opinions free” – grow and flower again in our society. Only when this happens, our ideas and visions can have the chance to rejuvenate. As of now, let us be honest, they are aging. We continue to live our lives on yesterday’s slogans, extracted from dog-eared manifestos of a bygone era. Only freethinking debates and discourses can tune our society out of our anachronistic present.

How free is the Manipur press then? We suppose we can only justifiably answer for ourselves. How free has the IFP been in discharging its  important duty of providing informed views on events that happen in the state? Our honest answer is, while we have tried our best to work as per the dictum that news is sacred and opinions free, which we whole heartedly believe in, we must have to confess that we too have been guilty often of shooting the piano player after ignoring the bandmaster and the composer. We too cannot wash our hands of the guilt of blasting the government only, for the carnages committed by other agencies. In the cases of some of the most atrocious public crimes in the present times, such as that of the library arson in the wake of the Mayek agitation or the ban on Little Flower School by a students’ organization at about the same time for the school refusing to allow its students to enlist in students to public “students’ unions” (which are actually political proxies of various radical organisations) or other such coercive campaigns some of which ironically direct attacked media freedom, and over which the entire state media even have had to stop publication for days together, it is surprising the only agency the media was ready to blame was the government. The government perhaps deserves all the choice sound bites, but when the criticisms are silent on other agencies responsible for these affronts, something terribly rings hollow. As for instance, the government failed to anticipate the library arson but it did not burn the building. The government failed to prevent the routine bomb blasts in the state but  it did not throw the bombs. We fear that this hollowness, if allowed to linger on, will be the demon that destroys the credibility of the media in the state before the eyes of the world. Such an outcome would be such a great loss for everybody. The media’s biased discretions in these matters of course speak of the liberal nature of our so called democratic polity. Our plea then is also for this liberal spirit of democracy to be imbibed by all so that true and honest discourses can begin happening again in our society.

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In continuance of the suggestion we made in the editorial yesterday in a rumination on ways a solution could be worked out in relation to the demand of the United Naga Council, UNC, for a separate administrative arrangement for the Nagas of Manipur, another way of putting to effect a more broad-based federalism is to introduce the 6th Schedule in the state. However, the peculiarity of the demography, geography and most importantly the ethnic polarisation in Manipur in the past few decades being what it is, let the schedule cover the entire state and not just certain areas only. The 6th Schedule in spirit was meant to protect small pockets of tribal habitations embedded in a sea of non-tribal population. In the case of Manipur, the peculiarity is, in terms of area of occupation, only one tenth of the land mass of the state is of non-reserved category and the remaining 90 percent reserved for  tribals: in short just the opposite of what the 6th Schedule envisaged to protect. This being the case, it would be in the fitness of things  to have all the nine districts of the state covered by the 6th Schedule and all of them come under the administration of an independent Autonomous Districts Councils each. This would mean there would be a hundred percent overlap of administration between the 6th Schedule ADCs and the state government’s administrative domain, almost in a replication of the Meghalaya case. As in Meghalaya, only the Imphal municipal area which is today truly cosmopolitan, can be left as the non-reserved space, administered as usual directly by the state government with the help of its different autonomous administrative instruments, such as the recently revived Imphal Municipal Council, IMC. If this were to be the case, there would be no cause for complaint by anybody of being treated below par of any other administrative units of the state.

There is however a few things that needs to be clarified regarding the  much hyped hill-valley disparity that has been so much the cause for accumulation of bile amongst many, especially in the hill districts often at the motivated instigation of interested parties. The sore point magnified quite unjustifiably has been of the difference in visible material development between Imphal and the hills. This comparison is badly flawed. Imphal is the political as well as the commercial capital of the state hence would be understandably bigger and more commercially alive than other townships and district headquarters. This difference however is not just with towns in the hill districts but also the valley as well. This being the case, a more apt and justified comparison of prosperity would be between say Bishenpur and Ukhrul or Thoubal and Churachandpur, and not Imphal and Ukhrul etc. Let this fact register once and for all, Imphal is ahead because it is the state’s political and commercial capital for reasons that have to do with a lot of factors, including geography and location.

Again, if we sit down and consider the demography of Imphal city, a  different picture other than what so many vested interests have been trying to project would emerge. The heart of Imphal is the Kangla, the old seat of power of the erstwhile kingdom of Manipur. Consider the population that surrounds it. In the north are North AOC, Dewlahland, Nagaram, Pumai colony, etc, in the West are Major Khul, Muji Khul, Kakhulong, and the Bazar business communities etc, in the south Keishamthong Kabui, Moirangkhom, Mahabali Kabui, Haokip Veng etc, in the east, Checkon, Tribal Colony, Chassad Avenue etc. All of these are tribal dominated. It would not be surprising at all if in the very heart of Imphal, traditional residents, the Meitei, are not in the majority. In the greater Imphal region of course, this community would emerge as the majority again, because the Imphal suburbs and the rest of the valley area are their traditional home ground. Let it hence not be said in an unqualified and irresponsible manner that Imphal is Meitei city, and that developing it is only in the interest of the Meiteis. It is a cosmopolitan city and if ethnic poisons are not breathed into it constantly, it would be a beautiful one as well. Even if our suggestion comes to be considered by the powers that be, our plea is for Imphal to left untouched by the walls of ethnic divisions, which in many ways the 6th Schedule is, and be allowed to be owned and built jointly by the state’s many communities which inhabit it.

