Tag: Editorial

If men were good, there would be no need for governments, James Madison, the third President of the United States of America, and one of the founding fathers of the country’s constitution famously said in charting out the philosophy by which the American constitution was to be written. The innate suspicion of man’s basic nature may be contrary to the idealistic teachings of religions, but it has nonetheless proven to be an effective mantra for governance. Madison’s prescription for America definitely would cure a lot of the ills of any government anywhere in the world. The Manipur administration too could use some of it much to its benefit. If it had understood the significance of the statement in its letter and spirit, it might have been able not only to anticipate but also draw up effective administrative measures to prevent what happened at Tentha last year, whereby Hindu villagers burnt down a church built in the village by Christian converts amongst them. No, we are not talking about preventing conflict situations by beefing up security or through other intimidatory shows of state power, but through un-intrusive social engineering that takes into consideration that differences in faith, ethnicity etc, can easily translate into social friction and even conflicts.

Given the administrative foresight, religious or ethnic frictions do not have to be much more than mere civic problems, well within the power of the civil administration to handle. In fact it is the duty of a secular government not to allow any of its social problems to escalate beyond the civic. It is a limitation of imagination that makes secularism seen only in terms of the doctrine of tolerance. The term tolerance itself implies putting up with something one is not altogether too pleased with. Rather than this, secularism should be more about good impartial and farsighted administration that keeps in mind that men are not angels or saints. Supposing the government were to enact a legislation restricting the building of public places of worship, be it a temple, church, mosque or synagogue in residential areas and opening it only to government approved sites, no problem of civil religious strife would have arisen? One might not have anything against living next door to a Hindu, Christian, Muslim or a Jew, but if the followers of any of these faiths decide to convert his house into a public temple or church the next day and have congregations singing bhajan or performing midnight masses, it is likely to rub many other neighbours the wrong way. The Manipur government, and so too a large section of the public, in their obtuse sense of secularism, have been ignoring this particular dynamics behind conflicts. Mark our words, given the rapidity with which public places of worship are sprouting, if the administration does not take care to rectify this oversight, religious frictions in the state, not necessarily Hindus pitted against Christians, but in any permutation or combination of the religions practised in the state, are likely to escalate. After all, as Madison implied, men are not angels, and it is a senseless conflict resolution strategy to simply curse that men are not angels.

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Leader Writer: Sukham Nanda
The State Vigilance Commission, Manipur was set up with an objectives to ensure partial and clean administrations in every departments of the state. Its scope however extend to matters within the executive jurisdiction of the State Government, investigation and enquiries into corruption and misconduct of public servants as laid in the Resolution for setting up the Vigilance Commission.

The responsibility of Vigilance rests primarily on the department concerned. It is for the heads of the department to identify corrupt element in their organizations and deal with them firmly, besides to assist the head of departments to identify corrupt element, a Vigilance unit each headed by an ex-Officio Vigilance officer at the Secretariat and Head of department level had set up in every Government office with the recommendation of the State Vigilance Commission to ensure that employee maintains utmost honesty and integrity and to identify corrupt elements in the department, to keep a watch on the activities of the employees suspected of corruption, malpractice or misconduct and also to initiate prompt action and persue all cases, where there are reasonable ground for suspicion or where corrupt, malpractice or misconduct exists.

In fact, the role of the Commission undertakes general check and supervision over all vigilance and anti-corruption works in the state. It causes investigation to be made into any act of the public servant involving corruption, lack of integrity, misdemeanour, misconduct or malpractice. On receipt of the investigation report and after examination, the Commission advises the disciplinary authorities about the type of proceedings, if any, to be initiated. In the cases where the Commissioner, Departmental Enquiries is appointed as Inquiry Officer by the state government, the report are submitted to the Village Commissioner. The Commission also advises the government whenever and wherever necessary about improvement in procedures and practices.

No error has seen in framing the rules regulations of the commission and commission on the other hand taken up multiple numbers of cases as it has been witnessed during this last few years that some improvement in response of the Administrative Department to reference from the Commission and departments have to play a more effective role in starting departmental enquiries on the recommendations of the commission, and in ensuring that the departmental enquiries are completed deditiously and guilty officials need to be punished promptly.

Officially or unofficially it has known that the normal functioning of the state Vigilance Commission in terms of case hearing involving high ranking officers of the department were quite oftenly interfere in the forms of directions / commands from the external elements and even from the ministers and MLA, which causes delaying in the disposal of the case or kept the case pending for more than four five years.

Even though there is State Vigilance department to investigate the cases related to the corruptions and malpractices etc. in very government departments of the state and the Commission is there to conduct enquires of the reported cases but the increasing trends of corruptions, malpractices, lack of integrity and misconducts in various major government departments are still witnessed. This shows that no practice prevalent for surprise check on offices, on works undertaken except by the Audit and it is felt that the government should introduce an effective system of annual inspection to detect long pending cases, as also to find out malpractices, exercise or non-exercise of power for improper or corrupt purposes etc.so that the importance of the existence of state Vigilance department and constitution of the state Vigilance Commission could be achieved in the state.

Thus it is very much require to strengthen the powers and functions of state Vigilance Department by deputing adequate manpower and letting the state Vigilance Commission to conduct its enquiries independently by preventing back-door interferences from the outside elements so that the objective of maintaining partial and clean administrations in every government departments could be restored to some extend in future to come.

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In the wake of the growing chant for more liberalization of economies around the globe and the unabashed worship of the market, there are many extremely well informed voices calling for caution against dropping all economic regulatory mechanisms. It is true market worship has led to a path of growth generally, but critics are now calling attention to the fact that growth alone cannot be development. Development, they say is not about the size of GDPs and GNPs alone, but also of a number of other conditions, some subjective and others objective. One of these is environment. Among the others are: gender empowerment, equitable distribution of income, public health etc. The most economically and militarily powerful nation, the United States of America, has often been the subject of case studies in probing these issues. Some of the questions asked by Nobel Prize winning economists like Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz should be able to rhetorically present the nature of the problem. Why is this most developed nation also dotted with the most number of prisons in the world? According to Stiglitz, (“Roaring Nineties”) some of the American states spend more money on prison maintenance than on primary education. It is true that these rich societies have enough to spend on both prison and education, but the picture narrates of something extremely dysfunctional? Again according to a study by Amartya Sen and John Dreze (“Development as Freedom”), Black Americans although on the average they command incomes many times higher than people in the Third World countries even after taking into account the differences in the cost of living, have a lower life expectancy than many of the latter societies. Markets also have seldom shown respect for the environment, and hence the world’s most well endowed market, the USA’s refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocol on world environment. These are facts and figures that point out how incomplete the traditional notions of development are. The issues are many, but on the morrow of the World Environment Day on June 5, it would be a profitable exercise to reflect on the many awesome aspects of the environment question.The question is large and can even go beyond easy comprehension. Viewed with an evolutionary sense of time, there seems nothing that anybody can do about the changes that happen to the earth’s environment. As for instance, who can prevent the next Ice Age from happening, for science today has determined that the Ice Epochs are a cyclic event, just as the earth’s seasons are, although on a much longer cyclic path. Seasons happen because of the earth revolves around the sun and also because of the inclination of its axis at 23.5 degrees against the plane of its revolution. It is now also established that the earth’s axis is not just inclined but also wobbles by about 4 degrees and this wobbling is thought to be the cause behind Ice Ages. In evolutionary terms this cycle may take millions of years to complete, but all the same it is inevitable. The last Ice Age, a minor one according to scientists, ended about 12,000 years ago, and it is only after this event that the race for modern civilizations was flagged off. Life forms also go extinct. This is again a fact about life on earth. Millions and millions of species of life have died out while million others have come out of oblivious existence to take centre stage in the earth’s 4.5 billion years. If a comet hit had not wiped off the predatory dinosaurs about 64 million years ago, scientists believe the species of life that evolved into modern man could have remained an insignificant creature perhaps the size of a house lizard, out of its own survival instinct. Evolutionary scientists like the late Stephen Jay Gould (author of best-selling “Wonderful Life”) and Simon Conway Morris (author of the authoritative “The Crucible of Creation”) have demonstrated through the study of fossils that on the one hand life just wants to be (the sole purpose of the creature called sponge seems just to hang around at one spot throughout its life until it comes to an end), and on the other, that life forms almost with an uncanny certainty, go extinct from time to time. They have also argued quite convincingly that evolution is not centred around humans and its sole purpose is to preserve life, not necessarily human life. The awesomeness of the mysteries of life is in a pristine sense, religious. If we reflect on it with earnest, it should humble even our greatest problems. On Environment Day then, let us learn to be humble.

