Tag: Editorial

The Assembly resolution to have an Upper House, or Legislative Council, as a compliment to the Legislative Assembly is welcome. This is especially so considering the elevated place elders occupy… Read more »

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By Joshy Joseph At the outset, let me confess that I am not a Bengali and I don’t understand the inner most nuances of the language. But we Malyalis have… Read more »

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By Bobo Khuraijam Good that the ordeal is over. The strike called by our esteemed Oja(s) has finally come to an end. Though not in full, a large chunk of… Read more »

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By Amar Yumnam Tertiary education, generally termed as higher education, is not in an enviable position in this country and particularly so in this region. We have lost focus, direction… Read more »

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A United Nations Arms Trade Treaty currently being negotiated can help India tackle rising terrorist violence and provide internal security New Delhi, 1 March 2011: Each year worldwide, 500,000 people… Read more »

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Irom Sharmila Chanu, the frail iron-willed young lady who has been fasting for a decade and still continuing to do so, to have the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act, AFSPA-1958, repealed, has been released today. It is anybody’s guess she would be rearrested tomorrow on the same old charge of attempt to commit suicide. The release and re-arrest is just a matter of avoiding a legal hurdle which forbids an under-trial prisoner to be held in custody more than a year at a time. This has been an annual cyclic ritual. Her 10 years in jail has been in this sense a series of at least 10 annual arrests and detentions. What a sorry state of affairs this has become. Since the government apparently has no intent of addressing and resolving the issue for which Sharmila is on a fast, the detention of the lady is today reduced to merely an act of prolonging a suicide death and not anything remotely to do with removing the conditions which led her to the extreme decision of self denial. Can there be a situation more pronounced than this of the clichéd farcical strategy of treating the symptom of a disease after ignoring the disease itself?
It is really a no win situation and at this time of the year every year when Sharmila comes into the picture, all sensitive observer would suffer from depression. That the indomitable will of this courageous lady is matched by the stubborn intransigence of the state is no consolation or comfort. The build up of the emotional charge, and indeed the entire atmosphere surrounding this sorry episode resembles quite uncannily the approach to the climax of a Greek tragedy. The hubris and harmatia of those in power, the hoi polloi watching helplessly, sympathising with the protagonist but wishing she would tone down her courage not in any disregard of her resistance, or of any respect for the object of her resistance, but so that she lives. It seems almost a foregone conclusion that Sharmila would not see freedom again. She is not going to be allowed this at any cost. Either she gives up her belief, or else she perishes seems to be the fate written large for her. Since she is unlikely ever to give up, God forbid saying this, her death by starvation may be delayed but seems almost a certainty.
It is difficult to imagine why the Indian state is not paying any heed to Sharmila’s clarion call. It should have also noted that her resistance is sending out more messages than she even intended. Here is somebody who has abjured the use of violence as a language of resistance, and instead has resorted to the non-violent Gandhian way of doing just this, and yet in the land of Gandhi, this is being disregarded. What a message it would have been for those who think armed struggle is the only way to have the state listen, if Sharmila were to win what she set out to achieve. Her defeat, by the same logic would also buttress the contrary conclusion that violence is the only substantive language that the state understands and listens to. Probably nobody who matters in the policy circle would take these thoughts seriously and this is unfortunate, for indeed depending on how the state responded to the Sharmila issue, the matter could have been transformed into a game changer in the entire debate on violence as language of engaging the state.
But regardless of how the state responds to it, Sharmila’s resistance would and must carry on until a resolution, desirably a democratic one, is reached. It is sad but true, the most resolute resistance has always involved martyrdom, and in Sharmila, we are already staring at one. She is very much alive, but already has a foot in martyrdom. We hope she remains a living legend that she is, and that her martyrdom does not involve death as martyrdom is generally understood to. We also hope she wins, and this could very well have been without anybody losing. This is probably why the AFSPA was considered for repeal by none other than the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh himself, and on several occasions, by the Union home minister, P Chidambaram. However, there is a military lobby and mindset which sees only in terms of binaries, so that no game is ever won without one party losing. In the zero sum game thus conjured up, Sharmila and her non-violent struggle must lose so that the military approach to problem solution wins. How very tragic this situation has been made to become indeed.

