Tag: Editorial

Many comments have been made on how the government should proceed in the upkeep of the Kangla from various quarters, including the media. Although without explicitly stating it, it does appear some of these suggestions have been heard, but much more needs to be done yet, therefore this editorial again. Without a doubt, the Kangla will prove to be an invaluable lung of the ever increasing congestion of Imphal city. Even today, it is becoming almost surreal to walk into the green acres of the Kanga from the dusty, noisy, traffic-jammed confusion that the streets of Imphal have become. There are signs that efforts are being made to facelift the complex, but the question is whether the efforts are enough. The answer, in our opinion is clearly in the negative. Somebody who walks into the Kangla with the hope of understanding a vital chapter from the pages of the place’s history, invariably ends up lost. As for instance, there are no signs to suggest which route he should take for a comprehensive tour of the complex. There are also no indications what monuments the visitor would be passing by on each of the routes.

Normally, a visitor by instinct heads straight for the central durbar square guarded by the two newly re-installed Kangla-Sha. From there, he is as a loss again which way to head. If he headed north towards Slim’s cottage and other monuments along it, the visitor would have to return by the same route to the Kangla-sha to take the other route to the Govindaji temple ruins and the former Army hospital which has since been converted into the Kangla museum. The most economical route hence would be for the visitor to take a left turn at the first crossroads before reaching the Kangla auditorium, walk to the former residential complex of British officers, take a turn east toward the Slim cottage, turn left again towards the inner moat and the Kangla-sha, from there head to the Govindaji ruins and further down to the Kangla museum. They can then return and exit by the way the entered. But the visitor would either have to have a very strong navigator’s instinct or else be familiar with the layout of the Kangla to be able to decide the best possible tour map on the complex. There are absolutely no signs to suggest what the best way to cover the complex is, without missing out on important and interesting places to see.

Again, chances are, even those familiar with the Kangla’s topographical plan would not be able to identify many of the structures within. There are a number of enchanting and sometimes quaint cottages within the complex. Quite obviously they would be of extreme touristic interest, especially to foreign tourists drawn to the Kangla for its World War-II relics, and these interests would be multiplied manifolds if there were signs, preferably stone plaques besides these monuments, declaring briefly their history and antiquity. But nothing like this has been done yet. What a visitor gets to see is that many of these structures have been converted to government offices, some relevant, such as the archaeology department or environment and ecology department. But there is also the jarring presence of electricity department dumps, crowded with huge piles of electric poles, tonnes of power cables, innumerable electric transformer machines etc. Why and how has the Kangla been allowed to be used like this is beyond easy comprehension?

After seeing all this, it is difficult not to wonder if the occupation of the Kangla for nearly a century by troops, undesirable though it was for many reasons, did not have its good points as well. If this was not so, just as the complex is being used as a dumping ground by the electricity department now, in all likelihood, left up to the civil government’s whims from the beginning, the Kangla may have been already divided up into shop plots, or at best turned into a complex of Type-IV and Type-III government housing complex, in the manner and style of the Langol housing complex. That would have been tragic indeed. The Kangla was spared of such a fate, but let it not end here. It must be imaginatively developed further. Apart from the complex as a priceless relic of an ancient former kingdom, it could, and in our opinion should, also be developed in a complimentary fashion into a park of indigenous trees. There are many of them growing inside already, and the government should make it a point to allow only indigenous trees rather than exotic ones to be planted, if at all new trees need to be planted. Unfortunately, there are some evidences of the latter inclination already.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/01/kangla-upkeep/

Only a few months ago, there was much excitement in Imphal over the manner the government seemed bent on organising the parking system in the city’s busy Paona and Thangal Bazar areas. To ensure that the streets that cut through these shopping streets were free of congestion, parking had been prohibited along them, and an alternate space for parking had been created by pulling down market shed along the parallel road running on the other bank of the Naga Nullah at Nagamapal, causing much heartbreaks amongst women vegetable vendors who used the space to earn their meagre daily wages. But after much consideration, the public accepted the government’s move agreeing the hardship caused to many would ultimately be for the better common good, of course after the vendors were assured of suitable alternate spaces. Now, in just a matter of few months, the situation has changed and we may be compelled to change our opinion on the matter.

The two busy streets, in particular Thangal Bazar, has now returned to its former chaotic state, with cars parked everywhere along it, causing frustrating traffic jams along it. Sometimes the congestion is so overwhelming that even pedestrians are greatly inconvenienced. All the initial police enthusiasm and indeed bravado seem to have also died an unceremonious death. On the part of the police, it does seem it was more of a road show – an opportunity for new and pretty faces to demonstrate how manly they can also get. Now the pretty faces seem to have had enough of the mean streets and are happy to return to their old feminine ways of minding not the traffic in the heat and dust of Imphal’s dusty and potholed streets, but their vanity boxes in the comfort of their homes in front of their dressing tables. Jokes aside, what about the damages done in the name of enforcing traffic norm in the initial months? It is still fresh in public memory how some vehicles suffered minor damages in police actions on vehicles parked in these streets after the notification banning it. The justification given at the time seemed tenable for there was indeed a notified drive to clear the streets of parked vehicles. This justification has now turned into a blatant lie as the government simply has given up without accomplishing the mission, pushing which caused damages to those unfortunate to be in the way. Under the circumstance, those who suffered the damages should take the police department to court for the unnecessary trauma inflicted on them by all the false show of professional zeal.

