The old family system is breaking down. Concepts, ideas, theories keep changing but there are some issues that seldom change. State killing citizens on religious and political issues were common earlier, now killings for religious issues have come down dramatically. State tolerance on political thoughts however is still low, people fighting for restoration of Independence in Asia and Africa specially in the last century were subdued with an iron will and great force. The 20th century also witnessed two bloody wars which uprooted the whole social, political and economic orders in the entire globe. When we look at history we understand that the concepts of nation state also concretised in the last century. This century should herald growth of new ideas and thoughts which will bring an end to the fight, clashes that engulf the world. When it boils down to ground level the concept of nationhood as understood and defined is not acceptable to us. The generally accepted theory that a nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, or history is not applicable to India, US and large numbers of countries. The concept is changing now. The concept of Otto Bauer that “A nation is an aggregate of people bound into a community of character by a common destiny.” seems to be acceptable to large numbers of people. The clash of the theory is having its toil in parts of the globe. State has to learn that people have aspirations and state should find out a way to fulfil the aspirations. Political aspirations are hard to fulfil but there are ways to limit people having political aspirations. In the context of India it is debatable if the peace processes with some organisations are done well. Prior to the truce with some Naga groups there was no concept of integrity movement or any political tension among the people living in Manipur. It is generally accepted to all that granting Sadar hills or making changes in the districts would have gone smoothly if done before the talks. People on different sides are sceptical and there is are ‘worry’ and ‘fear’ factors that disturb the harmony. The prolonged talks make people unrest and different theories crop up. The government is not in a position to clarify on every issue and it is not aware of the issues that people discuss day and night. If the discussions are healthy it is good but most discussions are not healthy. When the government decided to extend ‘truce beyond territorial limits’ the political turmoil that engulf the region was unthinkable. The government was not in a position to control the situation. Luckily the government decided to withdraw the truce beyond territorial limit and did practised some sort of undeclared truce or whatsoever. Talks or fights can not go forever, there should be agreement on some issues and when one group finds out that the other party is not a position to give what it desires there is chaos. Why should 18 precious lives give up their lives ? Why should people go out in the streets and do the unthinkable ? It was a frightening experience and such incident should not happen again. The onus of finding a solution lies with the government. But we need a government which knows and understands the problem and try to find out a solution by involving people who matters. Talks should be avoided if it will create more problem. We dream of the day when people can live without fear, inhibitions and travel freely and start new enterprises which will bring happiness and peace to the people and the state.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/political-talk/