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Manipur is today literally loaded with crime cases that it is today nearly impossible to even remotely guess what the exact number of cases remaining unresolved with crime investigators would be. The trouble is, not just the everyday crimes of kidnaps and homicide newspaper readers are fed with daily, but also high profile ones such as that of the kidnap and murder of a school girl and the daughter of a former minister, Lungnila Elizabeth, and that of a junior sub-editor of the Imphal Free Press, K Rishikesh, both now handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI, remain stuck without explanation. Obviously, in such matters, nothing works as they should in Manipur until and unless pressured by street protests it seems. Now that another Assembly session is coming up, it would be interesting if the matter was to be thrashed out and a debate on why very few crime cases ever get to see a conclusion comes up. This is especially important considering that justice delayed is justice denied.

It must also be said that the media in the state has not also been doing its bit. They cannot be expected to be writing about these cases consistently with the passion they evoked at the time of their coming to light, but at least on a sustained basis, they ought to have followed up these cases from time to time to ensure not everything is pushed out of public consciousness. We are aware the media can overshoot its limits too, but this is better than a total silence. A comparison between how the Delhi media handled the Jessica Lal murder case and now the Aarushi Talwar murder case should make the contrast stark. Regardless of what is being said about the Delhi media jumping the gun in its reportage of these events, there can be no dispute that thanks to them these issues continues to have a strong presence in the public domain.
It is not too late yet however. Let a beginning be made to get an estimate of the magnitude of the problem in the interest of justice and this process can most appropriately and relevantly begin on the floor of the Assembly. Let the government come out with a white paper on the status of the crime cases it is pursuing and the progress these cases have made so far. Once a database on this is available, it should be far easier to work out how many of these are worth giving fresh focus to put them to rest. It would also be known just exactly what the percentage of success the police has been having in resolving these cases. In all likelihood it would be quite an embarrassment for crime investigators, but newspaper readers would remember that every now and then the police do announce the resolution of some cases after having nabbed suspects and having them confess their crimes.

The trouble has been, as in the case of corruption, there is a big black hole to blame for all failures of investigation – insurgency. Today, gun violence deaths can be presumed to be a police case closed before it is opened. The presumption would be insurgents are behind the killing and that the case would have no meaning being pursued, as if insurgency violence is beyond investigation. This is also the reason why very often, aggrieved parties with no connections in higher places, are left to resort to make appeals to “parallel governments” through advertisements placed in local dailies in particular vernacular ones, for the latter to take up these cases and resolve them in the interest of justice. Needless to remind here that the establishment by each of its inaction on this important matter of public justice, sheds a bit of its moral legitimacy with which it holds on to the faith of the larger public. This lost legitimacy also sooner than later passes on to forces opposed to it. We would even argue that, at its most fundamental level, this widening ambiguous moral space of government legitimacy, to which the government’s inability to effectively address the justice issue contributes liberally, is where the seeds of insurgency germinate. Insurgency it has been so rightly though enigmatically pointed out is a state of mind. Addressing this state of mind must be made an equally, if not more important strategy in tackling the onerous issue of insurgency, than the constant upgrade of the military teeth of the state. The later can only contain the problem, it at all. It is only a greater attention and commitment to the former which can bring lasting solutions in sight.

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Manipur is today literally loaded with crime cases that it is today nearly impossible to even remotely guess what the exact number of cases remaining unresolved with crime investigators would be. The trouble is, not just the everyday crimes of kidnaps and homicide newspaper readers are fed with daily, but also high profile ones such as that of the kidnap and murder of a school girl and the daughter of a former minister, Lungnila Elizabeth, and that of a junior sub-editor of the Imphal Free Press, K Rishikesh, both now handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI, remain stuck without explanation. Obviously, in such matters, nothing works as they should in Manipur until and unless pressured by street protests it seems. Now that another Assembly session is coming up, it would be interesting if the matter was to be thrashed out and a debate on why very few crime cases ever get to see a conclusion comes up. This is especially important considering that justice delayed is justice denied.