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That torture still continues to be used as an interrogation method by the security establishment is an undeniable truism. Practically anybody who has been in custody of the police and military in Manipur, and indeed anywhere where serious challenges to nation exist, will vouch this. The continuing phenomenon of unexplained custodial deaths in Manipur is again another strong circumstantial evidence of this practice, despite all the official denial and all the alibis cooked up to prove natural death, every time a custodial death happens. This being the case, it was indeed relevant that many human rights organisations got together to remember the World Anti-Torture Day on Sunday, June 26, not just as a show of symbolic solidarity with the movement, but also to put more steam into the effort to rehabilitate and treat torture victims out of the trauma syndrome they naturally are left to live with. We cannot think of a more barbaric method of interrogation than torture. First of all it presumes guilt before being proven guilty. Not only this, on this presumption alone, severe and inhuman treatment of the victim is taken as legitimate. Even from the statement of near and dear ones of many unfortunate not to survive these treatments, it is evident that the chances of those given the third degree treatment in custody were innocent, is very high. Imagine somebody is tortured to confess to a crime and when no such confession is forthcoming, probably because the tortured man has nothing to confess, the victim is either left to go free with the threat he should not reveal whatever has happened on the pain of more similar treatments or death, or else eliminated so nothing of what happened leaked out. The story of 15 year old Yumlembam Sanamacha who disappeared after being taken into Army custody in 1998 is still well known. The boy, it is now apparent, was a case of mistaken identity. The school boy did not survive the treatment he received while in custody and was made to disappear. Even the elimination without trial in a civil court of those who are likely to be guilty of grave offences is illegal and objectionable, but it is simply unthinkable that even a single innocent person should fall victim to such beastly treatment.

Sadly, there are too many who do not believe this, and even would go ahead to dismiss the issue of innocent victims as collateral damage. Nothing can be a more atrocious disregard of either humanity or law, both national and international. Yet, the officialdom continues to turn a blind eye and by this very gesture, give the practice a tacit nod of approval. It is not surprising then that despite being pinned so many times by circumstances that such illegal practices still continue, there is no tangible evidence that a change is on the way. Bringing the picture within context, it however goes without saying that it is not just government forces which continue to resort to this savage method of interrogation. Many underground armies indeed use their vaunted willingness to use torture and even summary execution, and the terror this inspires on the common folk, to have people bend to their brutal will. Custodial deaths are also nothing new in this camp as well. Innocent victims subjected to intimidations and physical abuses are also equally common. The campaign against torture hence has to look wider than they generally tend to in order to bring this aspect of the issue into focus.

But as of now, since torture in custody is still a fact of life, even as the campaign for its end continues, a parallel movement to treat and help victims overcome their trauma is vital. In the spirit of how international humanitarian organisations like the Red Cross, Medicine Sans Frontier, etc, go about their jobs, anybody who has been victim, regardless of whether of government forces or of the numerous and ever multiplying number of underground organisations, must be given equal importance. While it is true from the political vantage, the same crime of torture committed by the government forces should be treated as more serious than those by elements who consider themselves outside the law of the land, what must not be forgotten is that from the humanitarian viewpoint, the politics behind the issue is secondary to the suffering of the victims, regardless of who the aggressor is. The immediate concern hence must be on the victims. A longer term campaign strategy must then be planned to have torture abolished unconditionally everywhere. We are no longer living in the Medieval Ages, or are we?

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Leader Writer: Leivon Jimmy

The recent news report published by a newspaper based in Nagaland of the so called ghost “Naga Crusaders” serving a quit notice to the general community from hill districts of Manipur is one of the most irresponsible thing that a well established and reputed media house had done.

Manipur as we all know is fragile state where sense of division is prevailing under the skin with influences from many megalomaniacs, ready to sacrifice others to propagate its principle for the shake of power.

Under such circumstances committing an error that could jeopardize the tranquility of communal harmony and cost huge damage, is a disappointment for the media fraternity especially when it is very irrelevant and easily avoidable topic sent by a ‘ghost’ from the other side of the world. It is a universal fact that “to err is human” and no body is perfect. But the error here was apparently immature and moreover ignorant of the ground reality of Manipur.

Fortunately the issue has passed off peacefully for the time being thanks to the matured approached of many civil bodies who echoed message of peace and harmony.

A big round of applause should be given to the All Manipur Working Journalist Union (AMWJU). Considering the sensitivity of the situation it has swiftly acted to stone wall the further escalation of the issue by taking initiative to clear the doubt with highlighting what it has been informed as unintentional error besides bringing the so called “Naga Crusaders” to the notice of the people of its existence who currently seem to be in stealth mode.

The so called “Naga Crusader” has paved way for many opportunists. The most crucial moments has arrived for the people to be alert and aware ever than before. Taking due advantage to the unstable relation between of the two neighboring state in the wake of the prolonged and unofficial boundary issue, the time is ripe for witching hour.

Curiosity has now griped the mind of people. By now there may be hundreds odd questions wanting to be answered whether the recent act has anything to do with political implication, or instigation and what not? This curiosity is also another apprehension of intoxicating with unhealthy stress.

By and large it is the now the much required duty of the concerned authorities to regulate some extra careful measures before thing gets out of grip. At the same time, various civil bodies, social leaders must assist in the venture to prevent unwanted menace at their own capacity.