More seriously, what about the hardships all the poor vegetable vendors on Nagamapal were made to go through for this whimsical and short-lived traffic drive of the government? Why is the government so very casual about such matters? Why is there such a lack of commitment to policy continuity? It is true the elections are round the corner and the government heads would be restrained to act, lest the election office sees these acts as populist, aimed at furthering electoral gains. However, a government is not about politicians alone. As law makers the elected legislators make laws, but the bureaucracy is the backbone of the executive wing of the government. It is their duty to ensure that the laws and policies formulated are continued without a break even in this transition phase of the legislature. Why have they decided to turn a blind eye to the traffic chaos returning to the streets of Paona Bazar and Thangal Bazar? Why are they allowing such a fine and much appreciated drive to reduce to an act of injustice to those who took the biggest blows of the policy, precisely by the ad hoc attitude with which they are now are treating it?

The same ad hoc-ism is again visible in the manner another decree of the government, publicly announced by none other than the chief minister Okram Ibobi – that of disallowing any further the practice of VIP vehicles using the Kangla complex as short cut. For a few weeks after the announcement, the practice had come to a halt. Today the VIPs of the civil as well as military establishments are back to their old ways, zipping their convoys through the Kangla. Their vehicles not only violate this sacrosanct space but greatly disturb the peace and quiet of this unique green spot in the middle of the increasingly maddening crowds of Imphal city. They are also thus an eyesore to tourists who come to see this priceless relic of a former kingdom and not VIP vehicles demonstrating there is nothing sacred about public spaces to their masters.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/01/back-to-chaos/

The Election Commission of India, ECI, is not leaving any stone unturned to ensure the forthcoming elections in Manipur and some other states are free and fair, at least to the extent possible. In Uttar Pradesh, the commission has even ordered for the chief minister, Mayawati’s statues to be covered so as not to create false larger than life image of the leader in the eye of the electorate. The extent to which it has gone has even prompted many observer to joke that the ECI may start ordering all lotuses in the states going to the polls plucked and ban anybody showing their the palms of their hands. Or better still to make it mandatory for everybody to wear gloves during election campaigns so that their palms do not show. All these, the lampoons go, with the intent of ensuring the visibility of no party is unfairly, even if inadvertently, increased. But jokes apart, the commission is indeed going to all lengths within its command. In Imphal, it has even gone about ordering campaign hoardings to be torn down.
In fact, just a little over a week to go, there are hardly any reminder that the state is going to the elections. The loudest publicity for the elections so far, in quite macabre irony, has been the daily bomb blasts and grenades hurled at homes of candidates and their workers. This round of elections, no doubt would be the most noise and litter free one.

Overtly, this would have ensured no slanderous campaigns which have so familiar in election campaigns in Manipur. Overtly again, this would also mean no extravagant feasts, nightlong binging revelries etc, and therefore less expenditures for the candidates. However, as in the case of so many other fields of activities, when they are banned, they go underground and continue to exist. The loud campaigns may have been banished, all thanks to the ECI, but there is no gainsaying covert corrupting campaigns of vote purchases would be happening even now away from public view. Nonetheless, there is everything to be happy about the way the elections are being conducted this time. A lot many discerning voters would now be able to quietly weight their options, away from the usual cacophony of Indian elections, and cast their valuable votes for the candidate of their choices. If there is a way to check the covert bribing as well, and if this becomes a lasting trend in the future, elections would no longer be prohibiting for talented potential statesmen from all walks of life, thus free this extremely important exercise of democracy in Manipur from the monopolistic grip of filthy rich contractors and retired bureaucrats who made their money by emptying the public exchequers.

The ECI has also brought in unprecedented number of central paramilitary forces to ensure no coercive means are used by any party to force voting trends to suit their vested ends. In the secure environment of the polling booths, the secret ballot will now be allowed to become the free expression individual will as it should be. This is again welcome. Without this freedom of choice in the selection of candidates, democracy would be rendered hollow. There is no reason not to believe this has been allowed to happen to a great extent in the past in states like Manipur where guns and bullets are cheaper than human lives. The ECI further is introducing state-of-the-art voter screening technologies this time to ensure there are no proxy voting. This will ensure that even if the voters’ enumeration lists have been grossly manipulated to show more voters than there are in any village or leikai, the excess ghost electorates are not allowed to be translated into votes. In the past there had been disputes about census figures with claims that in some areas the population had been inflated beyond humanly possible and pardonable margins of error. This round of elections, with the voter photographing technology, should somewhat put the dispute to rest. In voters’ numbers had been inflated dishonestly in certain areas, there would be drastic drops in the voters turnout there, for obviously ghosts cannot have their photographs taken and so cannot vote under the new ECI screening system. This round of elections hence would be interesting for the insight it provides on all these issues, aside from watching which political party ultimately turns out to be the most popular in the state, and also assessing the extent of divide within the society in the face of the campaign by certain parties to weaken the unity of Manipur.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/01/no-coercion-or-ghosts/

In Enrich Maria Remarque’s “All Quiet on the Western Front”, a novel set during World War 1, towards the end the protagonist Paul Baumer, a young German soldier, gets killed on Germany’s western front on a militarily uneventful day – no combats, no heavy artillery exchanges, just a soldier falling to a routine exchange of small arms fire. The military dispatch from the western front at the end of the day, which is also the concluding line of the story, simply repeated the routine message: “all quiet on the western front”. The death of one soldier, after the millions of casualties in the course of the war, had ceased to be of any consequence. Remarque, a German veteran of the WW-I, is known for his distaste for war, and minces no word in his opinion that war makes the individual soldier insignificant and at the same time a murderer too. His character Baumer for instance, in a particularly poignant scene, stabs a French soldier to save himself and then tries frantically to save the wounded soldier he thus stabbed. Dispatches from a young American captain in Iraq, Robert Secher, (reproduced with permission in Newsweek Magazine in its November 6, 2006 issue) remarkably echo the same sentiments. Those of us in Manipur’s conflict theatre should be able to understand this from the heart. Soldiers on either side of the thin red line, the family man who is in the profession for a living, or the perfectly normal, nondescript neighbourhood boy who left home unannounced, drawn in by the lure of the revolution, are thrown into a situation where their actions come to be determined by forces outside of themselves and their wills. As Captain Secher emails his father: “…their lives are ruined, ruined by their actions which are judged by men who have never been in those situations”. In another email, he says: “…Bush should be ashamed of himself…”