It must also be said that the media in the state has not also been doing its bit. They cannot be expected to be writing about these cases consistently with the passion they evoked at the time of their coming to light, but at least on a sustained basis, they ought to have followed up these cases from time to time to ensure not everything is pushed out of public consciousness. We are aware the media can overshoot its limits too, but this is better than a total silence. A comparison between how the Delhi media handled the Jessica Lal murder case and now the Aarushi Talwar murder case should make the contrast stark. Regardless of what is being said about the Delhi media jumping the gun in its reportage of these events, there can be no dispute that thanks to them these issues continues to have a strong presence in the public domain.
It is not too late yet however. Let a beginning be made to get an estimate of the magnitude of the problem in the interest of justice and this process can most appropriately and relevantly begin on the floor of the Assembly. Let the government come out with a white paper on the status of the crime cases it is pursuing and the progress these cases have made so far. Once a database on this is available, it should be far easier to work out how many of these are worth giving fresh focus to put them to rest. It would also be known just exactly what the percentage of success the police has been having in resolving these cases. In all likelihood it would be quite an embarrassment for crime investigators, but newspaper readers would remember that every now and then the police do announce the resolution of some cases after having nabbed suspects and having them confess their crimes.

The trouble has been, as in the case of corruption, there is a big black hole to blame for all failures of investigation – insurgency. Today, gun violence deaths can be presumed to be a police case closed before it is opened. The presumption would be insurgents are behind the killing and that the case would have no meaning being pursued, as if insurgency violence is beyond investigation. This is also the reason why very often, aggrieved parties with no connections in higher places, are left to resort to make appeals to “parallel governments” through advertisements placed in local dailies in particular vernacular ones, for the latter to take up these cases and resolve them in the interest of justice. Needless to remind here that the establishment by each of its inaction on this important matter of public justice, sheds a bit of its moral legitimacy with which it holds on to the faith of the larger public. This lost legitimacy also sooner than later passes on to forces opposed to it. We would even argue that, at its most fundamental level, this widening ambiguous moral space of government legitimacy, to which the government’s inability to effectively address the justice issue contributes liberally, is where the seeds of insurgency germinate. Insurgency it has been so rightly though enigmatically pointed out is a state of mind. Addressing this state of mind must be made an equally, if not more important strategy in tackling the onerous issue of insurgency, than the constant upgrade of the military teeth of the state. The later can only contain the problem, it at all. It is only a greater attention and commitment to the former which can bring lasting solutions in sight.

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One of the foremost problems before the Government of Manipur is the rising youth unemployment. From last count, the figure has crossed the seven lakh mark. This in a population of 24 lakhs is close to 30 percent. If not for the traditional social support systems, such as the joint family which takes under its umbrage siblings unfortunate to be with poor income or even no income, this figure would have spelled social disaster long ago. But the absorption power of even the most resilient social support system would naturally have a limit. Manipur’s may be nearing this limit or perhaps crossed it already. The never ending mindless violence on its streets may just be one indicator of this. This being the case, it is imperative for the government to come up with imaginative measures to address the problem when it comes out with its budget vision for the coming year. This obviously should not be about artificial creation of employment in the government, but of nudging the relevant sectors of the economy to foster self-sustaining economic enterprises with employment capabilities. Needless to elaborate as it is common knowledge, this would entail coming up with policies to expand the employment market beyond those directly employed by the government. As it is, the government’s employment market is supersaturated.
The other uncomfortable fact is, in the past decade, the government has been making unprecedented recruitment in the police department. These moves obviously would be with the concurrence of an obliging Central government in consideration of the raging insurgencies in the state. In a way this can result in a dangerous Pavlovian conditioning. At the unconscious level, or perhaps even at the conscious level, recruitment opportunities in a corrupt environment would ultimately come to be interpreted as a reward, causing a vested interest that would want insurgency kept simmering alive. But it is known this reward is much more complex. If a survey were to be done of the most lavish mansions in Imphal city, however garishly built these are, or properties acquired by Manipur domiciles in various metropolises in India, chances are, they would belong to a police officer or others with close links to them. The vicious cycle would thereby ensure the conditions for insurgency are never totally put to rest.