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

In the wake of the growing chant for more liberalization of economies around the globe and the unabashed worship of the market, there are many extremely well informed voices calling for caution against dropping all economic regulatory mechanisms. It is true market worship has led to a path of growth generally, but critics are now calling attention to the fact that growth alone cannot be development. Development, they say is not about the size of GDPs and GNPs alone, but also of a number of other conditions, some subjective and others objective. One of these is environment. Among the others are: gender empowerment, equitable distribution of income, public health etc. The most economically and militarily powerful nation, the United States of America, has often been the subject of case studies in probing these issues. Some of the questions asked by Nobel Prize winning economists like Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz should be able to rhetorically present the nature of the problem. Why is this most developed nation also dotted with the most number of prisons in the world? According to Stiglitz, (“Roaring Nineties”) some of the American states spend more money on prison maintenance than on primary education. It is true that these rich societies have enough to spend on both prison and education, but the picture narrates of something extremely dysfunctional? Again according to a study by Amartya Sen and John Dreze (“Development as Freedom”), Black Americans although on the average they command incomes many times higher than people in the Third World countries even after taking into account the differences in the cost of living, have a lower life expectancy than many of the latter societies. Markets also have seldom shown respect for the environment, and hence the world’s most well endowed market, the USA’s refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocol on world environment. These are facts and figures that point out how incomplete the traditional notions of development are. The issues are many, but on the morrow of the World Environment Day on June 5, it would be a profitable exercise to reflect on the many awesome aspects of the environment question.The question is large and can even go beyond easy comprehension. Viewed with an evolutionary sense of time, there seems nothing that anybody can do about the changes that happen to the earth’s environment. As for instance, who can prevent the next Ice Age from happening, for science today has determined that the Ice Epochs are a cyclic event, just as the earth’s seasons are, although on a much longer cyclic path. Seasons happen because of the earth revolves around the sun and also because of the inclination of its axis at 23.5 degrees against the plane of its revolution. It is now also established that the earth’s axis is not just inclined but also wobbles by about 4 degrees and this wobbling is thought to be the cause behind Ice Ages. In evolutionary terms this cycle may take millions of years to complete, but all the same it is inevitable. The last Ice Age, a minor one according to scientists, ended about 12,000 years ago, and it is only after this event that the race for modern civilizations was flagged off. Life forms also go extinct. This is again a fact about life on earth. Millions and millions of species of life have died out while million others have come out of oblivious existence to take centre stage in the earth’s 4.5 billion years. If a comet hit had not wiped off the predatory dinosaurs about 64 million years ago, scientists believe the species of life that evolved into modern man could have remained an insignificant creature perhaps the size of a house lizard, out of its own survival instinct. Evolutionary scientists like the late Stephen Jay Gould (author of best-selling “Wonderful Life”) and Simon Conway Morris (author of the authoritative “The Crucible of Creation”) have demonstrated through the study of fossils that on the one hand life just wants to be (the sole purpose of the creature called sponge seems just to hang around at one spot throughout its life until it comes to an end), and on the other, that life forms almost with an uncanny certainty, go extinct from time to time. They have also argued quite convincingly that evolution is not centred around humans and its sole purpose is to preserve life, not necessarily human life. The awesomeness of the mysteries of life is in a pristine sense, religious. If we reflect on it with earnest, it should humble even our greatest problems. On Environment Day then, let us learn to be humble.

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

In the wake of the growing chant for more liberalization of economies around the globe and the unabashed worship of the market, there are many extremely well informed voices calling for caution against dropping all economic regulatory mechanisms. It is true market worship has led to a path of growth generally, but critics are now calling attention to the fact that growth alone cannot be development. Development, they say is not about the size of GDPs and GNPs alone, but also of a number of other conditions, some subjective and others objective. One of these is environment. Among the others are: gender empowerment, equitable distribution of income, public health etc. The most economically and militarily powerful nation, the United States of America, has often been the subject of case studies in probing these issues. Some of the questions asked by Nobel Prize winning economists like Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz should be able to rhetorically present the nature of the problem. Why is this most developed nation also dotted with the most number of prisons in the world? According to Stiglitz, (“Roaring Nineties”) some of the American states spend more money on prison maintenance than on primary education. It is true that these rich societies have enough to spend on both prison and education, but the picture narrates of something extremely dysfunctional? Again according to a study by Amartya Sen and John Dreze (“Development as Freedom”), Black Americans although on the average they command incomes many times higher than people in the Third World countries even after taking into account the differences in the cost of living, have a lower life expectancy than many of the latter societies. Markets also have seldom shown respect for the environment, and hence the world’s most well endowed market, the USA’s refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocol on world environment. These are facts and figures that point out how incomplete the traditional notions of development are. The issues are many, but on the morrow of the World Environment Day on June 5, it would be a profitable exercise to reflect on the many awesome aspects of the environment question.The question is large and can even go beyond easy comprehension. Viewed with an evolutionary sense of time, there seems nothing that anybody can do about the changes that happen to the earth’s environment. As for instance, who can prevent the next Ice Age from happening, for science today has determined that the Ice Epochs are a cyclic event, just as the earth’s seasons are, although on a much longer cyclic path. Seasons happen because of the earth revolves around the sun and also because of the inclination of its axis at 23.5 degrees against the plane of its revolution. It is now also established that the earth’s axis is not just inclined but also wobbles by about 4 degrees and this wobbling is thought to be the cause behind Ice Ages. In evolutionary terms this cycle may take millions of years to complete, but all the same it is inevitable. The last Ice Age, a minor one according to scientists, ended about 12,000 years ago, and it is only after this event that the race for modern civilizations was flagged off. Life forms also go extinct. This is again a fact about life on earth. Millions and millions of species of life have died out while million others have come out of oblivious existence to take centre stage in the earth’s 4.5 billion years. If a comet hit had not wiped off the predatory dinosaurs about 64 million years ago, scientists believe the species of life that evolved into modern man could have remained an insignificant creature perhaps the size of a house lizard, out of its own survival instinct. Evolutionary scientists like the late Stephen Jay Gould (author of best-selling “Wonderful Life”) and Simon Conway Morris (author of the authoritative “The Crucible of Creation”) have demonstrated through the study of fossils that on the one hand life just wants to be (the sole purpose of the creature called sponge seems just to hang around at one spot throughout its life until it comes to an end), and on the other, that life forms almost with an uncanny certainty, go extinct from time to time. They have also argued quite convincingly that evolution is not centred around humans and its sole purpose is to preserve life, not necessarily human life. The awesomeness of the mysteries of life is in a pristine sense, religious. If we reflect on it with earnest, it should humble even our greatest problems. On Environment Day then, let us learn to be humble.