Manipur is in such a terrible mess today, not just its economic and political predicaments, but also its human landscape. The war in the land is eating away at its very vitals. Human life has lost its significance. The recent official remark that it is ridiculous that the death of one person should cause the present flare-up in Moreh, reflects the same dispassionate desensitization contained in the military dispatch at the end of that uneventful day during WW-I: “all quiet on the western front”. This is not a matter of singling out anybody of being insensitive, for it has indeed become a general condition of our society today. We have all become so callous about human life. Those of us in the media cannot plead innocence either. Practically every evening, while crosschecking if any worthwhile news event has been missed out, the same dispassionate message is what is exchanged in every newsroom. Somebody shot in the leg, another killed, another beaten up, a body found… are no longer news events deserving too much attention, much less alarm. In all probability, they would make for insignificant, one paragraph, single column insertions, done simply to complete a formality, and to have a sense of relief at having not missed out any news. The following day, their newsworthiness would have already completely evaporated and nobody would even think of a follow up story, querying as to what happened thereafter, how the families took the news etc. Even if some reporters were sensitive enough to do it, his seniors may not think it important anymore, and even all in the newsroom agree against their better, consumer-driven news-senses, that it must still deserve print space, in all likelihood the readers the next morning would not agree, themselves desensitized by the ensuing war, as much as everybody else – the news reporters, the fighters in the war, the moral judges of the war, the intellectuals who rationalise the war et al. If there have been no major ambushes, no major massacres, no major encounters, no sensational kidnaps, and if there have been only a few shot in the legs, a body found, somebody intimidated, its “all quiet on the eastern front too.” When will Manipur ever return to the time when every single life mattered?

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/01/all-expensive-except-life/

What the Manipur administration needs most at this stage is moral legitimacy to enforce the rule of law, without the need to use force. As of now, there is none of this and this is evident all around. Nobody takes the government seriously and everybody thinks it can be challenged, not so much through the legal channels available, but by taking to the streets. The present atrocious spree of book burning, the defiance by affected teachers of the government’s much needed rationalization of transfer and posting, agitations for the government takeover of schools and colleges, students diktats on the way schools and colleges should be run or on the content of educational curriculum, etc are just some examples of this. It is an old story, but one which needs to be retold repeatedly to remind the government that it needs to pull up its socks or else it would end up condemning to the state into an endless limbo. We can only think of two advices at this moment. One of course is for the government to clean up its house so that the public mistrust it has earned over the decades is got rid of, but this will have to remain as a relatively long-term strategy. The other more urgent plan of action must be, to borrow a wisdom so articulately spelled out by one of history’s greatest men, Abraham Lincoln, in his famous letter to the teacher of his son, beseeching the former to teach his son to be, among others, tough with the tough but soft with the soft.

Our civil society is today no longer a discursive site where ideas are thrashed out and in the process consensual voices given shape and wings, but one deeply riven by numerous vested interests, each pushing its individual agendas, most of which are very often on collision courses. If the government has lost its credibility because of its lack of commitment and vision, so is civil society eroding away its own hold over legitimacy for the same reasons. Just as in the established order there is a leadership vacuum, so there is in our civil society of today. The result is, an increasing number of ordinary men and women, outside of the organized space referred to as civil society, have very few kind words to say, either of the government or for that matter most of the civil society bodies. The civil society, which was to shoulder the responsibility of being the watchdog of the government, is today itself needing a great deal of disciplining, commitment and vision. What we are left with is a very peculiar situation in which both the government and the civil society, in their state of degradation, need more than ever to check and balance each other.

We are of the opinion it is now the government’s turn to make the move. At this transitional stage this wish can only be reserved for the next government. It must back up its physical authority with moral legitimacy. It can begin from the advice of Lincoln, a leader who paid with his life not so much for the cause of bringing back his nation from the brink of splintering or for any emotionally surcharged fervour of patriotism, but for fighting a sacred war to emancipate Black plantation slaves and giving them citizenship. When it is convinced of the correctness and justness of its policies, our government too must learn to put down its feet to any effort to hijack them. It must listen to suggestions and voices of dissent and see the truth in them, but it must never leave the driver’s of the state’s governance, as so many times it has in the past. Far too often has our government conceded to threats of disruptive activities by organizations of all hues, and either altered or even dropped policy plans. This has lead to a Pavlovian conditioning of sorts in the general outlook whereby everybody has come to believe that at the end of bandhs and blockades, and other forms of coercive breaches of the law, there are rewards awaiting. This conditioning needs now to be de-conditioned. As for the maturing of our civil society, the responsibility must rest, to a great extent, on our generally silent intelligentsia and intellectuals. Sometimes it is difficult not to wonder if they are there at all. There would be brilliant intellectuals no doubt in practically every walk of life. The state has seen brilliant playwrights, doctors, performing artistes, academicians and journalists. But the difference is, how many of them can actually be termed as public intellectuals, capable of sticking their necks out, risking careers, foregoing money making avenues so that the potential within them can be converted to kinetic action. As the Bhagavat Gita says, action is all. Without this, nothing is worth anything ultimately.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/01/whose-writ-runs/

Leader Writer: Hrishikesh Angom
What is people`™s expectation from election in any democratic setup? Good representatives and government. Will people realize this amidst threats and intimidations? The voice for `free and fair poll`™ has gone unheard for several decades right from the time people of this land began to exercise their franchise. It would be a great challenge to the people electing right representatives in the ensuing state assembly polls. Neither the people nor the politicians of this land are bound by any political ideology. No party is dominant in the state except the one which is in power at the centre. History is evident for such a political scenario in the state. Even Congress once lost its foothold in the state with only one legislator left in the assembly while all others defected in pursuit of `power`™.