This vicious cycle would go conclusively only if employment channels have been generated the normal way. There would be few who would doubt this would have to be by invigorating the state’s fledgling private sector. The room for expansion of this sector at this moment is tremendous, and indeed a churning is already in progress and despite the tremendous hurdles they are faced with, it is amazing how so many small and micro enterprises keep spring up everywhere. Mobile repair shops, photo studio, refrigerator repair workshops, tyre retread centres and indeed, practically all services that an ordinary consumer needs in living a normal life in the state would be available in small unassuming box shops in some corner of the Imphal city. Given a little governmental support, these enterprises can become the answer to the state’s unemployment problem. This support can first of all be in the shape of providing tertiary services, regular electricity, water, good roads etc. It will also have to be about very importantly, easy credit facilities.

We do hope the government would evolve a policy to address this onerous issue. The matter will have to be pursued as per an official policy and blueprint, and not by any adhoc extension of assistance as if in a charity should be the resort. The latter style has never succeeded or sustained the energy necessary to carry on for long. There probably would be losses in the beginning in terms of loan defaults, business bankruptcy etc, but the government should factor in these drawbacks in its original policy blueprint and then envision its own breakeven point. This exercise cannot also be a purely monetary cost benefit exercise too. The government’s rewards, apart from recovering its direct investment which is important no doubt, is also to see the employment burden on its shoulders lighter, and ultimately disappear.

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Now that the Union Budget 2011-2012 has been announced, it is now time to focus attention to what shape the State Budget for the same year, which will be presented soon, would look like. Drawing up the state budget for obvious reasons should be considerably easier. For one, it is much less grand and ambitious. For another, many of the factors that would determine the shape of government’s policies for the coming year are known, and equally many of the objectives the government would seek to achieve are predictable. But within the ceiling predetermined by circumstance and the limited nature of the canvas, there are plenty that can be done and our leaders should ensure are done, which is why there is a need to create an informed discursive atmosphere aimed at clearly demarcating what are the consensual voice of the people on what they want, as well as critical assessments by the enlightened sections of the society, in particular the state intelligentsia, of these voices as well as how these can be addressed rationally through government policies.

The practice in the past has been to bring out a document which in its essence is nothing much more than a balance sheet of state government’s projected account for the coming year, with little indication of how this document can be even vaguely seen as a vision statement which not only spells out what is in store for the coming year but also opens up windows and doors to the future beyond just the following year. Just to give an indication of a very obvious example of what is meant by this let us consider the idea of the “Look East Policy” at the national level. This idea, it will be recalled, was floated sometime in the early 1990s and has lived on till this day, generating debates on what shape the policy should take, the good it can do as well as the bad that can result out of it. In the inability of the government to do this for all these years, the fault is also very much with the intelligentsia which has consistently failed in setting the public agenda for the government to pick up from. In fact, they have also been miserably failing in generating any public interest in the budget document. This has incrementally distanced the budget exercise from the public and continually reinforced the sense of it being alien and abstract, decipherable only by its pundits. Nothing can be more harmful than this.

By contrast consider the intense media discussions on the Union Budget in the run up to the day of its presentation in the Parliament on February 28 and then the equally intense post-mortem analysis after the document and its entire content was made public. Although the actually budget document would not have quoted any of these discussions directly, there is no gainsaying that much of the substance of these discussion would have had direct and indirect influences on the final shape of the document. In any case, the architects of the budget papers would have had a ready reference of public opinion and aspiration, as well as critics’ assessment of the economy and the remedial measures they preferred to fall back on. This is the atmosphere which has always been missing in the case of the budget preparation process in Manipur. Those who write it would on one hand have had little to refer back to in assessing public opinion and aspiration, and on the other be under little pressure that they would fail to impress the critics as there seems to be none.