The first and foremost thing that needs to be done is to find out the perpetrator behind the unhealthy act. If required an enquiry should be executed to the matter and booked the perpetrator under the law for intimidating the security of two state and exemplary action must be taken against them and no one should be spared.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/YnhtJeJ7QEE/

Manipur stands on a bed of dry tinder today, seemingly ready to break out into an inferno by even the tiniest spark. The hill-valley divide has never been so accentuated, ethnic exclusive politics have ensured the foundation of fraternal bondages between the different communities are shaken, ever expanding population against a stagnant job market has resulted in stiffening competition for them and in unhealthy manner where suspicion is continually bred between the reserved category of job seekers and those in the open category, each believing they have been being short-changed. While those in the reserved category are prone to believe they are being denied their fair share, those in the non-reserved category think they are being made to competed with their hands and legs tied. These perceptions have only resulted in furthering the divide between different communities. While the government remains overwhelmed and clueless as to how to tackle the problem, there are apparently sinister vested interests trying to take advantage of the bad situation and further their dark designs of fomenting ethnic mayhem in the state. The news item in a Nagaland daily in which a previously unheard of organisation called “Naga Crusaders” serving quit notice to Meiteis living in the hill districts is just the latest of these. There can possibly be no other motive behind this than to spark communal hatred and possibly violence. If this indeed was a statement of intent, nothing can be more puerile, considering there are not too many Meiteis living in the hills because of the land regulatory system which prohibits Meiteis and other non-tribals from settling in the hill districts. The opposite however is not true, and hill communities are free to settle in the valley, therefore there is a much greater cosmopolitan mix of population in the valley.

Although the development would have left a bad taste in the mouth, it is not surprising that nobody is taking the threat too seriously. In the past, even at the heights of hill-valley tension, no communal violence of a scale worth mention happened between the valley and hill communities. In fact, observers from outside the state were left confounded that no violence broke out between Nagas and Meiteis even in the aftermath of May 6 last year when two youth were killed at Mao gate protesting the Manipur government’s refusal to allow NSCN(IM) leader Th. Muivah, to enter the state. No communal violence resulted earlier in June 2001 either when there were wide scale street protests against the decision of the Government of India to declare the NSCN(IM) ceasefire “without territorial limits”. It may be recalled that in this protest, on June 18, when the crowd turned violent, 18 protestors lost their lives in firing by security men and several government infrastructures, including the Manipur State Assembly were burnt down. Yet, all fears of an outbreak of communal violence proved false alarm. The inner integrity of the Manipur society is something to be admired indeed.

Although the present threat is unlikely to have its ostensibly intended effect of inciting communal violence, what needs to be noted by everybody is, the continual friction between the different communities in the state is nothing to be proud of. If it is allowed to continue, this will not be the last time communal forces try to foment violence and hatred. This being the case, the people by and large must remain alert, and more importantly work towards a resolution to the tensions. But the current problem also brings to the fore the danger that sloppy vetting for unsubstantiated inflammatory messages by the media before allowing them to go into print, can cause. The editor of the Nagaland newspaper which published the news item has clarified it was an oversight that allowed such a message to find print. Other Naga civil society bodies too have declared that the group is unknown and at best mischief mongers. What the sorry episode has done however is leave a lesson for the media as well. It is imperative now for the media anywhere, but more pertinently in conflict torn states like Manipur where false and provocative news can have grave implication, to be extremely wary of information availed through email by little heard of organisations, especially if their contents are unsubstantiated and can prove inflammatory.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/7tX-m2CXFZ0/

In the time warp that Manipur is caught in, nothing which is happening all around the country and the world seems to matter. No issue it also seems is worth consideration except those that it has been fixated on for a long time now, such as the increasingly sickening hill-valley territory tussle. So while the entire country rages on the issue of the Jan Lokpal Bill to be designed by prominent citizens to control official corruption, Manipur remains blissfully unconcerned although in spirit, though not in volume, it must remain one of the most corrupt states in the country. Little or nothing can make government files move without corruption. Every recruitment to government jobs has a price tag, and those who manage it without paying are those too brilliant to be left out without making it obvious corruption was the key to success. In the past, in opinion surveys after surveys, in talks shows after talk shows, so many supposedly enlightened citizens had come out in the open with airs of feigned disdain that corruption was at the roots of most of the state’s problems, including the insurgency in the land which has now come to be considered in every conceivable circle, activist and academic, as imminently intractable. Yet, when the iron is hot and opportunity knocks, none of those who have been advocating this view all along is bothered to come forward and do the needful to try and make the difference.

The rest of the country is out to fight corruption because it destroys the nation’s economy. If the Indian economy is too big and powerful to be destroyed so easily, what it certainly does is to prevent it from being what it could have been. Various speculations put it that black money volume generated in the country could be as much as 40 percent of the national economy, so that if this money was to become tax accounted, India’s already sizeable economy could be much bigger. There are big time thieves, as we all witnessed in various scandals such as in the 2G allocation and Commonwealth Games cases, unfolding over national television and newspapers, but apart from these there are also millions of smaller scale and very low profile thieveries happening everywhere in the country. Small proprietorship businesses get away with dodged income taxes easily, and the speculation is that the accumulated losses from these would be several hundred times that of what the big time high profile thieves steal from the national coffer.

In Manipur, which today virtually has come to live on doles and grants from the Union government, the issue is different. It is not so much about a destruction of the economy, for much of the money “poured” into the state is unearned, and would in any case come no matter what the ground level performance by the state’s guardians and the bureaucratic monolith. The issue on the other hand is one of a moral degradation and the murder of healthy competition. The harm the first does is a matter of opinion and conviction, but the devastation the latter can cause is a universally accepted truth. Killing competition invariably amounts to contaminating and even destroying the fountainhead of creative energy. Just one example should illustrate. About three decades ago, the medical selection tests were a den of corruption. One year, test results had to be even cancelled as exam answer scripts were found used as wrappers in a tea stall close to the medical directorate even before the results were declared. Only children who more often than not were spoilt and had very poor academic records, but lucky to be of rich parents who could afford to buy these seats, were selected, leaving talented but poor students to walk away disappointed to lick their wounds in silence and helpless anger. At least the medical selection process has been somewhat cleansed, giving back hope to all talented competitors, rich and poor alike. The control of corruption has indeed amounted to the return of a very healthy egalitarianism. But this is still not so in so many other departments of the government, thus they continue to exclude the poor even if very talented, from entering their ranks. The cost for this should not be difficult to imagine. Look at the number of absolutely useless, half literate government employees from the past burdening the state. These include numerous school and college teachers who cannot even write a single sentence correctly, much less hold the fort arguing or developing an idea till their logical conclusion. The harm this has done to generations of youth from the state cannot be pardonable. But the truth is, corruption continues to slow poison our society and few are ready to do anything about it.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/5rYk8SzYdJw/