There has been a notion of the general public that a contestant must be financially sound even though he is illiterate or comes from an obscure background. Voters are akin to items of auction where politicians bid to procure as many of them to clinch the title of `representative`™. Such a phenomenon totally contradicts the democratic principles. Money and muscle power have been the driving force of electioneering. Tea parties, feasts and gatherings have become daily events during election. The capability of the candidates is shown in organizing these events. People prefer those candidates who can arrange unlimited parties and also provide money to fulfill their whims. On the other side, bombs and bullets have become parts and parcel of electioneering. Poll related violence has indeed perturbed the voters. The voice of `free and fair poll`™ may once again go unheard if violence persists in the state.

In view of the critical political scenario, people must be sensitized on electing right representatives for the future of the state. People have witnessed numerous issues and problems. Blockades and bandhs have nearly covered the calendar last year. The time has come for them to ponder on this election. The choice is before them`”feast for a day or meal for lifelong. Nothing can change the society. People should be bold enough to choose their right representatives`”who will work for their welfare and development. Good representatives and government can bring constructive changes in the society. People should focus more on the manifestoes of various national and regional parties rather than keeping eyes on the candidates`™ assets. They should be politically conscious to deal with the present complex political scenario. Social leaders and community leaders should take the lead roles in imparting political education to the general public. Welfare and development should be the first and foremost objective of such political education. Students from colleges and universities should also be involved in educating the masses.

Above all election is the heart of democracy. It is the duty of responsible citizens to exercise their franchise to elect the right representatives. Voters should not be influenced by money and muscle power. The Election Commission should act at its best to ensure free and fair poll. A single press of the button can make a big change. Be a part of the change by casting votes sensibly to the right candidates. The future of democracy can be bright as well as dull. People need to be sensitized on the core issues of the society. Election should be made to bring good governance in the state.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/01/electing-right-representatives/

Leader Writer: Hrishikesh Angom
What is people`™s expectation from election in any democratic setup? Good representatives and government. Will people realize this amidst threats and intimidations? The voice for `free and fair poll`™ has gone unheard for several decades right from the time people of this land began to exercise their franchise. It would be a great challenge to the people electing right representatives in the ensuing state assembly polls. Neither the people nor the politicians of this land are bound by any political ideology. No party is dominant in the state except the one which is in power at the centre. History is evident for such a political scenario in the state. Even Congress once lost its foothold in the state with only one legislator left in the assembly while all others defected in pursuit of `power`™.

There has been a notion of the general public that a contestant must be financially sound even though he is illiterate or comes from an obscure background. Voters are akin to items of auction where politicians bid to procure as many of them to clinch the title of `representative`™. Such a phenomenon totally contradicts the democratic principles. Money and muscle power have been the driving force of electioneering. Tea parties, feasts and gatherings have become daily events during election. The capability of the candidates is shown in organizing these events. People prefer those candidates who can arrange unlimited parties and also provide money to fulfill their whims. On the other side, bombs and bullets have become parts and parcel of electioneering. Poll related violence has indeed perturbed the voters. The voice of `free and fair poll`™ may once again go unheard if violence persists in the state.

In view of the critical political scenario, people must be sensitized on electing right representatives for the future of the state. People have witnessed numerous issues and problems. Blockades and bandhs have nearly covered the calendar last year. The time has come for them to ponder on this election. The choice is before them`”feast for a day or meal for lifelong. Nothing can change the society. People should be bold enough to choose their right representatives`”who will work for their welfare and development. Good representatives and government can bring constructive changes in the society. People should focus more on the manifestoes of various national and regional parties rather than keeping eyes on the candidates`™ assets. They should be politically conscious to deal with the present complex political scenario. Social leaders and community leaders should take the lead roles in imparting political education to the general public. Welfare and development should be the first and foremost objective of such political education. Students from colleges and universities should also be involved in educating the masses.

Above all election is the heart of democracy. It is the duty of responsible citizens to exercise their franchise to elect the right representatives. Voters should not be influenced by money and muscle power. The Election Commission should act at its best to ensure free and fair poll. A single press of the button can make a big change. Be a part of the change by casting votes sensibly to the right candidates. The future of democracy can be bright as well as dull. People need to be sensitized on the core issues of the society. Election should be made to bring good governance in the state.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/01/electing-right-representatives/

The forthcoming election should be unique for the various peculiar interests it is predicted to evoke. In the Naga dominated districts, there will be a referendum of sort on whether the population there still prefer to be affiliated to Manipur or else be part of a greater Nagaland or Nagalim that the NSCN(IM) has been fighting for. In the valley, a conglomerate of underground organisations have come together to oppose the return of the ruling Congress. By proxy, it can verily be said these underground organisations both in the hills as well as in the valley are taking part in the Indian electoral process. For indeed, what is now demonstrated is that it is no longer a matter of indifference to the Indian political system, but of selectively supporting or else opposing contesting parties. Whatever be the reading, as of the moment, what matters most is the immediate fallout of these developments.