So here we are on the eve of another state budget presentation, with the discursive spaces in the media still blank on the issue. If there has been anything as visible public opinion on the governance issue, it is defined by what may be called the dreary pull of mediocrity, making people to come out open only in matters such as salary hikes, service perks etc. Middle class Manipur has come to be trapped in a pathetic predicament whereby popular imagination cannot overcome extremely limiting and myopic outlooks that sees little beyond narrow self interests. The belief in a larger common good of society, not necessarily by abandoning self-interest, but by distinguishing between mere self-interest and enlightened self-interest, has it seems waned. This is depressing for no other reason than that it is a recipe for the ultimate total decay. This is another reason why an active and enlightened intelligentsia is all the more vital. This is one of Manipur’s biggest challenges today.

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The Union Budget 2011-2012 according to the economic advisor to the Government of India and the architect of budget document, Kaushik Basu, is admittedly not a game changer. But he also said, because it is not a game changer as many other previous budgets were thought to be, it will in a paradoxical way prove to be more or a game changer than past budgets. Today’s budget did not indeed have any spectacular pronouncements to make. On the other hand, Basu explains that this is a professional budget, implying it is not populist in nature, and one which is meant to keep the nation firmly on the beaten track and ensure a win in the end. He says that budgets should not be a sensational document attracting banner headlines every year for this can raise expectations to unrealistic levels. By way of an alibi he says budget of the rich industrialised nations are never exciting. There are others who disagree. They are of the opinion that for a rapidly expanding and growing economy like India, it is essential for it to be constantly reforming and exploring new possibilities so that it can sustain the growth and also absorb its shocks such as inflationary tendencies. They cite the example of China which has been doing precisely this and very successfully too.

Understandably the new tax and excise levy structures have pleased the industries. This mood of the industries was passed on to small investors as reflected in the sudden jump in the sensex value in the morning, although the value dropped considerably by the time the substance of the budget became clearer. However, a caveat needs to be thrown in here. The sensex reflects the mood of small investors and not exactly that of the industries as such. Initially these small investors probably thought there would be a jump in the stock prices hence the spurt of investment, but later realised there was nothing much to be had from it therefore the deflation of the initially mood. It was not in any way a critical commentary on the health of the companies they invested in, or for that matter the budget which made them do what they did, in any substantive way.
The budget also seeks to protect the salaried class by raising the ceiling for income tax exemption. What it did not do is to spell out similar measures to protect the non-salaried classes. This has grave implications for small impoverished states like Manipur. The money saved by the salaried classes, which in the state are virtually only government employees, would lead to inflationary tendencies in the local market. While the government employees who already have reasonably decent salaries can absorb this, it is the non-government employees whose earnings are generally pitiable, who will be put under considerable difficulties by such price rises. Such consequences are what this budget is accused of not giving enough thought to. The Communist parties for instance call it a budget that robs the poor and pays the rich.

There is another scathing criticism of the budget which those behind the budget philosophy this time would find difficult to dodge. It has continued with the heavy subsidies given to diesel oil under the pretext that this is in view of boosting the agriculture sector. It may very well be, but commerce being what it is, there are others waiting to take advantage. Car makers are increasingly turning to diesel to fuel their vehicles. The low diesel price is also encouraging these car makers to make bigger cars with bigger and more powerful engines that guzzle fuel, increasing harmful emission thus causing long term health hazards to all. While diesel subsidies may indeed be targeted at the agricultural sector and deservedly so, what the budget has not done alongside is to also make any effort to make sure that this subsidy is not taken advantage of by rich consumers of luxury sport utility vehicles, SUVs, and other fancy diesel motorcars. Since the subsidies cannot be done away with, what the government could have and should have also done is to hike up the taxes on SUVs and other diesel luxury vehicles, these critics point out. All in all, this Union Budget 2011-2012 was average in vision. But it remains to be seen if, as Kaushik Basu defended it, it is a budget although not exciting is professional and because and thus would prove to be a highly implementable and professionally executable.

