Tag: kanglaonline

We have said it before, but it is our opinion that it needs to be repeated every now and then still, considering Manipur continues to be hopelessly trapped in an unenviable blind alley. A seemingly simple suggestion in problem solving strategy runs like: “when a certain proposition does not seem to have an answer, or else the answer gets far too complicated to be answered to any reasonable degree of satisfaction, it is an indication that the time has arrived to change or reframe the question itself rather than the answer. The conflict situation tearing at the very fabric of the state, moral and temporal, is one such question. Come to think of it, half a century has gone by, and the original question that led to the conflict still remains unanswered and unresolved. Under the circumstance, should not it be considered time to reframe the question so that some hope of an answer can be visualised. What needs to be kept in mind is, even what is popularly deemed as a just cause, unless it is contextualised against the constantly shifting backdrop of reality, can prove tragically futile.

This is not a debate about whether the future is preordained and that destiny is given and not made, but it must be admitted that although there is no way of knowing the future totally, it definitely is possible to assess or else at least make intelligent guesses about what shape it might take. If this were not so, a lot of academics, especially in the humanities stream, would lose much of their relevance. Why even business speculation, an acumen which is a chief determinant in distinguishing good from bad businessmen, would disappear too. Indeed, subjects such as economics, life sciences, environmental studies etc, are at their core, about efforts to evolve models to visualise the possible predicament of man and society in the future, immediate as well distant. It is also because of the mystically uncertain element of the future that there has never been, and there probably never will be, a grand unified theory that can summarise absolutely and accurately, human nature or society’s destiny, regardless the rhetoric of “End of History and the Last Man” of the Francis Fukuyama kind. True Fukuyama was put on the back foot ever since he “awed and shocked” the world with his book at the end of the Cold War, including at the India Today Conclave some years ago, saying he did not mean a literal “end of history”, but a metaphoric one. After capitalism (which mischievously these authors often try to project as a synonym of liberal democracy), Fukuyama did concede that society would still progress, but only within the broad frame of liberal democracy. If not for the mischief of equating capitalism with democracy, Fukuyama’s point is interesting and indeed strong. This acknowledgement of the strength of Fukuyama’s central proposition, would also fall in line of the original argument of this article: that although there is always an unpredictable element about the future, there are also trends that make it possible to extrapolate and have a broad picture of what it might look like.

This being so, it is essential for all of us to sit back and ponder from time to time whether the future that we seek at any point in time is anywhere near the intelligent extrapolation of what the future might shape up to be from a study of current trends and thoughts. This is especially important so that we do not end up being drawn into the impossible and futile prospect of fighting the future itself and not for the future. Or in more familiar parlance – barking up the wrong tree. It is then in everybody’s self interest, and by extension of the same logic, in the self interest of the larger society as such, for us as a collectivity to be able to make honest probes and come up with honest answers, however painful, about what these intelligent guesses say of what our future would be and could be. For while the dictates of the heart are important, it needs to listen to and be moderated by the mind always. Unfortunately, maintaining this balance between the heart and the mind is where our society has been the
weakest. Hence, many of our conflict related issues, including the AFSPA, remain unresolved. Alas, so many of us remain unperturbed and unwilling even to acknowledge popular verdicts on these issues arrived at by the democratic norms of “one man one vote” cast through the secret ballot.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/02/balancing-heart-and-mind/

From all appearances, the peace talks between the Government of India and the Naga underground organisation NSCN(IM), is hopelessly stagnated. The confrontation recently between the underground group and the establishment when the two topmost leaders of the organisation, Thuingaleng Muivah and Isak Chishi Swu were prevented from visiting Zunheboto district of Nagaland, the home district of Swu by the Assam Rifles is just a case in point. The sorry episode was almost a repeat of the Mao incident in 2010 in which Muivah was prevented by the Manipur government to proceed to his home village Somtal. What then was the Naga peace talks about? Both the Government of India as well as NSCN(IM) leadership have been all the while been talking positive of an amicable solution sooner than later, but so far the reality has been something quite different. Perhaps, this stagnation was always embedded in the very nature of the conflict sought to be resolved. Indeed, there are too many contradictions within it – the definition of self-determination for instance. Depending on how one looks at the issue, this definition will inevitably change and radically too.

Consider this. There can be no doubt how the Nagas in their history of more than half a decade of nationalistic struggle would interpret the notion of self determination. For them the term would mean nothing less than absolute sovereignty that an independent nation-state is deemed to be entitled. Quite by contrast, from the Government of India’s standpoint, even its model of local self governance, popularly known as Panchayati Raj, is a guarantee of self-determination to the ultimate sovereign of a democracy – the individual citizen. At its roots the inability of the Naga peace talks to make any forward movement is this fundamentally different viewpoint. In other words, it is unlikely the Government of India would ever agree to dismantle itself to have a part of its present political map secede to form an independent nation. It is also evident it would be equally difficult for the Naga leadership to accept this definition of self-determination, after all so much blood has been shed in their half century chase for the illusive dream of a sovereign Nagaland already.