What is to be noted is, in the years that have gone by, the Congress has by fair and foul means consolidated its foothold on the entire state, in the valley as well as in the hills. It is now the only party which can field and hope to win seats in both these geographical reasons and amongst all the ethnic groups. This is not a matter of any egalitarian ethos which it alone possesses, but also about how other parties have either allowed themselves to move into a path of self destruction through skewed visions and policies, or else have been forced to disintegrate by the temptation of the Congress’ superior resources. Whatever be the cause, the fact of the matter is, today it can veritably be said that it is only the Congress which can, and has been spreading its wings to all sections of the people. Whatever be its drawbacks, it must be admitted, the Congress has emerged as a binding sinew in many ways to keep a common interest running in the veins of the different communities. The monopoly is bad, but the uneasy fact is, at the moment no other party has the reach or resource to shoulder this responsibility.

This is the party which is sought to be destroyed through the power that flows out of the barrel of the gun. Regardless of whatever the justification in the argument that the coercive power of the Congress’ money is being countered by the coercive power of the gun, the fact would remain that a semblance of political equilibrium provided by ruling party would be what is upset if the campaign to destroy the Congress succeeds. It is difficult under the circumstance to imagine how this upset equilibrium would be reset and how another political equation to fill up the vacuum struck. Political observers are already at a loss how and what new alliance would be able to put parties in the hills and valley together to forge another integrated political agenda that has Manipur’s interest in mind. Which are the non-Congress parties likely to return sizeable seats in the hills and the valley, and more importantly would these parties ever see eye to eye on enough many vital issues to prompt them to come together to form the next government? The picture at best is very foggy at the moment.

This uncertainty apart, there are other areas of concern. To look at it more positively, let us pose this concern as a question to everyone concerned. Can this election be taken as a referendum of support for some of the most crucial issues facing the state? In the hills, the crucial question would be whether there is still a shared emotional integrity in Manipur? In the valley, the matter is a little different. The combined underground forum, more popularly known as CorCom, is opposing the Congress in a radical way. If despite this, the Congress returns a majority, or at least as the single largest party, the message should be clear that the ordinary men and women on the streets do not share the vision of the underground organisations. Are those behind the campaign then be prepared to leave the verdict on this matter to the adult electorate of the state who would be casting their votes on January 28? Whichever way the verdict goes, it can virtually be a recommendation for either side of the conflict. If the Congress is voted in, the message is clear for the non-state players. If the party is voted out, it is the establishment which must introspect and reorient its own approach to the vexing problem. However, we can already predict the excuses which would be forwarded by either side should they lose. One will claim failure, if at all, was the result of gun power trained on them. The other will claim failure, if at all, is the result of money power that bought the electorate. Either explanation would betray a lack of trust in the wisdom and integrity of the common man. The story would also be back at square one.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/01/elections-and-bombs/

The power situation in Manipur, in particular Imphal city, has worsened in the past few months. Even those areas once given powers from the transformers meant for VIPs, and therefore the flocking focus of many small enterprises such as motor workshops, welders etc, there are now under punishing load shedding schedules, threatening the total collapse of many of these small businesses. Only those businesses which can afford to run generators through the day without suffering too heavy losses, are managing to keep some work flow intact. Apparently there has been a further segregation between VIPs and VVIP for some elite enclaves still get uninterrupted power through the day. In other words, the government ensures VVIP homes do not miss their favourite television series but is little bothered about small enterprises shutting down. Such is the nature of the skewing of governmental priorities in today’s Manipur. But then this is also the state, officially with the poorest chief minister in the country. In a list of chief ministers and their declared wealth today in many national dailies, the chief minister of Manipur was shown as amongst the poorest, with declared assets worth only Rs. 6.09 lakhs. If this truly is the picture, the Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi would not just be among the poorest chief ministers in India, but also probably poorer than most employees of his government, including grade two and three ones, most of whom would be valued more in terms just their mandatory provident fund deposits and other immovable assets.

Something is terribly wrong in Manipur and it is showing loudly everywhere. In the past few decades, the place’s priorities have totally altered. From what was a close knitted society, with shared characteristics and concerns, it is now fragmented into many different segments. And this division is not only on ethnic lines, but increasingly on class hierarchy, with the ruling clique successfully garnering the best of what the so called democratic system can offer. Hence, as we have pointed out, small enterprises are threatened to be thrown out of business, or at have been hopelessly stunted because of acute shortage of electric power, and VVIP homes are assured they can without interruption watch their favourite TV serials or watch movies on their home theatres. It is the same manifestation of the diseased outlook which makes the government boast of having accomplished the mission of erecting grand public buildings in Imphal city, such as the Manipur Film Development Corporation and the City Convention Centre, often after agonising evictions of impoverished local populations, while vital public utilities such as safe drinking water, domestic electric supply, city roads are all allowed to crumble unchecked. Even the section of the road at the two bases of the relatively recent BT Road flyover, laid not with bitumen but with reinforced concrete, are now beginning to show signs of atrophy. The Paona Bazar and Thangal Bazar streets in heart of the city are also now in severe states of damage. Come to think of it, is there any section of the capital city which can be considered a show piece to be proud of?