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Manipur sportsmen and women have done the state proud again, finishing second in the medals tally behind Services in the just concluded National Games at Jharkhand. The Services are the combined strength of the Indian security forces and belong in that sense to all the Indian states so in effect it can be said that Manipur finished top of the medals table if the competition were to be between states only. Again, it is also learnt that many of the medal winners representing other states were sportspersons from the state. They competed for other states on account of their studying or working in these states or else opting to represent them as they were nipped in the competition to represent Manipur by sporting compatriots. Manipur’s feat is nothing to trifle. It is a wonder that an impoverished state like Manipur which lacks modern infrastructure to groom sports achievers of the kind it has been producing consistently year after year, generation after generation, beating much bigger and richer states. Our sportspersons are there not because of state patronage, but despite the absence of it. They are in short the product of sheer determination and perseverance. Amidst all the news of blood and gore, violence and counter-violence that the state has come to be associated with, it is heartening to see a different and very positive image of the state being projected before the world by our sportsmen and women. The whole state owes its gratitude to them for the goodwill they have brought for the state. This notwithstanding, the state, and more importantly the government, needs to be wary lest the standard of sportsmanship the state has been able to maintain does not sustain. Especially in the Imphal area, many of the playfields which once were teeming with life every afternoon after school and college are today deserted most of the time. There seems to be a slump in the general enthusiasm for games and sports all around. Much of the steam has also now been weaned away to the fun sports of Yaoshang (Holi) which have now become an annual tradition. While there can be no objections to these fun sports, this cannot be at the cost of dedication to the competitive variety of Olympics sports. Enthusiasm for the two must run parallel to each other, with neither encroaching on the territory of the other. The idle playfields must be made to come alive again. The more the grooming grounds for sportsmen and women there are in the state, the more sustainable it would be for the state to be a sports powerhouse of the country that it has been year after year. There is another weak point noticed of the Manipur contingent this time as in past years for quite some time now. There were practically no medals won from the track and field events. In short, while sportspersons from the state are good at indoor and team sports, they have not impressed on what are considered as the mother of all sports – athletics, with the exception perhaps of cycling. This is an area that sports planners in the state needs to look into seriously. If athletes of the state do not have the physique suited for sprints and throws, there is no reason they cannot do well in the mid and longer distance running. Manipur in the past have done well in the various marathons organised across the country showing the potential it has to produce good endurance athletes. Why has no effort been made to actualise this potential to the best benefit? Obvious there is something missing. A few years ago, there used to be many high profile marathons and half-marathons organised in the state by different organisations round the year. Today these are become increasingly distant memories. Manipur once used to have a State Games in which different sporting clubs competed in different Olympics events. This tradition too has tragically died out. The Manipur government’s sport authorities must make efforts to revive it. Similar competition would normally be expected at the inter-school and inter-college levels, but these too have failed to take off. Here too something needs to be done urgently if sporting excellence is what the state wants.

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The incident yesterday of Meitei villagers having to evacuate their homes in the Kangpokpi, Sapermeina and Motbung area on account of alleged threats by a Suspension of Operations, SoO, signatory militants highlights yet again the fragile communal harmony which can be so thoughtlessly jeopardised by unscrupulous armed men. According to reports, the villagers were being targeted not for anything they did, but to spite rival militant groups belonging to their community. This is a disgrace, and in the history of even the very bad ethnic relations in the state, face offs like this seldom happen. The only exception may be similar frictions at Moreh some years ago just as the SoO was coming into force. Even there, militants shot people they claimed were associated with their rivals and not indiscriminately target the public of other communities. Otherwise, militants have been generally known to fight rival militants, but seldom ever trained their guns indiscriminately at the public as in the present case. The incident is condemnable for another grave reason. Standing on a communal tinderbox as Manipur does today it had the potential to spark off a communal mayhem. Thankfully though better senses prevailed and there were no repercussions. This notwithstanding, it would have left a bad taste in every sane person’s mouth. We hope the situation returns to normal at the soonest and the government does all within its power to ensure that the matter is put rest conclusively. It goes without saying it must also reassess its SoO ground rules so that militants which have come under its umbrage to facilitate peace talks do not become public nuisances. Sadly, at this moment, the opposite is just the reality. Again, once the trouble has subsided, leaders of the different communities must come forward and do their bit to patch up and heal the wounds. The state has seen enough ethnic conflicts and communal bloodsheds. Surely no one wants to see a repeat of the carnages of the early 1990s.