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

In the wake of the growing chant for more liberalization of economies around the globe and the unabashed worship of the market, there are many extremely well informed voices calling for caution against dropping all economic regulatory mechanisms. It is true market worship has led to a path of growth generally, but critics are now calling attention to the fact that growth alone cannot be development. Development, they say is not about the size of GDPs and GNPs alone, but also of a number of other conditions, some subjective and others objective. One of these is environment. Among the others are: gender empowerment, equitable distribution of income, public health etc. The most economically and militarily powerful nation, the United States of America, has often been the subject of case studies in probing these issues. Some of the questions asked by Nobel Prize winning economists like Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz should be able to rhetorically present the nature of the problem. Why is this most developed nation also dotted with the most number of prisons in the world? According to Stiglitz, (“Roaring Nineties”) some of the American states spend more money on prison maintenance than on primary education. It is true that these rich societies have enough to spend on both prison and education, but the picture narrates of something extremely dysfunctional? Again according to a study by Amartya Sen and John Dreze (“Development as Freedom”), Black Americans although on the average they command incomes many times higher than people in the Third World countries even after taking into account the differences in the cost of living, have a lower life expectancy than many of the latter societies. Markets also have seldom shown respect for the environment, and hence the world’s most well endowed market, the USA’s refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocol on world environment. These are facts and figures that point out how incomplete the traditional notions of development are. The issues are many, but on the morrow of the World Environment Day on June 5, it would be a profitable exercise to reflect on the many awesome aspects of the environment question.The question is large and can even go beyond easy comprehension. Viewed with an evolutionary sense of time, there seems nothing that anybody can do about the changes that happen to the earth’s environment. As for instance, who can prevent the next Ice Age from happening, for science today has determined that the Ice Epochs are a cyclic event, just as the earth’s seasons are, although on a much longer cyclic path. Seasons happen because of the earth revolves around the sun and also because of the inclination of its axis at 23.5 degrees against the plane of its revolution. It is now also established that the earth’s axis is not just inclined but also wobbles by about 4 degrees and this wobbling is thought to be the cause behind Ice Ages. In evolutionary terms this cycle may take millions of years to complete, but all the same it is inevitable. The last Ice Age, a minor one according to scientists, ended about 12,000 years ago, and it is only after this event that the race for modern civilizations was flagged off. Life forms also go extinct. This is again a fact about life on earth. Millions and millions of species of life have died out while million others have come out of oblivious existence to take centre stage in the earth’s 4.5 billion years. If a comet hit had not wiped off the predatory dinosaurs about 64 million years ago, scientists believe the species of life that evolved into modern man could have remained an insignificant creature perhaps the size of a house lizard, out of its own survival instinct. Evolutionary scientists like the late Stephen Jay Gould (author of best-selling “Wonderful Life”) and Simon Conway Morris (author of the authoritative “The Crucible of Creation”) have demonstrated through the study of fossils that on the one hand life just wants to be (the sole purpose of the creature called sponge seems just to hang around at one spot throughout its life until it comes to an end), and on the other, that life forms almost with an uncanny certainty, go extinct from time to time. They have also argued quite convincingly that evolution is not centred around humans and its sole purpose is to preserve life, not necessarily human life. The awesomeness of the mysteries of life is in a pristine sense, religious. If we reflect on it with earnest, it should humble even our greatest problems. On Environment Day then, let us learn to be humble.

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

There is a tendency in Manipur for things to always return to square one. The avenue for a way out of this depressing stagnancy eludes the imagination of one and all, including our leaders, intellectuals and the numerous NGOs in the field of social works. The shared obsession seems to be to analyse, dissect, scrutinize and then either rubbish or glorify the past compulsively and then blame each other or else some external agency or the other for all the misery and misfortune that is everybody’s fate. Maybe there is some truth in this vision but it certainly cannot be the whole truth. To think this is so would be to reduce the social organism that we all are part of, to a simplistic mechanics of stimulus and responses only. And this we know cannot be, for the being and the soul of any society is far more complex, and we would contend, infinitely so. The difficulty in sizing up a society or its mores completely lies in this complexity and not to any attributable flaws of the past, as the current intellectual tradition in social analysis in the state seems to suggest. If social issues were so clear cut, and there were no ambiguities about remedial measures, most social problems ought to have disappeared by now everywhere in the world. The greatest thinkers have discovered, or others discovered after they are long gone, that this has never been the case and cannot ever be so as well.
The linearity of our social analyses has had some very serious consequences. For instance we seem to be a society which sees salvation in the past, at the cost of even ignoring the future. From the point of view of this limited linear vision, this is totally understandable. At least in its structure as a chronological sequence of events, there is a definitiveness about the past and this makes it comparatively simple to grasp, or at least it does not make it seem out of grasping distance. We would not say the same thing about the substance that gave form to this structure, but even here the same definitiveness associated with past events thins out the desperation to get the diagnosis right. The unfortunate thing is, this approach in our effort to come to grip with the past, is often extended to our quest for an understanding of the future. This, we would contend is flawed, for one thing there is nothing linear or definite about the future. In fact, the biggest flaw in historical materialism of the Marxist variety is precisely this linear and deterministic view of history and the future. This modernist outlook it seems is infectious, and hence our problem solving efforts have seldom acknowledged that the future is about discovering previously unknown and unexplored equations. The foundations of our mainstream as well as the numerous prevalent alternate politics today have never been built on any such broad platform, negating in the process the well known, one line definition of politics as “art of the possible”. Unlike the past which is a dead process and circumscribed in time and memory, the field for the future is wide open. We cannot erase the Chahi Taret Khuntakpa chapter in our history, but creative vision of the future can prevent similar historical catastrophes.
While we cannot possibly forget our past, or ignore what we have inherited from it, we do feel there is an urgent need for our society to tone down some of its claustrophobic obsession with the past and develop a vision of the future that is not everything about undoing the past or based on any utopian ideal, but in the light of it as precisely “an art of the possible”. Only when this understanding becomes the standard, realistic terms for resolutions to most of our conflict situations, both internal and external, can begin to dawn. If the question is about past wrongs and their impacts on the present and the future, surely as creative, autonomous beings that all human individuals are, we can overcome these impacts. In structural terms, democracy guarantees this possibility. In spiritual terms too, the prison of “coloniality” of even formerly colonized worlds, cannot contain this same creativity that gives the individual the capability of sizing up his predicament and affect the changes necessary to overcome that state of mind. It is depressing that our public discourses seldom have approached the future without the past as the sole measuring tape. Let our future go beyond the status of being just a response to our past.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/yZVf3ccniAM/