While corruption is a universal phenomenon in India, what is shameful in the case of Manipur is, it has come to have a public acceptance. The description of the government as well as its employees as public servants have now come to be totally forgotten, and instead, the thievery of this class has come to be seen with respect and awe. Their ill gotten wealth too are now seed as well deserved perks of office. In a role reversal of the metaphor, the public servants are now the masters of a public systematically degraded and impoverished to serfdom. The new masters, at least most of them, though officially earn small, now can afford several expensive properties in several metropolises of the country, send their children for studies abroad at exorbitant costs. The pauperised masses watch with awe the spending powers of these opulent new masters, and instead of questioning how this has come about, only wish and pray their children would one day climb the social ladder to join this cabal of the most selfish, shameless and greedy. This is how corruption today has become an immovable monolith, firmly rooted in the ground and tentacles spread to embrace all who may one day become an opponent of the corrupt system. If not checked, it could also be the ultimate death knell of a society which has been rendered unable to introspect and correct itself for the ultimate greater common good.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/01/poor-cm-pauperised-public/

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

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

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

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/01/career-and-beyond/

The concluding line of Chief Seattle in his famous reply to the government of the United States of America when the latter offered to buy the land of his tribe is striking even when read out of context. The letter sketches a clash of civilization situation in which the native man, in what must rank as one of the most touching and passionate defence of the environment, argues that the pantheistic vision of the Red man has made him always to be in harmony with nature, and in direct contrast, the materialistic world of the White man was not only failing to understand the beauty in this pantheism but also destroying nature. His warning in the last sentence was that the alienation of man from nature on account of materialism would mark the end of living and the beginning of surviving. The rhetoric is next to perfection, making it one of the most quotable quotes in the history of environmental movement and literature, but it is the wisdom in the statement that is startling. It is also extremely tempting to ask the question in other situations. We are likewise curious what the honest answers of the common man in Manipur would be to the questions: Has Manipur stopped living? Is it left with little other choice than to merely survive?

The joy of life seems to be fast disappearing in Manipur. There seems little left to celebrate and in their places, there are only protests. This culture of protest, in many ways, has come to be an end in itself, or otherwise a Pavlovian response to obstructions to interests that very often are sectarian in nature. Nobody seems to think dialogues and discourses are a way out of sticky impasses and clashes of interests. It may very well be that injustice is so widespread making the endless cycle of disruptive protests something to be expected, and hence understandable. Even if this were the case, we are still of the opinion that efforts should be made earnestly to find a way out of the entangles however complicated they may be. The dictates of nature’s “survival instinct” demands that we never give up looking for ways out of our problems instead of perpetrating them by insisting on a “do or die” approach always. As opposed to this “survive instinct” is also something in natural inclination known as the “death wish”. We sometimes wonder if the latter instinct is not outweighing the former in our society. Sometimes the “death wish” can be grand, and it is precisely this grandeur that has made “tragedy” a powerful genre in literature. But just for the sake of being remembered as grand, should we opt for tragedy? Survival matters. This is the one theme that runs beneath every story of evolution. But survival becomes an issue only if it is threatened. Otherwise, in a situation where survival can be taken for granted, the true essence of the joy of living can begin to be savoured. This is the condition that we continue to starve ourselves of with our confrontationist attitude in all our relationships.

Let us learn to do away with this negative outlook to life. Let us also learn to see the positive sides of things for indeed everything is not all that bad. The sky may not be at all set to fall on our heads even on the most vexed of issues confronting us. For all we know, there may even be solutions waiting for us to reach out to on all of these issues if we are a little more ready to be flexible in our stances. There have been enough signals in the recent past that our problems are negotiable after all. Whoever would have thought two decades ago that the Kangla would return to civilian control; whoever would have thought the government of India would show willingness to change its posture on issues like the lifting of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, AFSPA to institute a probe on its propriety. It is unfortunate because of objections from the Army, the recommendations remain shelved, but at least a softening is visible; whoever would have thought even in the same period that our Eastern Door would ever open again. Let us have no doubt whatsoever that given the resilience all our problems can be solved and amicably too. Statesmanship, as they say is about pushing the limits of possibilities. This implies there is nothing as impossible in matters of resolving differences, even the most bitterly conflicting ones. History has been evidence, and there is no reason we should not make the effort to learn from this.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/01/let-our-winter-end/

It is funny, but if one were to try and recollect the major markers of the year that has just gone by, the mind draws almost a blank. Individual achievements there were some, but even these were nothing earth shaking or enough to cause a public euphoria – like a Nobel or a Booker. Nothing very spectacular in public life either – apart from the ongoing “family feud” in the Congress and other political parties which is newsy for all the wrong reasons. No, there hasn’t been anything worth a toast (psst a non-alcoholic one, lest the walls are listening). If there have been some expectations raised by these in-house feuds, ones which have already seen some opposition MLAs jump into the Congress wagon, we are sorry for being a damp squib, but we foresee nothing worthwhile in any of them. It would probably be the same wines in different bottles. The only good these “family disputes” have done is perhaps the possibility that it would have knocked home the reality that these parties have to periodically do house cleaning and also indulge in retrospective exercises so as to be able to keep their flocks together. We hope, although we are still doubtful, if the lesson has been learnt. To trust these politicians would learn lessons and be ready to change would be too optimistic. Here is a wish for the coming New Year which will usher in a new government then. Whichever party it is which emerge with a significant mandate of the supposedly sane adult citizens of this state, they must get down to the serious business of administering the state. Manipur is reducing to a killing field. The difference between what the state is witnessing and the horrors of Pol Pot’s regime in Cambodia for instance would probably be a matter of a few degrees only.