But it is the government and the Army (including the Assam Rifles) which must be made to face the music. Insurgents at large committing crimes of extortion and intimidation is bad enough, but extremely dangerous intimidations by militant groups who are on truce with the government and are in government approved designated camps under government protection, which could have triggered a chain of murderous violence cannot be accepted under any circumstance. For this reason, it is not so much the militant group allegedly involved in the intimidation but more the government and the Army who must make a public clarification on how such an atrocious development was allowed to happen under their very noses. Once they have done this, they must also pledge as well as make it known what remedial measures have been taken so as to instil public confidence again, especially of those who have had to abandon their homes and flee.

Yesterday’s incident brings to fore the old cliché that peace is not just about an absence of violence. This is so because there is also something as latent violence and this does not show up in statistics. Unfortunately, the government’s popular indices of peace and violence do not ever attempt to understand this factor, much less make it a determinant in drawing up a picture of the law and order in the state. It is therefore a foregone conclusion that the government would at the end of the year be claiming that it has succeeded in controlling the law and order situation because it has signed truces with several militant groups, and that the number of cases of actual bloodshed and ambushes has gone down. On the face of it, this is true, but the fact is, as anybody in a conflict torn state like Manipur would vouch, it is only a half truth. There is another half which goes unreported in this approach. This unreported half which negates all claims of a control of the law and situation by the establishment is what is showing up in cases of intimidation such as seen yesterday. However, quite obviously again, when the police department draws up its progress report at the end of the year, incidents such as yesterday’s would not figure, on the plea that there was not a single bullet fired or anybody killed or injured. The only thing exposed under the circumstance would be the flawed assumptions of peace.

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Original Source: The Imphal Free Press

Tussles over the census exercises have become customary in Manipur since particularly the last census, the result of which were disputed on account of what seemed abnormal rises in populations in certain pockets of the state that defied logic. Ten years later there are still protests against the current enumeration process, especially in the hill districts. It is obvious that the mistrust sown 10 years ago has not yet been allayed adequately. There are however other factors accentuating the “census contest”, if it can be referred as such. The power equation of democracy hinges on numbers and it is understandable that different communities, especially those who feel marginalised because of demographic disadvantages, would see the census exercise as a means to augment the situation. There would also thereby be mutual suspicions that every other community is resorting to these means, thus not joining the game would be about conceding defeat before the match has even begun. Nothing can be more fortunate than this development, and a lot of the blame must be borne by the government officials in previous censuses who were given charge to do house to house surveys to determined not just the population fluxes but also the way citizens of the country live. In these cases, for far too often, they have been known to fill up the census forms from hearsay only without even bothering to visit the sites of surveys. The government must make such neglect of duty sternly punishable so that such criminal laxity on matters of profound implications on the health of the society, are done away with once and for all. This round of census exercise must hence be conducted strictly and by the rule book alone.