At its crux, there are only two known ways of resolving a conflict of interest. One is to crush the weaker of the two with brute force and the other to reach a democratic consensus. The civilized norm of the modern world being the latter option, the need is to explore its possibilities, wherever conflict has come to stay, at least until a more perfected mechanism is evolved. For the moment, we can only foresee all putative future conflict resolution mechanisms as derivatives of the democratic system, the latter being known for its resilience and almost infinite accommodative capacity. But it must be acknowledged that often the most vocal advocates of democracy have regressed into the logic of an atavistic past where only force mattered. The objectionable interventions in the Middle East and West Asian have said this eloquently. It is a matter of pessimism that war still seems unavoidable even in the days of democracy. A qualification needs however to be added here. In the UNDP Human Development Report, HDR, 2002 with the theme “deepening democracy in a fragmented world”, one of the many interesting patterns of national behaviors that evolved from empirical data on wars in the second half of the 20th Century is, no two democracies have ever gone to war with each other. Quite obviously, these nations have discovered an alternative ground on which to thrash out vexed issues. The indication is also, democracy is a versatile medium for this meeting of minds and resolution of conflicts.Even in our situation, there have been very strong tendencies on very many occasions to return to the former method of conflict resolution, which basically has a one-line philosophy made famous by Joseph Conrad’s fictional character, Kurtz in Heart of Darkness – exterminate the brute. But, as in this story, the scale to decide which is the “civilized” and which the “brute” between the exterminator and exterminated, becomes extremely blurred. But the values of democracy, with its insistence on giving each and every one a say, regardless of numerical or physical strength, have generally managed to keep this tendency in check. There have been occasions when this inner moderation snapped, as in the case of the Naga-Kuki feud, Meitei-Meitei Pangal mayhem, and Kuki-Paite fratricide, but it would be reasonable to presume that many more would have been prevented by this inner cord. For indeed although our society seemed at certain junctures to have reached points of explosive of ethnic violence, nothing so catastrophic have happened so far. This however does not mean the dark forces of violence have been successfully subdued for all times. We still continue to sit on a dormant volcano which can with provocation come alive again. And provocations there have been and there will be by those who either do not understand or believe in the healing power of accommodation and mutual respect that democracy recommends.There have also been plenty of talks of a dialogue between the civil societies of the different communities that are at loggerheads. This is welcome, but a dialogue devoid of a willingness to accommodate can possibly lead nowhere. A dialogue or a discourse is not simply about convincing the opposing party to surrender to the will of the other party, but of discovering, or rediscovering as the case may be, of common grounds on which to build the foundation of the future together. This spirit has never been conspicuous in all the vociferous claims for the need for understanding and good neighbourliness. By democracy we do not necessarily mean only the number game. This is a necessary ingredient, but it is far from being a sufficient condition. Equally important, it is also about justice, and in evolving this understanding of justice, the premium must be on reason and creative insights into what is common good. Here concept of freedom is also important. Without individual freedom, the aggregate of which is what constitutes freedom of larger social grouping, including the nation, there can be no democracy. But again, as philosopher Isaiah Berlin said, freedom cannot be without any conditions. Absolute freedom for the wolves translates into death for the lambs. Freedom then can make meaning only if it is moderated by reason and a commonly legislated rational law.

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Leader Writer Leivon Jimmy
The powerful blast that was triggered on May 28 at the temporary office of the Autonomous District Council (ADC) at Khuman Lampak sports complex is not only a crime against humanity but a disregard to the sanctified sports complex, a training ground for many promising sports players bringing laurel for the state.

The mindless act has inflicted injuries to three innocent members of a family including a mother and her two minor daughters of which one is still battling for her life. Besides it has prevails a fear psychosis among the enthusiastic sports players, a symbol of Manipur`™s pride and glory.

The mentality of the people involved in triggering the blast needless to say that it would be creepy enough for a common man from the nature of the blast and most prominently where it was planted. As per reports a guy before leaving a car behind inside the campus asked the father of the victim girls about a meeting taking place at the ADC office. Knowing the presence inside the campus and nearby, the car bomb was left revealing the cold-blooded nature.

Had it not been for the general strike imposed by a civil body in connection with the visit of Nagaland`™s Chief Ministers at Senapati that has resulted in low turnout of people, the loss and tragedy could have been worst. The blast was so powerful that the fragments of the bomb were sent hundreds of meters away from the epicenter and completely wrecked the car into pieces.

In the meantime, the Government can be blamed equally for the incident for its ignorant. Even as the Chief Minister of Manipur speaking during a meet at his official bungalow ruled out security lapses. The clarification is somehow reckless comparing to the situation of stiff opposition while conducting the election of the ADC.

In addition to that the Chief Minister`™s clarification was contradictory when compared with the statement of a senior police officer was quoted by newspapers that ADC office has been enduring intense intimidation from a group.

The message was loud and clear that someone is not happy with the ADC office.

In the wake of such intimidation there was no sign or words of the presence of security forces in an around the office building. It is a well known fact to everyone how often lobbing of bomb or bomb blast, and firing incident took place in the state. The perpetrators dare to attack even in the presence of security forces and Singjamei blast at the residence of an engineer is a glaring example. What then if there is no security arrangement at all? It can be accounted to as inviting troubles or encouraging the propaganda of the opposition side.

Every section of the society should condemned the act at a strongest term for it had risk several lives. And, demoralized the spirit of promising sports persons by creating a sense of insecurity in an around the area. Demoralizing the players means a huge blow to the status it enjoys as the `Powerhouse of sport for India`.

People in this region have paid enough prices for no foul of theirs. History is the grim reminder. They have been caught in a murky conflict that has been waging and renewed generation after generation.
There is nothing but loss for the people here and has always been.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/yUZtrE3vqi0/

Leader Writer Leivon Jimmy
The powerful blast that was triggered on May 28 at the temporary office of the Autonomous District Council (ADC) at Khuman Lampak sports complex is not only a crime against humanity but a disregard to the sanctified sports complex, a training ground for many promising sports players bringing laurel for the state.

The mindless act has inflicted injuries to three innocent members of a family including a mother and her two minor daughters of which one is still battling for her life. Besides it has prevails a fear psychosis among the enthusiastic sports players, a symbol of Manipur`™s pride and glory.

The mentality of the people involved in triggering the blast needless to say that it would be creepy enough for a common man from the nature of the blast and most prominently where it was planted. As per reports a guy before leaving a car behind inside the campus asked the father of the victim girls about a meeting taking place at the ADC office. Knowing the presence inside the campus and nearby, the car bomb was left revealing the cold-blooded nature.

Had it not been for the general strike imposed by a civil body in connection with the visit of Nagaland`™s Chief Ministers at Senapati that has resulted in low turnout of people, the loss and tragedy could have been worst. The blast was so powerful that the fragments of the bomb were sent hundreds of meters away from the epicenter and completely wrecked the car into pieces.

In the meantime, the Government can be blamed equally for the incident for its ignorant. Even as the Chief Minister of Manipur speaking during a meet at his official bungalow ruled out security lapses. The clarification is somehow reckless comparing to the situation of stiff opposition while conducting the election of the ADC.

In addition to that the Chief Minister`™s clarification was contradictory when compared with the statement of a senior police officer was quoted by newspapers that ADC office has been enduring intense intimidation from a group.

The message was loud and clear that someone is not happy with the ADC office.

In the wake of such intimidation there was no sign or words of the presence of security forces in an around the office building. It is a well known fact to everyone how often lobbing of bomb or bomb blast, and firing incident took place in the state. The perpetrators dare to attack even in the presence of security forces and Singjamei blast at the residence of an engineer is a glaring example. What then if there is no security arrangement at all? It can be accounted to as inviting troubles or encouraging the propaganda of the opposition side.

Every section of the society should condemned the act at a strongest term for it had risk several lives. And, demoralized the spirit of promising sports persons by creating a sense of insecurity in an around the area. Demoralizing the players means a huge blow to the status it enjoys as the `Powerhouse of sport for India`.