One of the basic and biggest challenges that the government cannot run away from at this juncture without imperilling the future of the state is the issue of unemployment. We are surprised that the government needs to be reminded over and over that employment generation is not just about creating self employment, but of creating the conditions where private enterprises with employment capacities can grow. The self help groups are essential and must be encouraged, so is shop-keeping which incidentally is the popular notion of business in the state, but the challenge goes much beyond. Attempts must be to foster the birth of captains of enterprises. Something of this is happening in the health sector for instance and to a lesser extent in the media, amongst others. What the employees get in these sectors cannot be compared with the service conditions of the artificially protected government sector, but it must be remembered what the former get is the real value of the market. If the market grows, these services too could be made to improve. The point is, the government’s effort must be to have the tide rise so all the boats can rise together, and not just create a few hundred rich contractor businessmen and hope to have the employment problem taken care of. Sadly, this point is missed altogether time and again. We cannot speak for any other enterprise with justice other than the one we are in – media. Because of the hype of the media as a pillar of democracy, even the government has come to have a healthy respect for it as a disseminator of information. But as a business, the government’s attitude is the same patron-client relation it has faithfully institutionalised in the officialdom-contractor relationship. Advertisement bills remain un-cleared for years and advertisement executives of media houses are made to feel like contractors seeking favours in seeking their bill clearance.

This notwithstanding, if ten other sectors were to grow like the health and media sectors have, the government can imagine how much of the unemployment burden on its shoulders would be relieved. And if every sector of economic activities were to grow similarly, as is happening in many parts of the country, the state can actually become prosperous. Prosperity, peace, social justice etc, are not dropped like manna from heaven. They are to be achieved through imaginative government policies which can nudge and prop entrepreneurial spirit amongst its people. So even as a year ends and another begins, we entreat upon the government, regardless of who comes to be at its helm at the end of the elections, to evolve policies to create the conditions capable of unbinding Manipur’s own Prometheus. One thing is certain, this cannot happen unless key ministerial portfolios such as finance and home are treated with the seriousness they deserve, and not as subsidiary responsibilities of any self-proclaimed “supermen”.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/01/a-wish-for-the-new-year/

The strictures by the Election Commission of India, ECI, to the state media on how the latter should go about conducting their businesses of election coverage is welcome, although as pointed out by many media persons during a recent interaction, there are many grey areas to be clarified. While it is known that the media often gets carried along by those contesting the election from the ruling party in the presumption they were covering government news, the definition of fair election coverage would need more than a simple appeal for balanced election reporting. On the face of it, there can be no two ways whatsoever that once the election has been announced and the election code of conduct put in place, the media must be extra cautious to decide which news should be considered neutral government news and which election propaganda by the party in power. But to simply say no more news of the government in view of the forthcoming election would be wrong, for indeed, there can never be a situation where the government has ceased to exist, and covering government news is in the interest of the public. The danger also is, if the media is made to go silent for whatever the reason, a lot of official mischief can happen, considering one of the major roles of the media anywhere being as a watchdog to ensure public interest is not compromised by anybody, in particular by the government that be.

If total neutrality of media coverage of government activities in election time were to be ensured, the electoral system ought to have made it mandatory for popular government to be dissolved a month ahead of elections and elections held under the caretaker charge of Presidents Rule. This would have not only ensure no undue advantage is taken by those in the ruling party in the use of official machineries or to elicit better media coverage of their election campaigns disguised as normal government activities. Since this is not the case, it would be not altogether correct to put the onus on the media to draw the dividing line. In the absence of very clear-cut guidelines on what can and what cannot be covered, verdicts on any section of the media having crossed the line will be arbitrary and therefore replete with dangers of draconian and big brotherly supervision. There is still time yet. The election office can still come out with a comprehensive list of election related events coverage which would be deemed as biased reporting instead of the vague instruction not to indulge in biased reporting. This would make things a lot easier for the section of the media which are truly independent and thus interested in fair and objective reporting only. Of those who are known to overtly incline towards one or the other contesting parties, there would be no ambiguity, for their taste and interest would be obvious to anybody. Similarly, there should be little dispute about campaign advertisements, provided these advertisements are at a cost on public exchequer and in favour of the ruling party. However if it is a political party wishing to announce its candidates in poster formats with photographs of their candidates, or an individual candidate wishing to do the same, so that their prospective supporter would not mistake them while casting votes, there should not be any objection, for this is fair and legitimate concern. That is, if these bought spaces in the newspapers do not slander opponents or are disguised as news. This being the case, even if the election office decides any form of election related advertisements should be disallowed to be published in the media, it still needs to clarify on the matter of election related news.

Take again another likely scenario in the days ahead of the election. The media would be expected by the reading public to give them news that gave the election atmosphere which invariably would include some sort of assessment of who are the prominent contenders. The media may even be expected to do interviews of prominent candidates, and the electronic media may even want to hold interactive debates with the candidates. What about these? What about speculations of the next government formation? It is understandable that the election office wants to ensure free and fair elections therefore its strictures on the media. But it must also be fair to the media in imposing these strictures therefore the need is for it to spell out in more details what constitutes unethical coverage of the elections.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/01/election-and-media/

It has become a wont in Manipur to cite the example of those who made it big from the state as the evidence of the vitality of the place. This is especially true in the field of sports and performing arts. These success stories have also been often been forwarded as proof that there is no obstacle too big to restrain genius. Given the spirit, impoverished boys and girls who grew up with practically nothing that would suggest they can become champions, playing on their undersized playing fields, untutored by professional coaches and nourished mostly on the ordinary staple of rice and vegetable stew which is most affordable by most of their families, have still quite amazingly on many occasion proven they can be world beaters. This sentiment is understandable and undoubtedly has a basis in reality. However, the man on the street saying this is one thing, but when it is the politician who eulogises and dwell for too long and often on this, it would make anyone uneasy. The danger is obvious. It can become an excuse for non-performance by the political leadership precisely by shifting the burden of churning out champion materials to the individual citizen alone, thus shirking its own responsibility of building half way houses to augment the effort of the protagonists behind these extraordinary and heroic tales of individual determination and enterprise.