In 2006 Literature Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk’s “The Black Book” there is a passage describing the relationship between Turkish Jews and the Turks, dominantly Muslims. Both are the same people, yet both are so different in their outlook to life, for reasons unfathomable. Describing the situation he says: “And wasn’t it amazing, just amazing, to watch these two peoples through the twentieth century swaying to the rhythm of the same secret music, never meeting, always at a tangent, forever linked, forever condemned, like a pair of hopeless twins.” The great thing about great quotes is, they seem so uncannily applicable to similar human situations everywhere. Pamuk’s quote hence may just as well have been about Manipur and the relations between different ethnic groups and different geographic regions of the state, in particular the much hyped hill-valley divide.

Yesterday this tangential show of interests was up for show. While in the valley, the June 18 uprising anniversary was being observed, an extraordinary event in which hundreds of thousand people took to the streets of Imphal in 2001 to protest what they believed was a move by the Central government to dismember Manipur’s historical territory, elsewhere the United Naga Council, UNC, dispatched a letter to the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, seeking an administrative arrangement separate from the Manipur government for the Nagas in what they consider as their traditional territorial domain. It may be recalled, the June 18, 2001 incident that followed the Government of India’s unilateral decision to extend the NSCN(IM) ceasefire into Manipur under the blanket clause “without territorial limits”, resulted in the death of 18 protestors and the burning down of several important government infrastructures, including the Manipur State Assembly building. It is pertinent to note here that one of the main demands of the NSCN(IM) is the formation of a Greater Nagaland by merging territories of Manipur and other neighbouring states which it considers as part of a traditional Naga homeland with the state of Nagaland. In 2010 May 6 again there was another confrontation when the Manipur government did not allow the NSCN(IM) chairman, Th. Muivah to enter Manipur to visit his village Somdal in Ukhrul, leading to agitations at Mao gate in which two protestors ended up killed. At the time, the Manipur government was pushing ahead with the election to the autonomous district councils, ADCs, in the hill districts, which for reasons of their own, the UNC and some other Naga organisations objected, and the government was apprehensive Muivah’s visit was timed to coincide with the agitation, among others. It may also be recalled that while sections of the Nagas objected to the ADC elections, other hill communities welcomed it.

What can anybody make of this friction, other than what Pamuk described as “always at a tangent, forever linked, forever condemned, like a pair of hopeless twins”? If the problem seems intractable and irreconcilable, think again. It just requires for all caught in this senseless trap to distance themselves a little from the immediate and from a detached vantage, take a more dispassionate look at these same issues. From such a vantage, these frictions would suddenly begin to appear extremely limited, and this is probably also why so many observers from outside this conflict theatre are unable to comprehend how these conflicts manage to sustain for so long, for the reasons behind them appear to them as easily reconcilable. Those of us immersed in these frictions know very well how very far the truth this observation is. However, the question worth considering is whether it is these observations which are limited in vision, or else it is the inability of parties in these frictions who are incapable of rising above the immediate and mundane, to see and think outside the box. While we have always been of the opinion that there has to be a balance between the objective and subjective visions for a more accurate assessment of any conflict situation, it must also be acknowledged this also implies that either of these visions can come to overbear on the other thus skewing up these assessments. At this moment, it does seem there is an excessive and indeed unhealthy tilt towards a myopic subjectivism dominating the professed logics behind these conflicts.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/M16yu4AGKzQ/

Leader Writer: Paojel Chaoba

Recently a friend came back from abroad, after spending some weeks here. I was given a detail on how things which are supposed to be mandatory for a civilized society are much at lacking even in the State capital itself.

One at the foremost was the erratic power supply issue, the public is more than aware of the present status, sometimes it becomes a task to charge one’s mobile phone, carrying a mobile charger has become routine and to look at other localities or offices whether if power is there. All these just to charge a phone, the myriad ways that the commercial enterprises must be suffering are left to one’s imagination.

The effectiveness of the Power Department recently concluded drive also fails to address the woes of the public. The drive carried out had disconnected scores of lines of the defaulting consumers and arrested several persons for illegal connections, tariff were collected to the tune of several crores. But ,despite the supposed all out effort of the State Power Department has yielded but naught and the supply remains erratic as ever.

If we dig deeper and the concerned officials are approached for their departments non performance, the reason is always pointed towards one thing only,i.e. the prevailing law and order situation of the state.

It is observed that most of the top executives of the State may ride in fancy cars, have fabulous mansions and have numerous bank accounts with bulging balances, but they lack the air of a contented person. Most have a worn out and apprehensive look, truth be told, they cannot sleep with their gates open nor travel without security escort. And the blame for their condition is still on the law and order, the scare tactics and threats of the UGs.

The blame game is open to both sides, the officials on their part stating that the UG interference and extortion have affected the workings and proper implementation of many schemes aimed at public welfare, whereas the UGs also in their circulars charge the official of high corruption and the blame game continues.

It is pertinent to mention that the factionalism trend of the UG outfits still continues unabated and the extortionist approach sometimes gives the benefit of the doubt to the state officials.

It is heard in many occasions for the insurgent groups need to come under an administrative umbrella as they all have a common objective. A united front if emerged into reality would be beneficial to all. Their struggle for independence would gain momentum and it may be easier for the government to address a political solution which may come in the form of a plebiscite or otherwise. Moreover, public servants cannot blame their shortcomings to a vague splinter organization.