People in this region have paid enough prices for no foul of theirs. History is the grim reminder. They have been caught in a murky conflict that has been waging and renewed generation after generation.
There is nothing but loss for the people here and has always been.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/yUZtrE3vqi0/

The rains have halted for a while. It will be back soon in bigger monsoon torrents if all goes as per normal seasonal cycle. But this break can be made used of meaningfully by the government. The least it could do is to fill up the potholes on the roads as well as repair weak spots before the rains return. Now that weather forecasts technology has advanced so much, it can actually plan out its work schedule much better than it could 10 years ago. Investing in renovation works now will save the government a lot more money in the near future, for the potholes and weak spot, if left unattended, would virtually trigger total or at least much more substantial damages of the roads during the monsoon. One wonders why this thought does not occur to the government on its own without anybody having to remind it. Local MLAs which are the eyes and ears, as well as guardians of the constituencies they represent, should have brought up the matter before the government for necessary action. Or is it a case of there being no such system of feedback in the establishment. If there isn`™t any, it is time for the government to introduced one. Let the government also realise that it would not only be saving expenses in the long run, but also doing a great service to the people it is supposed to serve.

We wonder why the government gives so little attention to maintenance of infrastructure. If it were to give the matter of maintenance a fraction of the attention that it gives to laying foundation stones or inaugurating new public infrastructures, so much would have been set right. The enthusiasm for the latter is such that our leaders would even agree to lay foundation stones or inaugurate structures ranging from public toilets to community halls where they would make fiery public speeches with an air of self assumed grandeur of imagined epic proportion. Perhaps as a tactics, a tradition should be introduced where our leaders are encouraged to cut the ribbons even in cases of public infrastructure renovation works and allowed to make speeches. This hopefully will encourage them to think of repair works more seriously and with far greater interest.
Jokes aside, this is a matter of concern, and indeed a big lacuna in the attitude of the government. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can keep in good shape without routine repair renovations. Roads are no exceptions. So why does the government not keep aside a separate budget for this purpose. We would even suggest a different government department with the responsibility of ensuring repair works are executed promptly, catching signs of damages early and fixing them before they get extensive. Let us remind the government once again that such a policy would save it considerably amount of money and quality time rather than put more pressure on its exchequer. It does not have to be recruiting fresh employees. It is just a matter of introducing a new structure to division of work responsibilities in its engineering departments. What seems to be also missing is a system of accountability. If a certain stretch of road or for that matter any government infrastructure is in a bad condition or have not been built as per specifications and standard, there should be somebody to answer. As for this latter proposition, in all likelihood the system already exists. The question is, if this is so, why are damaged roads left unrepaired for months until the damages become so extensive that the public are left with no choice than to resort to public agitation?

Nothing seems to be urgent in the eyes of the government. The only things that perk it up are the periodic mock epics and tantrums from various warring civil society bodies which are supposed to be challenges to the territorial integrity of the state. The war drums and war cabinet meetings recently over the opening of a party office of the Naga Peoples`™ Front, a Nagaland state political party, at Senapati headquarters by the Nagaland chief minister, Neiphiu Rio, is just the latest example. It may be recalled, all the clamours in the end proved to be nothing more than what the great bard William Shakespeare said in those immortal lines: `a story told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.` Instead of wasting its energy on such frivolous matters, we wish it would give more priority to keeping public utilities in good shape. For all one knows, such a shift in priorities would in the end prove to be the solution to episodes such as that of the Senapati fiasco.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/ko73jmKn06s/

The rains have halted for a while. It will be back soon in bigger monsoon torrents if all goes as per normal seasonal cycle. But this break can be made used of meaningfully by the government. The least it could do is to fill up the potholes on the roads as well as repair weak spots before the rains return. Now that weather forecasts technology has advanced so much, it can actually plan out its work schedule much better than it could 10 years ago. Investing in renovation works now will save the government a lot more money in the near future, for the potholes and weak spot, if left unattended, would virtually trigger total or at least much more substantial damages of the roads during the monsoon. One wonders why this thought does not occur to the government on its own without anybody having to remind it. Local MLAs which are the eyes and ears, as well as guardians of the constituencies they represent, should have brought up the matter before the government for necessary action. Or is it a case of there being no such system of feedback in the establishment. If there isn`™t any, it is time for the government to introduced one. Let the government also realise that it would not only be saving expenses in the long run, but also doing a great service to the people it is supposed to serve.

We wonder why the government gives so little attention to maintenance of infrastructure. If it were to give the matter of maintenance a fraction of the attention that it gives to laying foundation stones or inaugurating new public infrastructures, so much would have been set right. The enthusiasm for the latter is such that our leaders would even agree to lay foundation stones or inaugurate structures ranging from public toilets to community halls where they would make fiery public speeches with an air of self assumed grandeur of imagined epic proportion. Perhaps as a tactics, a tradition should be introduced where our leaders are encouraged to cut the ribbons even in cases of public infrastructure renovation works and allowed to make speeches. This hopefully will encourage them to think of repair works more seriously and with far greater interest.
Jokes aside, this is a matter of concern, and indeed a big lacuna in the attitude of the government. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can keep in good shape without routine repair renovations. Roads are no exceptions. So why does the government not keep aside a separate budget for this purpose. We would even suggest a different government department with the responsibility of ensuring repair works are executed promptly, catching signs of damages early and fixing them before they get extensive. Let us remind the government once again that such a policy would save it considerably amount of money and quality time rather than put more pressure on its exchequer. It does not have to be recruiting fresh employees. It is just a matter of introducing a new structure to division of work responsibilities in its engineering departments. What seems to be also missing is a system of accountability. If a certain stretch of road or for that matter any government infrastructure is in a bad condition or have not been built as per specifications and standard, there should be somebody to answer. As for this latter proposition, in all likelihood the system already exists. The question is, if this is so, why are damaged roads left unrepaired for months until the damages become so extensive that the public are left with no choice than to resort to public agitation?

Nothing seems to be urgent in the eyes of the government. The only things that perk it up are the periodic mock epics and tantrums from various warring civil society bodies which are supposed to be challenges to the territorial integrity of the state. The war drums and war cabinet meetings recently over the opening of a party office of the Naga Peoples`™ Front, a Nagaland state political party, at Senapati headquarters by the Nagaland chief minister, Neiphiu Rio, is just the latest example. It may be recalled, all the clamours in the end proved to be nothing more than what the great bard William Shakespeare said in those immortal lines: `a story told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.` Instead of wasting its energy on such frivolous matters, we wish it would give more priority to keeping public utilities in good shape. For all one knows, such a shift in priorities would in the end prove to be the solution to episodes such as that of the Senapati fiasco.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/ko73jmKn06s/

The rains have halted for a while. It will be back soon in bigger monsoon torrents if all goes as per normal seasonal cycle. But this break can be made used of meaningfully by the government. The least it could do is to fill up the potholes on the roads as well as repair weak spots before the rains return. Now that weather forecasts technology has advanced so much, it can actually plan out its work schedule much better than it could 10 years ago. Investing in renovation works now will save the government a lot more money in the near future, for the potholes and weak spot, if left unattended, would virtually trigger total or at least much more substantial damages of the roads during the monsoon. One wonders why this thought does not occur to the government on its own without anybody having to remind it. Local MLAs which are the eyes and ears, as well as guardians of the constituencies they represent, should have brought up the matter before the government for necessary action. Or is it a case of there being no such system of feedback in the establishment. If there isn`™t any, it is time for the government to introduced one. Let the government also realise that it would not only be saving expenses in the long run, but also doing a great service to the people it is supposed to serve.