While the census exercises are being conducted, the government must however consider addressing some of the grievances raised especially by the hill communities on constituency delimitation. The claim that many hill constituencies are far too big compared to average valley constituencies is an issue to be looked into. Redrawing constituency in the Manipur situation would create a lot of technical problems which would cause injustices to many. This is so because the hill constituencies are reserved constituencies. If for instance some valley segments were to be incorporated into the hill sectors, it would mean these constituencies would also become reserved, thereby disenfranchising electorates in the non-reserved categories. Time and again we keep hearing about the seven Assembly segments in the Thoubal district which are clubbed with the Outer Manipur Parliamentary Constituency and how this has meant the deprivation of certain constitutional electoral rights to the non-tribal residents. We cannot allow more such unconstitutional situations knowingly. What can however be done is to identify the oversized hill Assembly constituencies and look for ways to split them thereby have more reserved constituencies within the reserved districts only. The aim must be to rationalise and have all constituencies in the state be of approximately one size. This way the charges of disproportionate representation in the power corridors would be dispelled. Once upon a time, Manipur’s liberal credentials in its democratic practices was admirable. Leaders were leaders of the state first and champions of their individual communities next. Which is why a Muslim (Meitei Pangal), a community accounting for only 7 percent of the state population, could be accepted as the chief minister by the people, just as two Nagas were in subsequent years. Now the ethnic polarisation has reached such a height that the epitaph of such a liberal political atmosphere may perhaps have been already written in indelible ink.

Other than numbers, another issue is vital in the power equation – language. On this front at least, Manipur has been doing better than most other Northeast states. While a lingua franca is essential, all other languages must be given a place and encouragement to develop. Although not without hiccups, the state has been doing precisely this. By contrast, in neighbouring Mizoram for instance, this is not the case at all. The different Kuki-Zomi groups, each of which are able to assert their individual identities and languages in Manipur, have all ended up being flattened into the generic Mizo identity in Mizoram, speaking only the Lushai language which is now known as Mizo. Manipur needs to build on these liberal traits. Introduce it where it is non-existent and polish up where traces of it are already in place.

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Original Source: The Imphal Free Press

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.

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Leader Writer: Paojel Chaoba
One hardly needs to mention the importance of the media in today’s society.

From shaping public opinion to distribution of cooking gas, the task of the media in the state is indeed a multi pronged one.

The Konthoujam Assembly Constituency bye election resulting in the defeat of the congress party must be an eye opener for the SPF government.Even though the Chief Minister put up a brave face by congratulating the decision of the Konthoujam public meanwhile admitting that the result may be due to the laxity of developmental works in the constituency , it is safe to say that the CM and his council of ministers tried their best to retain the congress stamp in the constituency. What went wrong ? must now be the big question, as the heavily funded congress candidate lost hands down in spite of the all out effort.

In the second term of the SPF government , the three previous bye elections held for Khundrakpam , Moirang and Yaiskul assembly constituencies saw thumping victories for the congress as the siblings of the deceased took over the scepter.

The poll pundits also speculated that it would be a close fight between the Trinamool candidate and the congress , but favour remained with the latter. Beating the odds , the fledgling political party in its first debut in the state managed to open an account in the state assembly.

The muscle and the money power of the congress is running down the drains of Konthoujam at present.

It is a common saying of the public that if one has legislative aspirations, then the person must have 3 P’s. The P’s stand for power , paisa and lastly the press and the success of the candidate is guaranteed. It is as of yet not ascertained of how far that is true ,but the ruling party may have introspected to their dismay that their Achilles heel lay in their candidate being boycotted by the media.

On the contrary , the victorious Trinamool candidate was given full coverage.

It is not a proud moment for the state media nor are we speculating that the loss of the congress party is due to the media boycott but the benefit of the doubt remains.

The boycott of a certain section is contradictory to media ethics, as the Indian constitution under the Article 19 enshrines the freedom of expression and the media needs to focus on that to bring about a free press.

But ,the boycott stance was taken on extraordinary circumstances as the media was attacked , an editor was implicated in a case for his alleged involvement with a certain underground outfit and state media demanding justice took to protest.

However, after the poll results , feelers were sent from the government to the scribes union to revoke the boycott following assurance that the case registered against the editor would be withdrawn.

The scribes acknowledging the pulse of the government suspended the stir for a week and it remains whether the SPF government will keep its word and leave the press alone.

(To err is human and to forgive divine )is the popular saying and it is acknowledged that we are all prone to mistakes and whether be government ,media or any organizations have their fair share of black sheep’s . But , learning to accept the things which we cannot change , courage to change the things which we can and the wisdom to know the difference should be there in all quarters.

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