The State government also needs to come clean in addressing the insurgency issues and the recent surrender of PULF cadres which according to Tehelka Magazine was a farce is factually evident by the series of events in itself. If a media house based on its sources announces that a jailbreak will occur and so many prisoners including a high profile convict will escape on a particular date, and later if the jailbreak occurs. It clearly shows that the media house knows about the system working inside the jail and the weaknesses and covert schemes of the concerned jail authorities. Quoting a line from Reggae music legend Bob Marley, “You can fool some people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all of the time” should be acknowledged from all quarters that if the public stands up for their rights, then there will be no stopping them and they are not afraid to lay down their lives for the just cause. A significant example is the observation of the Great June Uprising Day which falls today. The 18 martyrs are the ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice neither for money nor independence but for the real love of the land.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/3amwWWuYIpk/

Leader Writer: Paojel Chaoba

Recently a friend came back from abroad, after spending some weeks here. I was given a detail on how things which are supposed to be mandatory for a civilized society are much at lacking even in the State capital itself.

One at the foremost was the erratic power supply issue, the public is more than aware of the present status, sometimes it becomes a task to charge one’s mobile phone, carrying a mobile charger has become routine and to look at other localities or offices whether if power is there. All these just to charge a phone, the myriad ways that the commercial enterprises must be suffering are left to one’s imagination.

The effectiveness of the Power Department recently concluded drive also fails to address the woes of the public. The drive carried out had disconnected scores of lines of the defaulting consumers and arrested several persons for illegal connections, tariff were collected to the tune of several crores. But ,despite the supposed all out effort of the State Power Department has yielded but naught and the supply remains erratic as ever.

If we dig deeper and the concerned officials are approached for their departments non performance, the reason is always pointed towards one thing only,i.e. the prevailing law and order situation of the state.

It is observed that most of the top executives of the State may ride in fancy cars, have fabulous mansions and have numerous bank accounts with bulging balances, but they lack the air of a contented person. Most have a worn out and apprehensive look, truth be told, they cannot sleep with their gates open nor travel without security escort. And the blame for their condition is still on the law and order, the scare tactics and threats of the UGs.

The blame game is open to both sides, the officials on their part stating that the UG interference and extortion have affected the workings and proper implementation of many schemes aimed at public welfare, whereas the UGs also in their circulars charge the official of high corruption and the blame game continues.

It is pertinent to mention that the factionalism trend of the UG outfits still continues unabated and the extortionist approach sometimes gives the benefit of the doubt to the state officials.

It is heard in many occasions for the insurgent groups need to come under an administrative umbrella as they all have a common objective. A united front if emerged into reality would be beneficial to all. Their struggle for independence would gain momentum and it may be easier for the government to address a political solution which may come in the form of a plebiscite or otherwise. Moreover, public servants cannot blame their shortcomings to a vague splinter organization.

The State government also needs to come clean in addressing the insurgency issues and the recent surrender of PULF cadres which according to Tehelka Magazine was a farce is factually evident by the series of events in itself. If a media house based on its sources announces that a jailbreak will occur and so many prisoners including a high profile convict will escape on a particular date, and later if the jailbreak occurs. It clearly shows that the media house knows about the system working inside the jail and the weaknesses and covert schemes of the concerned jail authorities. Quoting a line from Reggae music legend Bob Marley, “You can fool some people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all of the time” should be acknowledged from all quarters that if the public stands up for their rights, then there will be no stopping them and they are not afraid to lay down their lives for the just cause. A significant example is the observation of the Great June Uprising Day which falls today. The 18 martyrs are the ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice neither for money nor independence but for the real love of the land.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/3amwWWuYIpk/

Leader Writer: Paojel Chaoba

Recently a friend came back from abroad, after spending some weeks here. I was given a detail on how things which are supposed to be mandatory for a civilized society are much at lacking even in the State capital itself.

One at the foremost was the erratic power supply issue, the public is more than aware of the present status, sometimes it becomes a task to charge one’s mobile phone, carrying a mobile charger has become routine and to look at other localities or offices whether if power is there. All these just to charge a phone, the myriad ways that the commercial enterprises must be suffering are left to one’s imagination.

The effectiveness of the Power Department recently concluded drive also fails to address the woes of the public. The drive carried out had disconnected scores of lines of the defaulting consumers and arrested several persons for illegal connections, tariff were collected to the tune of several crores. But ,despite the supposed all out effort of the State Power Department has yielded but naught and the supply remains erratic as ever.

If we dig deeper and the concerned officials are approached for their departments non performance, the reason is always pointed towards one thing only,i.e. the prevailing law and order situation of the state.

It is observed that most of the top executives of the State may ride in fancy cars, have fabulous mansions and have numerous bank accounts with bulging balances, but they lack the air of a contented person. Most have a worn out and apprehensive look, truth be told, they cannot sleep with their gates open nor travel without security escort. And the blame for their condition is still on the law and order, the scare tactics and threats of the UGs.

The blame game is open to both sides, the officials on their part stating that the UG interference and extortion have affected the workings and proper implementation of many schemes aimed at public welfare, whereas the UGs also in their circulars charge the official of high corruption and the blame game continues.

It is pertinent to mention that the factionalism trend of the UG outfits still continues unabated and the extortionist approach sometimes gives the benefit of the doubt to the state officials.

It is heard in many occasions for the insurgent groups need to come under an administrative umbrella as they all have a common objective. A united front if emerged into reality would be beneficial to all. Their struggle for independence would gain momentum and it may be easier for the government to address a political solution which may come in the form of a plebiscite or otherwise. Moreover, public servants cannot blame their shortcomings to a vague splinter organization.