We wonder why the government gives so little attention to maintenance of infrastructure. If it were to give the matter of maintenance a fraction of the attention that it gives to laying foundation stones or inaugurating new public infrastructures, so much would have been set right. The enthusiasm for the latter is such that our leaders would even agree to lay foundation stones or inaugurate structures ranging from public toilets to community halls where they would make fiery public speeches with an air of self assumed grandeur of imagined epic proportion. Perhaps as a tactics, a tradition should be introduced where our leaders are encouraged to cut the ribbons even in cases of public infrastructure renovation works and allowed to make speeches. This hopefully will encourage them to think of repair works more seriously and with far greater interest.
Jokes aside, this is a matter of concern, and indeed a big lacuna in the attitude of the government. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can keep in good shape without routine repair renovations. Roads are no exceptions. So why does the government not keep aside a separate budget for this purpose. We would even suggest a different government department with the responsibility of ensuring repair works are executed promptly, catching signs of damages early and fixing them before they get extensive. Let us remind the government once again that such a policy would save it considerably amount of money and quality time rather than put more pressure on its exchequer. It does not have to be recruiting fresh employees. It is just a matter of introducing a new structure to division of work responsibilities in its engineering departments. What seems to be also missing is a system of accountability. If a certain stretch of road or for that matter any government infrastructure is in a bad condition or have not been built as per specifications and standard, there should be somebody to answer. As for this latter proposition, in all likelihood the system already exists. The question is, if this is so, why are damaged roads left unrepaired for months until the damages become so extensive that the public are left with no choice than to resort to public agitation?

Nothing seems to be urgent in the eyes of the government. The only things that perk it up are the periodic mock epics and tantrums from various warring civil society bodies which are supposed to be challenges to the territorial integrity of the state. The war drums and war cabinet meetings recently over the opening of a party office of the Naga Peoples`™ Front, a Nagaland state political party, at Senapati headquarters by the Nagaland chief minister, Neiphiu Rio, is just the latest example. It may be recalled, all the clamours in the end proved to be nothing more than what the great bard William Shakespeare said in those immortal lines: `a story told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.` Instead of wasting its energy on such frivolous matters, we wish it would give more priority to keeping public utilities in good shape. For all one knows, such a shift in priorities would in the end prove to be the solution to episodes such as that of the Senapati fiasco.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/ko73jmKn06s/

The rains have halted for a while. It will be back soon in bigger monsoon torrents if all goes as per normal seasonal cycle. But this break can be made used of meaningfully by the government. The least it could do is to fill up the potholes on the roads as well as repair weak spots before the rains return. Now that weather forecasts technology has advanced so much, it can actually plan out its work schedule much better than it could 10 years ago. Investing in renovation works now will save the government a lot more money in the near future, for the potholes and weak spot, if left unattended, would virtually trigger total or at least much more substantial damages of the roads during the monsoon. One wonders why this thought does not occur to the government on its own without anybody having to remind it. Local MLAs which are the eyes and ears, as well as guardians of the constituencies they represent, should have brought up the matter before the government for necessary action. Or is it a case of there being no such system of feedback in the establishment. If there isn`™t any, it is time for the government to introduced one. Let the government also realise that it would not only be saving expenses in the long run, but also doing a great service to the people it is supposed to serve.

We wonder why the government gives so little attention to maintenance of infrastructure. If it were to give the matter of maintenance a fraction of the attention that it gives to laying foundation stones or inaugurating new public infrastructures, so much would have been set right. The enthusiasm for the latter is such that our leaders would even agree to lay foundation stones or inaugurate structures ranging from public toilets to community halls where they would make fiery public speeches with an air of self assumed grandeur of imagined epic proportion. Perhaps as a tactics, a tradition should be introduced where our leaders are encouraged to cut the ribbons even in cases of public infrastructure renovation works and allowed to make speeches. This hopefully will encourage them to think of repair works more seriously and with far greater interest.
Jokes aside, this is a matter of concern, and indeed a big lacuna in the attitude of the government. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can keep in good shape without routine repair renovations. Roads are no exceptions. So why does the government not keep aside a separate budget for this purpose. We would even suggest a different government department with the responsibility of ensuring repair works are executed promptly, catching signs of damages early and fixing them before they get extensive. Let us remind the government once again that such a policy would save it considerably amount of money and quality time rather than put more pressure on its exchequer. It does not have to be recruiting fresh employees. It is just a matter of introducing a new structure to division of work responsibilities in its engineering departments. What seems to be also missing is a system of accountability. If a certain stretch of road or for that matter any government infrastructure is in a bad condition or have not been built as per specifications and standard, there should be somebody to answer. As for this latter proposition, in all likelihood the system already exists. The question is, if this is so, why are damaged roads left unrepaired for months until the damages become so extensive that the public are left with no choice than to resort to public agitation?

Nothing seems to be urgent in the eyes of the government. The only things that perk it up are the periodic mock epics and tantrums from various warring civil society bodies which are supposed to be challenges to the territorial integrity of the state. The war drums and war cabinet meetings recently over the opening of a party office of the Naga Peoples`™ Front, a Nagaland state political party, at Senapati headquarters by the Nagaland chief minister, Neiphiu Rio, is just the latest example. It may be recalled, all the clamours in the end proved to be nothing more than what the great bard William Shakespeare said in those immortal lines: `a story told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.` Instead of wasting its energy on such frivolous matters, we wish it would give more priority to keeping public utilities in good shape. For all one knows, such a shift in priorities would in the end prove to be the solution to episodes such as that of the Senapati fiasco.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/ko73jmKn06s/

Manipur did not take the Santosh Trophy, the country`™s top most inter-state football championship, going down 1-2 to Indian`™s football powerhouse, Bengal, in the final played at the floodlit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Guwahati on Monday. The consolation however is, this small impoverished state always manages to put together teams year after year which no other team, even the best reputed and groomed, can take for granted. The fact that Manipur entered the final of this most prestigious national tournament is itself a feat, and this is only the second time Manipur has made it to the final of this tournament. This year too, although beaten, the young Manipur side visibly shook up the Bengal veterans considerably, the later having to resort to the cynical tactics of time wasting in the second half so as to hang on to the final whistle with the narrow margin they held by virtue of a goal each scored in each of the two halves. Manipur`™s relentless pressure in the second half ultimately broke through the Bengal defence and scored one to reduce the margin to 1-2. The pressure continued and if not for a number of missed chances, Manipur probably would have emerged on top. Even if Manipur managed one more goal in, which on so many occasions they nearly did, and the match was extended to extra time, the bet would have been overwhelmingly on Manipur to carry the day, for they were definitely the physically fitter and agile side. Bengal it must be said were the more experienced and it was experience which got them to keep the margin, though precariously, till the end. All in all it was a good match, and Bengal for whom it was the 31st time winning the trophy, deserved the win, although the losers Manipur too earned respect for the valiant fight they put up. Our congratulations go out to the Manipur team, and gratitude too, for earning the state another proud reputation.

We write also to raise an alarm. Football is no longer so much of a routine sight on the playgrounds of Imphal and indeed the entire state. The power of television being such, they are being usurped by cricket. Worse still is, it is not even the standard cricket, for Manipur`™s version is generally played either with tennis ball or else plastic look alike of the real cricket balls. This is good for toddlers, but no player who grows up on a diet of these versions of the game can ever make it to the top of what is virtually not just the national game of India, but also the national obsession. These versions can only be light recreation and never be fodder for future champions to emerge. The worry then is, this cricket placebo may end up as the dog in the manger, diverting focus from what the state is good in, but not replacing the space it usurped with new champion material. That would be such a loss. The blame can only go to the television media, and the monopoly over sporting glamour so wilfully given to cricket and at the cost of all other games in the country. It needs no reminder that it is not cricket but hockey which is the national game officially. No wonder India IS seldom of any reckoning in any other game apart from cricket on the international arena. This imbalance must be set right on a national scale, but most immediately for Manipur, the game must not be allowed to take away the focus from other games more suited to the genius of the place.

