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Leader Writer: Paojel Chaoba
As the State has been floating on troubled waters for some time, there have been numerous instances where the public voiced their angst against the atrocities carried out by certain ‘actors’. The method of organizing a protest may vary from issue to issue. An action from a particular organization whether legitimate or illegitimate may have various effects to the deserving or undeserving sections. But, mincing no words here: if there is trouble, then there are obvious protests staged the next day from the affected section. It may be in the normally accepted trend of forming a Joint Action Committee, a sit- in -protest, rallies, and others et el. Such protests are highlighted in the media in all its forms and the desired result may be had or not by the concerned party. Still, condemning injustice in its myriad dimensions may take up various ‘avatars’. It may be a silent sit-in or women stripping themselves in front of the security forces demanding correction of wrongs.
Yet, it is worth thinking over whether the support that has been given to the particular issue of injustice to an individual or to the public is done after weighing the seriousness of the crime perpetrated. For instance, during the demand of a greater Nagalim which compromised the territorial boundaries of the State or the brutal killing of Thingnam Kishan, Rajen and Token , history is testament that the Manipuri public rose and put their feet down and said ‘No’. While in other random crimes involving certain actors, the public takes such acts in stride as if the issue is a common occurrence, and will be solved in due time after ‘sought negotiations’.
The numerous cries from the eastern frontier of the Indian nation remain unheard and unaddressed by “Mainland India” and the adverse conditions involving human right violations still continue unabated. The dozen year ongoing fast of a Sharmila Irom may have scant effect on the repeal of AFSPA. But again, her lone protest has brought attention from the global arena then an accumulated string of protests organized in the State.
Multiple afflictions in the social system and the northeast plagued by an ethnic polarization and ongoing separatist movements give an edge to the so called peace keepers and administrators to frame policies which are not public friendly. The Manipuri public with other eastern states has been witness to this.
It is the want to state that, a system of injustice needs to be dealt with a firm hand but how to do so effectively, still remains the million dollar question! As time flows in continuum, the dynamics of the society will change and again, Murphy’s Law state that whatever can go wrong will evidently go wrong. Manipur as a State may develop in a holistic manner but problems will still be there for us, just as it is for every country and continent with the nature of the problem varying.
Coming back to square one, the murky state of affairs needs to be addressed, but the methodology involved needs to be changed and taken up a notch further. It may be pointed out that the Valentine’s Day this year was observed with a different flavor. As the usual connotation suggest lovers meeting and kindling of romance, this V-Day was observed with women coming out against sexual crimes in all its forms. However, instead of the usual protests and rallies, the gathering consisting of human right activists, artists, academicians and the general public with mainly women from different walks of life danced to the music of “One Billion Rising” at Palace Compound and Wangkhei as part of the global campaign protesting crime against the feminine gender.
It may be said that the rather ‘avant-garde system of protest’ might have its effect on the gathering and to the curious passerby’s as a sit-in-protest. The mooted point is that the message against injustice may be carried and protested in different forms. It may involve women stripping to make a point or women dancing to make another. It may involve a parent imprinting moral values to the children over a bedtime story, it may involve a person paying more attention to work, and it may involve a fanatic thinking twice.
It is up to each individual to act with reason and humanity at the foremost with the sense of justice intact and with the hope that the bell which tolls now may be not so grave, and that the State will sail through troubled waters towards an Utopian shore.
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