The State government also needs to come clean in addressing the insurgency issues and the recent surrender of PULF cadres which according to Tehelka Magazine was a farce is factually evident by the series of events in itself. If a media house based on its sources announces that a jailbreak will occur and so many prisoners including a high profile convict will escape on a particular date, and later if the jailbreak occurs. It clearly shows that the media house knows about the system working inside the jail and the weaknesses and covert schemes of the concerned jail authorities. Quoting a line from Reggae music legend Bob Marley, “You can fool some people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all of the time” should be acknowledged from all quarters that if the public stands up for their rights, then there will be no stopping them and they are not afraid to lay down their lives for the just cause. A significant example is the observation of the Great June Uprising Day which falls today. The 18 martyrs are the ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice neither for money nor independence but for the real love of the land.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/e7tDJrLIBIo/

Absolute faith is absolute surrender to an amazing grace. A lot many people do not like the idea of surrender, but it is a fact that a lot many who felt there never was a need to surrender, did ultimately surrender – albeit a surrender not in humiliation, but in humility. In legendary singer and poet, Bob Dylan’s words: “You may be the heavy weight champion of the world, but someday you gonna have to serve somebody.” This amazing grace however does not have to be in the direct sense of Almighty God, but often manifests in the shape of what many poets have referred to as “hope”. TS Eliot’s “Four Quartets” comes to mind, an extended poem that followed his earlier one of a similar genre “The Wasteland”, which, after a lengthy tour of the spiritually barren landscape of modern life, ends with the chant Shanti, repeated three times. In the end, all that matters is peace, but peace, as a physical condition as well as a mental state, is illusive. Nobody would know this better than those of us in Manipur. Its quest has also never been easy. In a very paradoxically way, those who have found it are those who have surrendered – in the most sublime cases, surrendered their individual wills to the will of the “Amazing Grace”.

Many, if not most religions actually say this. Earthly life in this interpretation is a punishment, and transition from this temporal existence to the divine is the ultimate meaning. In the Semitic religions (including Christianity) the original sin is what condemned life to earthly existence. Otherwise it would have been an eternity in Eden for the original parents and nobody else. As to how attractive this idea is, is a matter of opinion. The original mother, Eve, probably thought it was a bore so she ate the forbidden apple, out of what is described as a feminine weakness. If not for her original sin, we all probably would never have seen daylight, or moonlight for that matter. It is difficult to say if we should deride what she did or else be thankful. Another paradox of life we suppose – another overwhelming question of “to be or not to be”. To be happy with a secure vegetative life, or else look for happiness in choosing to face challenges even if it means exposure to trouble and misery. The non-Semitic religions say very much the same thing, but in a different way. Take Buddhism for instance, or Hinduism for that matter. Rebirth is perpetuated by individual sins, implying that this cycle will end when sin is banished. As in other religions, earthly nonexistence here becomes bliss. The lure of this bliss, it has been explained, is also what gives suicide bombers the fanatic courage which makes them able to do what they do.

But the Amazing Grace manifests in another more tangible and comprehensible form – hope. To paraphrase Eliot’s “Four Quartets” this amazing grace is like the faith of a passenger in a subway train that stops and becomes stranded for hours in pitch darkness in the middle of a tunnel deep down below the surface of the earth because of a sudden power failure, that power would be ultimately restored and the train would again begin moving. That at the end of even the darkest tunnel, there would be light. Put another way, it is like a test of faith of a child in her father’s love for her and her belief that he would never abandon her, come what may. In pitch darkness where she cannot see anything, in the event of an emergency if she is required to jump from the window of her first floor room, and her father implores her to do so from below with the assurance that he can see her and would catch her, would she jump? She would if she had enough faith in her father. Such faiths give hope. Such hopes salvage. The amazing grace is that way too. For some inscrutable reason which you cannot explain but all the same feel, you know that this amazing grace would not let you fall. Come to think of it, Manipur has been stranded in the middle of a deep, dark tunnel for decades. Yet it has held together, despite all the centrifugal forces threatening to tear it apart. It is reasonable to believe hence that despite all its inherent contradictions, a faith in itself has given it the strength and hope that there would one day be light. What a time to recall the miracle of this Amazing Grace in this auspicious and festive season of a great religion of the world.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/b_5XubusTKE/

The question that haunts many in Manipur today is undoubtedly: which way Manipur? For many the hunt for the answer verges on despair. The fact is there seems to be too many answers but not a single clear cut one. There are too many unsettled issues of awesome magnitude, their problem potential accentuated and amplified further by the fact that they seem to share no point of confluence. Our mainstream established politics is totally in a mess; our society has no clear focus on any particular goal; our civil society is so hopelessly divided that it is questionable if there is anything that can be termed as civil society at all; reciprocal to this division is also the underground politics, multiple-fractured and threatening to tear Manipur along the many fault-lines they have introduced on sectarian lines; law breaking has ceased to be the preserve of those who consider themselves out of the purview of the law of the land, but also the law enforcer as well. It is aptly a situation in which anarchy has spiralled out of control of any centralized command. 

Nothing moves, and nothing can move in any positive direction in such a situation. Because the society is so badly divided, there will always be somebody or the other who will not be happy with any decision meant for everybody. Take the controversy that the recent downsizing of the oversized ministry has evoked. It is sad to know that it did not need to be so bitter had the chief minister been a little more sensitive about regional representation or else acted by a definite, neutral formula. He introduced an arbitrary element in his choices for reasons that are matters of speculation. Since the administrative division of the state into its nine districts has little to do with administrative convenience, but are more in the nature of drawing ethnic (communal) geography, the chief minister should have realized there is a certain inevitability about ensuring an even, district-wise representation in his ministry to the extent possible. Unless the criteria was picking legislators with proven integrity and merit alone, there could have been little other reason than personal for him to have thought of giving two to some and nil to others.