But the lopsided attention to cricket, and the near total neglect of other games was most prominently displayed on the day of the final. Major private news channels of the country did not even think the news of the final was worth even a short mention in their news bulletins for the day. Only Doordarshan the government owned channel did the needful faithfully and gave the match equitable coverage. On the other hand all the private channels flocked to, and gave extended coverage to a function honouring cricketers for their World Cup feat. While the attention cricket is good, what is lamentable is the manner in which all other games are ending up ignored. It is unlikely this attitude would change in the near future, for it is also the market which is determining it. Advertisers flock to cricket thus compelling the media to oblige the advertisers`™ needs and a self perpetuating spiral is thus created in which the advertisers and the media whet each others`™ appetite. Manipur must resist this temptation. Its sporting reputation were earned from a varied number of sports, it must remain so. If cricket is to be played, so be it, but with the media biases so pervasive, it must take care this new trend does not result in a cricket monoculture as in much of the rest of India.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/4RmSLjPLExQ/

Manipur did not take the Santosh Trophy, the country`™s top most inter-state football championship, going down 1-2 to Indian`™s football powerhouse, Bengal, in the final played at the floodlit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Guwahati on Monday. The consolation however is, this small impoverished state always manages to put together teams year after year which no other team, even the best reputed and groomed, can take for granted. The fact that Manipur entered the final of this most prestigious national tournament is itself a feat, and this is only the second time Manipur has made it to the final of this tournament. This year too, although beaten, the young Manipur side visibly shook up the Bengal veterans considerably, the later having to resort to the cynical tactics of time wasting in the second half so as to hang on to the final whistle with the narrow margin they held by virtue of a goal each scored in each of the two halves. Manipur`™s relentless pressure in the second half ultimately broke through the Bengal defence and scored one to reduce the margin to 1-2. The pressure continued and if not for a number of missed chances, Manipur probably would have emerged on top. Even if Manipur managed one more goal in, which on so many occasions they nearly did, and the match was extended to extra time, the bet would have been overwhelmingly on Manipur to carry the day, for they were definitely the physically fitter and agile side. Bengal it must be said were the more experienced and it was experience which got them to keep the margin, though precariously, till the end. All in all it was a good match, and Bengal for whom it was the 31st time winning the trophy, deserved the win, although the losers Manipur too earned respect for the valiant fight they put up. Our congratulations go out to the Manipur team, and gratitude too, for earning the state another proud reputation.

We write also to raise an alarm. Football is no longer so much of a routine sight on the playgrounds of Imphal and indeed the entire state. The power of television being such, they are being usurped by cricket. Worse still is, it is not even the standard cricket, for Manipur`™s version is generally played either with tennis ball or else plastic look alike of the real cricket balls. This is good for toddlers, but no player who grows up on a diet of these versions of the game can ever make it to the top of what is virtually not just the national game of India, but also the national obsession. These versions can only be light recreation and never be fodder for future champions to emerge. The worry then is, this cricket placebo may end up as the dog in the manger, diverting focus from what the state is good in, but not replacing the space it usurped with new champion material. That would be such a loss. The blame can only go to the television media, and the monopoly over sporting glamour so wilfully given to cricket and at the cost of all other games in the country. It needs no reminder that it is not cricket but hockey which is the national game officially. No wonder India IS seldom of any reckoning in any other game apart from cricket on the international arena. This imbalance must be set right on a national scale, but most immediately for Manipur, the game must not be allowed to take away the focus from other games more suited to the genius of the place.

But the lopsided attention to cricket, and the near total neglect of other games was most prominently displayed on the day of the final. Major private news channels of the country did not even think the news of the final was worth even a short mention in their news bulletins for the day. Only Doordarshan the government owned channel did the needful faithfully and gave the match equitable coverage. On the other hand all the private channels flocked to, and gave extended coverage to a function honouring cricketers for their World Cup feat. While the attention cricket is good, what is lamentable is the manner in which all other games are ending up ignored. It is unlikely this attitude would change in the near future, for it is also the market which is determining it. Advertisers flock to cricket thus compelling the media to oblige the advertisers`™ needs and a self perpetuating spiral is thus created in which the advertisers and the media whet each others`™ appetite. Manipur must resist this temptation. Its sporting reputation were earned from a varied number of sports, it must remain so. If cricket is to be played, so be it, but with the media biases so pervasive, it must take care this new trend does not result in a cricket monoculture as in much of the rest of India.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/4RmSLjPLExQ/

What Irish song writer and singer Paul Brady sang 20 years ago in his song titled “The Island”, tormented by the increasingly mindless violence with no seeming hope for a conclusion in his homeland at the time, rings loud in considering the situation in Manipur today. Amidst the sombre mood of the song comes the stabbing line which should make everybody sit up and rethink: “Up here, we sacrifice our children for worn out dreams of yesteryears.” So much water has flowed down the rivers of Manipur in the half century of conflict, it is time now to reassess and re-evaluate the dreams of yesteryears so that they are not out of sync with the needs as well as aspirations of the changed times. Needless to remind anyone that times keep changing, and it is imperative for all to also change with it and remain relevant.
The half century of conflict however has not been of any waste. It served its purpose. The resistance had a driving logic that is why it came up. Had it not been there, it is quite imaginable that Manipur would have lost its will and inner fire long ago, and become content to simply surviving and not living. To all the sacrifices that have gone into this struggle, we all owe our gratitude for making us what we are today, or more relevantly, sustaining in all of us the will to live and be independent in spirit. Nothing, not a single life lost in the revolution that has been raging has gone waste. They all served a grand purpose of saving the soul of the place. Yet, the times have changed, and changed dramatically too. The fight is no longer the same, the fighters are no longer the same and so indeed the enemies are no longer the same. All these dramatis personae, and the valour or villainy associated with them, were determined by circumstance and circumstance alone. Nobody is born hero or villain, it is the given situation that categorises them in their respective moulds. Today’s enemies can be tomorrow’s friends and today’s friends can be tomorrow’s enemies. We have all seen this happen right before our very eyes in so many conflict theatres. It would be sheer obduracy and linearity of vision which would make anybody believe our situation is any different from this.
It is therefore vital for all the various political dramatis personae in our own conflict theatre to be open to self assessment and consequently self renewal. This is the only way to remain relevant. For this to happen, a constant dialogue and vigilance to be in touch with the pulse as well as the aspiration of the public at large, and with this knowledge as the lode star seek to understand the self better, is absolutely essential. Leaders of the people, both underground as well as those in the establishment must be willing to accept this onerous challenge, for this is of vital importance to the future and current welfare of the public they serve. This can happen best if communication channels are always open between these leaders and the public. Manipur is at a very crucial juncture now. It can either chose to be condemned to another one hundred years of solitude or else decide to integrate with the world and give itself a new and modern soul. This is also a crucial juncture because of the proposal from one of the most powerful underground organisations, the UNLF, for a settlement either through a UN supervised plebiscite or else by any other honourable means. We hope similar proposals for a just resolution also come forth from other groups so that a synthesis can be looked forward to and a common programme for a lasting solution to Manipur’s problems can come into sight. For a start, at least the UNLF chairman, who is now in custody, must be facilitated to be in closer touch with the people. This could be by arrangement with the state government. There have been models by which this has been done, some of which seem applicable in the current situation in the state in a realistic way. The ULFA model in which arrested ULFA leaders were released on bail is one. This one seems a little farfetched. The Dima Halong model seems a little more suitable. Here the state declares a house as jail and keeps the organisation leaders under house arrest there. In the case of the arrested UNLF leader too, such an arrangement could be made so that he can be in closer touch with representatives of the people on the ground. This model is also being played out in the case of Irom Sharmila, whereby the state government declares a section of the JN Hospital as jail premises and keeps the hunger striking, gritty, lady there. If it is for the sake of arriving at a solution to Manipur’s vexed problems, there is no reason why the state government cannot think of doing the same again.