It must however be said, it is better to stagnate in peace than in conflict. If the Naga peace talk is stagnating, it is equally true the multi-dimensional conflict in neighbouring Manipur has not made any headway either. In fact, it has degenerated further, with many militant organisations splintering into numerous tiny factions, each becoming loose cannons in their turn, creating havoc in society and bringing misery to the ordinary men and women on the streets. Extortion has stunted all entrepreneurship, likewise except for the superhumanly resilient, schools and colleges are today under great strain because of bandhs and blockades, some of which can go on for months. Because of these conditions, there is today a flight of students away from the state. Expectedly, there is also a reciprocal exodus of young talents. Many of those who had been forced to seek education elsewhere are unlikely to return, for opportunities have shrunk in the state and the knowledge and skills they have acquired would find them better employment elsewhere. In the end, Manipur could be left with only those who either did not have the means to afford education outside or the right skills to find employment elsewhere. The only others other class than them left behind would be the old and infirmed. That would be when productivity in the state would have come to a grinding halt. This is already beginning to happen.

The fact also is, the stagnating peace talk in Nagaland and the stagnating conflict in Manipur are interrelated in many ways. The implication is, the key to solution to both must be hinged on the same issues. This being the case, what is called for then is a comprehensive and inclusive, rather than an exclusive solution. Genuine peace can only come about if and when this realisation dawns on all, from those in power to the ordinary citizenry. At this moment, such an approach is far from the minds of each of the parties involved in this sordid drama, beginning from the Government of India right down to the militant factions, some with no more than a dozen motley so called revolutionary fighters, whose idioms and ideologies of revolution no longer translate to more than the terror of a grenade hurled at individual homes for refusing extortion demands.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/02/peace-and-conflict-ennui/

Can the Manipiur Press still be described as independent? At the rate it is succumbing to pressures, this is hardly likely. We watch with disdain the manner in which the entire media establishment in the state has in the past been compelled to go on sabbatical, caught as it always was between conflicting pulls and pressures of different feuding armed underground organizations. There are also allegation that the media-men are too easily influenced by men with money and power. But the gravest threat is the new culture of intimidation. What is adequately clear is that, for the ordinary citizenry, to which the media belongs, it does not make a difference whether they are intimidated by a brigade or a band of a dozen or so armed men, the effect is the same – fear. And today, Manipur’s ordinary citizenry is in the grip of a terrible, immobilizing fear. Leave aside underground revolutionary organizations, threats from buccaneering organizations, inspired terror as effectively. Fear of death at the hands of anonymous men with guns works in an exponential way. It levels out the asymmetry of weaponry like no other phenomenon has. It is not a surprise at all that underdogs in many conflict situations around the world have resorted to fashioning this fear as a weapon in itself. The terrorism of the Al Qaeda brand is a prime example. The late Bin Laden’s attempt all along had been on this line – to multiply what it lacks in weaponry and physical resources with fear and boost his power base exponentially. The measure of success he had been able to achieve, challenging seriously as he had, even mighty America, is the proof of the pudding. Laden while he was alive may have been just a pain in the neck for the USA, but he proved to be a persistent and sometimes excruciating pain. As to how troublesome a pain in the neck can be, can be testified by the many who have been unfortunate enough to have had bouts of spondylitis.

In this modern aberration of asymmetrical warfare, popularly referred to as “terrorism” by those at the receiving end – and rightly so too – the ones who end up held at ransom are mostly soft targets. In many ways, the media in Manipur today is this soft target. Nowhere in the world, except under the most dictatorial environments, would the freedom of the media to make its own judgment on what event might be of news-worth and hence print worthy, is compromised than in Manipur. To draw any consolation at all from the fact that the situation is no better in some other neighbouring states, which have even seen the assassination of some very outspoken writers, would be a perversion of logic. But the uncanny feeling is, the soft targets in the state, including the media, have cowered far too much and have allowed themselves to be prisoned in their own image of powerlessness. Our civil society, and more regrettably, our media have lost their backbones. The pen has been overshadowed by the sword. This speaks very poorly for the media as well as those browbeating it. Maybe a contributing factor in the softening of the media is the overturning of its curious status of being a fine mix of business and mission. Under ideal circumstances, the business must remain vibrant so that it can support its own role as an important pillar of the democratic polity. Today increasingly, the primacy has passed on to the business side of the story with the mission being pushed into insignificance.

The state media must assert itself again to regain its rightful place in a democracy and more immediately, it credibility. Right now, to be very honest, outside the closed world of the state, it does not command much of it. What the media communicates can become convincing to the outside world only if is known it speaks from its free will and judgment. It is important that it does not take sides, but all the same it must show what a powerful medium for opinion making neutrality can be. A gagged media does not portray a positive image for anybody either. It shows an inherent incapacity for tolerating or shouldering freedom.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/02/who-is-afraid-of-freedom/