Take again the question of territorial integrity. There is no point in ignoring the fact that the term is being interpreted in diametrically opposite ways by the hill population, in particular the Nagas, and the valley, in particular the Meiteis. It is another matter what history and politics say, but the urgent point of concern is, there is a great divide in the present times with extremely grave implications for everybody, and all of us, in the hills as well as in the valley, should be worried about this. The same divide is there in almost every other issue in the state. We have seen the ugly sectarian controversy even on the selection process for MBBS studies. We have seen the binary division on the issue of the Timapmukh multipurpose dam; we have seen similar friction on the construction the Sana Keithel; we have even seen imminently avoidable controversies on the manner the Kangla was proposed to contest for inclusion as a world heritage site. On the last issue, it is of relevance to note that while Manipur debated on whether the British colonial legacy imprinted inside the Kangla should be preserved or destroyed, it missed being included in the UNESCO’s list of new sites this year, unlike two other sites in India including the Victoria Railway Terminus in Mumbai. Now that the Assam Rifles has vacated the fort, there should be more hope for it to enter the UNESCO’s list. The question is who is pushing the issue, or is it being pushed at all still after the initial flutters.

We need to disentangle all the entanglements first before we can hope to find an answer to the onerous question, which way Manipur? This disentanglement, we are convinced, can come about only across the negotiation table around which the different sections of our divided society sit and thrash out a common denominator on which to build all our future social arbitration mechanisms. Each section must realize that the only choice we have before is this common denominator or continued anarchy and mayhem. The choice, to borrow a catchy advertisement line for a soft drink, should be clear.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/A-j8yyTLgpM/

The question that haunts many in Manipur today is undoubtedly: which way Manipur? For many the hunt for the answer verges on despair. The fact is there seems to be too many answers but not a single clear cut one. There are too many unsettled issues of awesome magnitude, their problem potential accentuated and amplified further by the fact that they seem to share no point of confluence. Our mainstream established politics is totally in a mess; our society has no clear focus on any particular goal; our civil society is so hopelessly divided that it is questionable if there is anything that can be termed as civil society at all; reciprocal to this division is also the underground politics, multiple-fractured and threatening to tear Manipur along the many fault-lines they have introduced on sectarian lines; law breaking has ceased to be the preserve of those who consider themselves out of the purview of the law of the land, but also the law enforcer as well. It is aptly a situation in which anarchy has spiralled out of control of any centralized command. 

Nothing moves, and nothing can move in any positive direction in such a situation. Because the society is so badly divided, there will always be somebody or the other who will not be happy with any decision meant for everybody. Take the controversy that the recent downsizing of the oversized ministry has evoked. It is sad to know that it did not need to be so bitter had the chief minister been a little more sensitive about regional representation or else acted by a definite, neutral formula. He introduced an arbitrary element in his choices for reasons that are matters of speculation. Since the administrative division of the state into its nine districts has little to do with administrative convenience, but are more in the nature of drawing ethnic (communal) geography, the chief minister should have realized there is a certain inevitability about ensuring an even, district-wise representation in his ministry to the extent possible. Unless the criteria was picking legislators with proven integrity and merit alone, there could have been little other reason than personal for him to have thought of giving two to some and nil to others.

Take again the question of territorial integrity. There is no point in ignoring the fact that the term is being interpreted in diametrically opposite ways by the hill population, in particular the Nagas, and the valley, in particular the Meiteis. It is another matter what history and politics say, but the urgent point of concern is, there is a great divide in the present times with extremely grave implications for everybody, and all of us, in the hills as well as in the valley, should be worried about this. The same divide is there in almost every other issue in the state. We have seen the ugly sectarian controversy even on the selection process for MBBS studies. We have seen the binary division on the issue of the Timapmukh multipurpose dam; we have seen similar friction on the construction the Sana Keithel; we have even seen imminently avoidable controversies on the manner the Kangla was proposed to contest for inclusion as a world heritage site. On the last issue, it is of relevance to note that while Manipur debated on whether the British colonial legacy imprinted inside the Kangla should be preserved or destroyed, it missed being included in the UNESCO’s list of new sites this year, unlike two other sites in India including the Victoria Railway Terminus in Mumbai. Now that the Assam Rifles has vacated the fort, there should be more hope for it to enter the UNESCO’s list. The question is who is pushing the issue, or is it being pushed at all still after the initial flutters.

We need to disentangle all the entanglements first before we can hope to find an answer to the onerous question, which way Manipur? This disentanglement, we are convinced, can come about only across the negotiation table around which the different sections of our divided society sit and thrash out a common denominator on which to build all our future social arbitration mechanisms. Each section must realize that the only choice we have before is this common denominator or continued anarchy and mayhem. The choice, to borrow a catchy advertisement line for a soft drink, should be clear.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/A-j8yyTLgpM/

Every profession has its moral codes, some written but most of the time unwritten. Journalism is no exception and indeed this is a question that has continued to haunt the profession since its inception. This is particularly so because journalism’s best practices also are determined by a notion of objectivity that would have the journalist be simple observers and reporters of events and not be their participants. The troubling question is, to what extent can this journalistic definition of objectivity, especially in situations of human tragedies, remain ethical. Two powerful images should put this argument in perspective. One is of a certain freelance photojournalist, Kevin Carter, who won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for photojournalism in 1994 for his photograph of a severely famished, virtually dying, Sudanese girl toddler crawling towards a UN food centre some distance away, during a famine in this conflict torn nation, even as a vulture stalked her as if ready to pounce on her if she drops dead. The picture was first published in the The New York Times and it shocked the entire world, so much so that this prestigious newspaper had to issue an unusual editorial comment in a subsequent edition that the girl did make it alive to the UN food centre and that Carter chased away the vulture before leaving the scene. But the scene, and probably his inadequate response to the human situation apart from his journalistic instinct of making headline news of the event, haunted him so much ever after that he went into a depression he never recovered from. According to his father he was often found crying alone inconsolably. Carter ultimately committed suicide the same year he won the coveted prize.