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

The recent statement by the UNLF chairman, R.K. Sanayaima, alias Meghen, that he is ready for a settlement of the Manipur-India conflict by any other honourable means even if it is not by a plebiscite, would come across as loaded with meanings to any close and concerned observer of developments of the underground politics in Manipur. Since the statement was not elaborated, it is never certain what was exactly implied, whether it was just a response to a purported statement by another underground organisation on the issue of plebiscite as a conflict resolution mechanism in Manipur, as was vaguely implied, or if the UNLF leader was unilaterally indicating his and his party`™s willingness to open up to other ideas and formulas which can bring about a resolution to the problem at hand and thus usher back in peace in this trouble-torn state.
This is encouraging, if not for anything else then at least because it means not putting all the eggs in one basket. Ideally, every important blueprint for a peaceful settlement must have a Plan-B, and indeed Plan-C and D, E, F… all of them, it goes without saying, bound together by a single goal. This is important since the project being pushed is important and cannot afford to fail. If one plan becomes unfeasible, there must be other options to replace it.

The million rupees question at this juncture is, does the state have any alternate plan or plans? Quite in despair we are quite certain this is unlikely. This question is relevant not just for the government but also to the numerous peace workers and NGOs in the state. Have they been doing anything in the regards? What about the Manipur University? In the political science department, we can quite confidently say there would be numerous scholars who had done or are doing their M.Phil and Ph.D theses on the issue of insurgency. Quite predictably, most of these would also be virtually the same dog-eared sketches of the history of the phenomenon, with few or none of them providing any fresh insight into what can be the way out. We hope we are wrong, and there indeed are some which can shed light at this crucial juncture on the festering issue. We understand that the university is also developing a peace study centre. We wonder if this initiative has also done anything of relevance when it comes to the crux, as indeed it is now.

The vacuum of intellectual material with relevance to real problems on the ground is frustrating, but more than this, it also points to the trend of academics in the state as a whole. The pursuit today is for degrees which can guarantee government jobs, and not in the real spirit of education, which is generally defined as acquisition of problem solving skills and insights into life`™s myriad challenges. The uneasy reality today in Manipur is, government jobs have acquired a Kafkaesque reality of its own, and they have become ends in themselves, so much so that even the meaning of the pursuit of education and knowledge has come to be skewed unrecognisably to mean only the acquisition of relevant paper qualifications to make the candidates eligible for these jobs. When real problem solving needs, especially very crucial one as the state is faced with currently arise, what everybody is faced with is a big intellectual void on the matter.

This is the tragedy of modern Manipur. The time is simply ripe to begin a new journey to explore peace possibilities, for opportunities are knocking at the door. If these extremely rare openings to a new and peaceful future are allowed to go waste, the history will never forgive the present generation. Though in an intellectual vacuum in matters of peace models currently, the government and the entire intelligentsia must come together to rise to the occasion. The exploration for different avenues for peace and reconciliation must begin in earnest without further loss of time. This reconciliation must be broad based too, for by no means can any resolution to Manipur`™s problems, we would venture to say much more than any other north eastern states, can be a linear one. As much as Manipur is multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multi-religion, the divisions within its society are as myriad and complex. To conjure up a holistic vision to accommodate all its problems within a single blueprint, what is called for is what John Paul Lederach terms as the `moral imagination` `“ an imagination that extends beyond the ordinary linear vision of established rules and legality, or individual likes and dislikes.

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Nothing should have come as more shocking than the news splashed on the front pages of local dailies today that an underground activist caught in the act of extortion turned out to be a personnel of the India Reserved Battalion, IRB, an armed constabulary of the Manipur government. This is also not the first time such a thing has happened, and indeed the Manipur police constabularies have come to have the extremely disparaging reputation of being infiltrated by various militant groups in a big way. If propriety was the rule of the game, today’s development should have even demanded the resignation of the top executive of the state, the chief minister, Okram Ibobi, himself, or at least his home minister, under whom the police department comes. Unfortunately, Okram Ibobi is also the home minister just as he is also the finance minister. He cannot in his capacity as chief minster possibly fire himself in his other avatar as home minister. In all likelihood, not to speak of heads rolling at the ministerial level, it is quite predictable that not even any of the senior police officers, the DGP included, would he held accountable for what should be described not only as shameful, but also dangerous development in equal measure, in the police department. But then, in the power corridors of Manipur, and indeed all over the country, shame and accountability are terms which have been deliberately erased from official lexicon. It is only recently that strong civil society and media pressures which made the Central government to think of introducing some semblance of accountability and discipline in public administration and public finance handling by those in power. Peripheral states like Manipur, however, are still blissfully left untouched by these waves.
The manner in which militant plants have been routinely discovered in the Manipur Police constabularies in the past one decade should have raised the alarm long ago. There must be something very wrong with the department. In all likelihood, as we had pointed out earlier, a lot of this is happening because of unprecedented corruption in the recruitment process during the period. It is known to everybody that today the bribe price of even the job of a constable in the Manipur police is as high as Rs. 3 lakhs. The price for sub-inspectors and inspectors can go up as high as Rs. 10 lakhs. This certainly would have some very serious implications, the most obvious of which is, those recruited would want to recover the bribe amount they had been made to pay, and this can only be done from means other than their salaries. Money being such a corrupting influence, once someone’s conscience has been breached by it, there is no turning back. So the ordinary newly recruited constable who recovered his money by corrupt means available to his profession and rank, would get addicted to his corrupt ways. Others probably end up seeking quicker ways of making money by joining the extortion racket introduced by the proliferating number of militant organisations.
There is however a scenario much more sinister. Since these jobs can be had by paying a bribe price, resourceful underground organisations can easily invest the money necessary to pay the bribe to infiltrate this key department of the government. This understandably would be far more convenient for the militants, as there would be no commotion over use of coercion, thereby leaving the infiltration process much quieter and shielded from public view or suspicion. Corruption in this way probably would have opened up the backdoor so wide that a lot of undesirable elements walked into government’s vital security and counter insurgency organs without a fuss. The pattern and frequency at which personnel of the Manipur Police have been found involved in the very crimes they are recruited to fight, certainly points towards this direction. What is now needed is a massive cleanup exercise. What is even more urgently needed is to fix accountability through a high level judicial probe. However, even before a probe is instituted, the redemption process should begin with the top executives of the state’s concerned department owning moral responsibility, and welcoming penalty, including resignation from the posts they hold, for indeed they have failed miserably. However, this is unlikely ever to be, considering the thickness of skin of those in power. Instead, at the most some scapegoats among lower and mid-ranked officers of the department would be found and transferred or suspended from service for some time to pacify public outrage. The bigger irony is, those thus suspended would also not see this as a punishment but a paid holiday. What a shame!

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