This excuse can also be extended, and in fact has been extended to all other fields. Hence, the fact that there are many who have done well despite having been schooled in wall-less, bench-less classrooms of the state’s dilapidated government schools, is pushed as the example that success and failure are more in the hands of individual students, and not only in those of the non-performing educational institutes. This would amount to mistaking the wood for the forest. There are indeed geniuses and these fortunate souls would pick themselves out of even the most untidy mess and find their way to the top. We have seen many such examples in every walk of life from amongst us, and as we have said before, most prominently in sports. The scripts of the path to success of achievers like Ngangom Dingko Singh, MC Mary Kom, N Kunjarani, L Sarita, Renedy Singh, would all be practically the same – a rags to riches, anonymity to celebrity story, with a little variation here and there. But the rule of nature is, the percentage of people who are above average in aptitude or intelligence, is only a fraction of those who occupy the middle ground of the average. Again, just as there are geniuses who occupy the space above the average, on the other extreme there are also the lame and slow who are below average.

So while we must be proud of the geniuses born amongst us, and look up to the examples they have set for us to emulate, let us not be blinded to the bigger reality that says there are more average than above average or under average. Let the above average and below average have special programmes, but the general policies must have to be oriented towards the average, and indeed to improve the average. To take the example of a well planned highway, let there be fast lanes for the geniuses and pedestrian paths for the lame and slow, but the rest of the highway must be dedicated to the average. The point is, government policies must first and foremost strive to raise the standard of the average. If this was done, even the genius would have a better and easier platform to launch from, as there would be less ground to cover to reach the top, the average ground having been raised.

So then, let not the often heard vaunt that the state has produced many geniuses in many fields be any cause to lull senses into any unwarranted complacency. Let us be proud of the geniuses who have made it big, but let this not lead to any false and deceptive assessment of the average citizenry. More than in sports, we see this rethinking essential in primary and secondary education. The government schools in general cater to the average citizenry and so let it be the government’s single-minded determination to uplift them at least to the standard of the best amongst the private schools in the state. This government has been around for two terms. For once let those at the helm give full commitment and concentration towards giving back to the society a promise of a future it deserve.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/01/address-the-average/

Elections are round the corner. Although the campaigns have still not picked up heat, the tension in the air characteristic of an election is already clear and crisp. In a week or so from now, it will be clear who gets to contest on the tickets of the party of their desire. Almost as an unspoken testimony that the Congress ticket would be the one sought after most, even by opposition MLAs and leaders, no political party has yet announced their list of candidates pending a clear picture on the Congress’ mind. All of them are keenly watching the Congress party and the candidates they would set up. Surely, no political party would be willing to live through the embarrassment of awarding a ticket to one of its own sitting MLAs or party man, and then be betrayed by the MLAs concerned by rejecting the party’s offer to instead accept the Congress ticket. Once the Congress announces its list of candidates, it is predictable the election fever would rise with other political parties announcing their own lists in quick succession. This is the reality of Manipur politics, and there is no gainsaying it is pathetic. The idea of loyalty to party and party ideology are alien here. The rush of politicians for election ticket is with the sole intent of being on who they think would be the winning side.

This being the general profile of politics in the state, it is up to the electorate to put in their mite to bring about a change. First of all, they must reject political turncoats. Those who come back to them to seek votes on the tickets of parties they have been spitting fire and brimstone against all this while, after first betraying the parties they professed undying loyalty to, must be told in no uncertain terms that they cannot add insult to injury to the electorate. If it is a genuine case of shifting stance on ideological stances, they ought to have left their parties whose ideologies they were feeling estranged and therefore trying to distance themselves from, at least a year ahead of the elections. While as humans, shifts in beliefs and ideologies are a legitimate phenomenon, it goes against the law of probability that a genuine shift of ideological perspective can happen so suddenly just on the eve of the elections. The electorate must remember, this is not just about punishing an individual politician, but of saving politics in the state from a despicable trend which is gaining legitimacy precisely because the public has never thought of it as an affront on their dignity and sense of public propriety.

This election must also be made to be fought on issues rather than empty rhetoric and dirty money. The first question which must come to the mind of the electorate ought to be, what are the things they as respectable citizens should legitimately expect from any government worth its name and whether the political parties in contention are promising them these needs realistically? As citizens ourselves, we can also think of some very basic of these conditions. This would somewhat follow a needs hierarchy in the rough model of what psychologist Abraham Maslow spelled out. The first would have to do would food and shelter, its derivatives and more pertinent to the state being, clean drinking water, electricity and good roads. As to why these are important, we need not explain. The state has been atrociously deprived of these basic essentials for years now, and now is the time for the electorate to actually bargain and vote the party which spells out a realistic blueprint to ensure these needs. In the second hierarchy would be things like good education facilities, health guarantees, better employment opportunities through ensuring a better atmosphere for private entrepreneurship etc. In the third hierarchy would be need such as for more recreational parks for citizens, better traffic management, better and more disciplined control of the law and order situation, corruption free competitions to government jobs and benefits, better implementation of welfare schemes instituted by the Central government, and if possible for the state to start evolving state specific citizen welfare models of its own. Of the latter, there is something as local area development fund availed to the MLAs. If all of the MLAs were to use this fund honestly and imaginatively, at least the entire network of by-lanes in Imphal city and other major townships and habitation centres would have been black topped and dust free by now. The local area development fund is a brilliant idea but only if it is honestly and imaginatively used. However, almost as if by fate, in backwater lawless places like Manipur, in the absence of a vigilant electorate, between the ideas and their implementations, almost always fall the shadow.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/01/time-for-reckoning/