The second image conveys a totally different picture of journalistic responsibility. Seventy five years after his death near the summit of Mt. Everest, on May 1, 1999, George Leigh Mallory’s body was discovered during another one of numerous search expeditions spanning seven decades to find his, and his climbing partner, Andrew Irvine’s, bodies. Bad weather however prevented a closer examination of the body on the day. On May 16, two men in the expedition, Andy Politz and Thom Pollard, carrying with them a tent and some supplies, returned to the spot for a closer look after lasting out a bout of bad weather at the expedition base camp. Pollard, had writing assignments including numerous offers for a book at the time. The two had with them a metal detector to try and locate the camera that Mallory was known to have taken along, and Kodak Company was of the opinion that the exposed film in the camera still could be processed as it would be well preserved by the perennial subzero temperature, and because the film in it was black and white, hence less prone to chemical degeneration. When they came to the body, Pollard’s reaction was in his own words: “The sight of Mallory’s foot protruding from the end of the rocks was the most powerful and humbling site of my life. It brought tears to my eyes.”

Then the two proceeded about trying to detect Mallory’s camera. In the process, Pollard came face to face with Mallory. From Pollard’s description, the likeness of Mallory was well preserved with calm but closed eyes. He had a golf ball size wound in the forehead with two shards of bones protruding out of it confirming he died instantaneously when he fell. Then the thought occurred that Pollard had a camera with him. But on second thought, and in consultation with his expedition partner Andy Politz, they decided it would be wrong to take a picture of Mallory’s face, and so today the only picture of the dead legend’s face, a man who possibly reached the summit of Mt. Everest three decades before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay did but could not return to tell his tale, is what Pollard carried back in his memory. Politz did not even want to see the face and be burdened with the responsibility to tell what he saw. Here were two men who overcame the pulls of their careers and professional ambitions even at a moment they found the elixir to reach the pinnacle to keep within what they thought was the demand of human decency. But beyond the instant glory and material endorsements they would surely have received had they been less scrupulous, they earned something else. Respect and gratitude of the sane world, away from the maddening crowd of instant wealth and instant success seekers.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/hcSJFP0vrUc/

After nearly two decades of the new push in India’s South East Asia foreign policy, often referred to as “Look East Policy”, which created such a lot of optimism in the region when it was first spelled out, it has hardly left any substantive mark in the Northeast. Nobody can say 18 years is not a long enough time to see at least some visible evidence of its fruits. The question that beggars an answer for those of us in the region at this moment is, what happened? There are of course some developments which can be seen as preparatory measures, as for instance the ongoing construction of the super highway which would connect Silchar to the rest of the super highway network in the country, the upgrading of airports in the northeast, in particular the Guwahati, Imphal and Agartala airports. These airports now even have modern night landing facilities. If the extended deadline is not extended again, Imphal would be in the railway map of the country by 2014. The Silchar highway and the Imphal rail line, it is anybody’s guess, will not culminate either at Silchar or Imphal, but ultimately be extended to link up with the road communication network in South East Asia. Still, even as these preparations are being made, there ought to have been also some parallel activities that ensured the optimism of the policy did not die in the region.

A lot of initiatives however have been happening elsewhere as part of the Look East Policy. Free trade treaties have been signed, multilateral business and policy summits held in various capitals of South East Asian capitals where important decisions were taken etc. Indeed, statistics show a substantial increase in the trade volume between the ASEAN and India during the period. Most of these trades however have been happening by the sea route. The point is, in all these activities, either towards policy framing process or their execution, there has been very little involvement of the Northeast region and its minds. This is unfortunate, although the fault must be shared by the intelligentsia and political executives of the Northeast. They have been simply allowing this very important issue, which are predicted to come to have very important bearing on all of their lives ultimately, to pass by without paying much attention. The guilt must also be equally if not more, borne by our so called enlightened academia. What have they been doing as this very important caravan continues to pass by the region? They should have taken the lead in correcting perspectives.

This is not to say trade under the Look East Policy must be made to happen only through the Northeast. This will not be possible as like water, trade will also normally take the route of least resistance. It must be remembered traders are looking for profit and not philanthropic social service. Hence, the sea route normally would be preferred wherever feasible, as transportation cost as well as effort needed for transportation, is much less by sea. Perhaps this is an indication that the Look East Policy must have two components. One should concentrate on trade alone, and the other to the uplift of the Northeast region through studied opening up of suitable trade potentials. In the framing of the roadmap for the latter, it is vital that the intelligentsia and political establishment of the Northeast are made major partners. As for those in the Northeast who are sceptical about the Look East Policy per se, let them reassess the matter from the standpoint that this opening up is a process which cannot be halted, not only because it is being pushed as a policy, but precisely because it is a natural process as well. Since this is something which would happen with or without our participation, it is better we participate and be in the driver’s seat of the affair so that only the right windows and doors are opened, and those which should not be opened are left unopened. Traditional trade routes had become dislocated and shut on account of another geopolitical shift of political paradigm in the wake of the decolonisation process of a large part of Asia and the drawing of new national boundaries in the mid-Twentieth Century. Natural economic region thereby became fragmented and disjointed. The second proposed component of the Look East Policy designed to have a relevance to the Northeast is precisely about reopening and revitalising these ancient trade routes and economic spheres for the benefit of the region.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/Hc954ZeCiII/