Tag: Editorial

The threat by the BJP State unit president, Th Chaoba, that he would slap a defamation lawsuit against three parties which had either directly accused or implied by insinuation that he was party in the alleged gross acts of corruption by the now ousted and disgraced former director of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, RIMS, Dr. S Sekharjit, has taken an interesting turn with one of the parties he served legal notice, in defiance challenging him to put his action where is mouth is. Special correspondent of The Statesman and former member of the State Human Rights Commission, Laba Yambem, in a press conference on Sunday, said he has all the proofs of whatever corruption charges he levelled against the veteran politician, who has been deputy chief minister of the State and a minister of state of the Union government, and dared the latter to go ahead and engage him and his organisation in a court battle. The third party in the unseemly entangle, Huieyen Lanpao daily, has chosen to remain silent on the matter. It remains to be seen how Chaoba response to this new development.

We are interested for two primary reasons. One, if proven, it is a matter involving a systematic and institutionalised corruption of gargantuan size. At the heart of the matter is a CBI raid at the then RIMS director, Dr. S Sekharjit`™s office and residence in August. The parties against whom Chaoba threatened to initiate defamation suits had alleged that the CBI found among other incriminating documents, a letter which implied a senior BJP leader (which Laba and others presumes was Chaoba) had taken Rs 1 crore from the RIMS director on the promise he would ward off any CBI probe into the RIMS affairs. This is a very serious allegation. The second reason is, since the matter has also been so prominently brought into public space, it must be taken to a logical conclusion. Doing otherwise would amount to a misuse and indeed abuse of an important public forum. It would also mean the demeaning of the notion of law itself. If there is reasonable suspicion of such a crime, it would be the bounden duty of the law itself to step in to pursue the matter suo motto. If on the other hand, the charges turn out to have no foundation, the grave injustice borne by the man thus charged must also be compensated adequately under the law of the land to justice is ensured. It is true there is already a case underway with the CBI on the matter of the RIMS, but this is not the same as the defamation case Chaoba has threatened. In other words, let the matter not be allowed to die in a whimper since its protagonists ensure it began with a bang. This is so that the media and therefore the public are not allowed to used as personal propaganda vehicle by any party.

Unfortunately, for too long, the law has been allowed to be as empty alibis in political rhetoric. The strategy is for those in the political game to threaten or else slap lawsuit and then forget about it. The benefit they try to get out of it is not so much about exonerating themselves from the charges they face, but just to create an impression in the minds of the larger not so literate public that since a legal challenged has been made, and theatrically too, presumably all suspicions as to their integrity would have been cleared. They will then forget the initial sound and fury they announced their intent. If a case has been initiated, they would simply let it drag on for years and decades without in any haste to see a conclusion to it. Sometimes, they may not even take the trouble of taking the matter to court, if they think the purpose of diverting public attention has already been served. All media persons and organisations would have faced this situation where they ended up harassed by court summons in meaningless cases which even those who filed these cases have lost interest. The IFP is no exception, and its editor have had to rush back to Imphal from Shimla several time where he was stationed for two years to attend hearings in a virtually hollow and meaningless two decade long case with a former chief minister, which ultimately the IFP won, but with nothing to vindicate or show as benefit. It was plain harassment, albeit in a legal way, meted out to people for whom time and resources are precious, by people who have nothing better to do and for whom resources are unlimited. In the current Rs. 50 crore defamation case threat widely publicised in the media, we would not like to see the law made into an ass yet again.

Leader Writer: Pradip Phanjoubam

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/10/chaoba-affair/

One of the hazards of globalisation is, as fast as ideas and capital spread across national boundaries, so too diseases. The world has seen this in the routine outbreaks of a number of killer virus epidemics such as SARS, Bird Flu and AIDS. Now to this list has just been added Ebola. In many ways, it is a demonstration of the ultimate inevitability of the forces of globalisation that even a secluded place like Manipur, tucked away in a corner of India`™s Northeast, have also been part of the global scares caused by these deadly viruses. It may be recalled, in the past, viruses were making their way into the State even while extreme travel restrictions such as by the Protected Area Permit, PAP, was very much in force in the State literally prohibiting the entry of foreigners into the State. The vital alert from these episodes should be the message that globalisation is inevitable, therefore the best remedy is to be prepared for its consequences, and we must add, its benefits as well. We have also seen, in the decades since India opened up its economy and mind to the world, there have been liberal doses of both. Preparedness is all, and let us have no doubt about this that there is no other way. To believe otherwise would be asking to pay the heavy price of voluntarily economic disempowerment.

Preparedness is about regulation too. It is about identifying and separating the beneficial attributes of globalisation from what is detrimental in it. Welcome the benefits but ward off the adverse consequences. The ongoing optimism about lifting Manipur`™s economy through its immense tourism potential on one side, and periodic scares of global epidemics sweeping through the State on the other, provides the contrasting poles of the impact of modernisation in these times of globalisation. In assessing this situation, and the fine balance needed to keep moving forward without falling, it is difficult not to recall the lines from Charles Dickens in writing of his times, the heady era of industrial age in Europe, in A Tale of Two Cities. He so succinctly summarised the mood in the introductory lines of the novel: `It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.` Dickens might as well be saying this of the era of globalisation. To underscore the point, the preparedness we talk of is therefore to be ready to face `the best of times and the worst of times`. Or to put it another way, in fearing the worst, let us also not forsake the best there is on offer.

Most immediately, there has been an Ebola scare. A woman traveller of Japanese nationality, who entered Manipur from Myanmar, after having been to a number of South East Asian countries, fell ill after landing up in Imphal, raising suspicion that she could have contracted the Ebola virus in her travels. As a precautionary measure, she was hospitalised and quarantined at the JN Hospital. Although it is quite possible her illness had nothing to do with the dreaded epidemic, the precautions taken are welcome, and at least until a proof of the contrary becomes available through blood tests, they must continue. The virus has caused havoc in several African countries, and spread to SE Asia, and the fears now affected areas would continue to spread to the entire globe, including the advanced West, if left unchecked. It is a foregone conclusion that in case the disease spreads to the rest of the world, the worst damages would be suffered by the poor countries with substandard health facilities. This is why the authorities in Manipur should be worried of the possible spread of the disease to the State. As suggested by many, screening at the various entry points of the State must begin immediately. This must be especially to detect and ensure travellers from countries where the epidemic has already become a menace, are free of the virus. If the alarm gets worse, may even restrict travellers from these countries until the crisis has been contained.

Leader Writer: Pradip Phanjoubam

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/10/globalisation-precautions/

Last fortnight saw Manipur graduate to a new level, or should we say descend to a new depth of chaos. Two Improvised Explosive Devices, IED, planted by unknown persons went off at a site of Durga Puja celebration during the height of Puja celebrations, and then on the day of Eid, at an important site of this important festival of the Muslim faith. Although, there have been attacks at religious sites before, such as the bomb blasts some years ago at the ISCKON temple on the Airport Road, the current spate of mayhem seems to be marked by a new method in the madness. Given the circumstances and timings of these atrocious acts of violence by unknown assailants, it would not be entirely unreasonable to imagine these were by-products, intended or otherwise, of the growing and alarmingly widespread venom against what is perceived as a threat of a radical shift in demographic balance in the State in favour of a continually expanding population of immigrants.

This apprehension is not altogether baseless, and indeed we have argued on numerous occasions why this is so and proposed remedial measures. However, whatever the end may be, it cannot justify any and every means used to achieve it. On this matter, there is nobody to learn from than the man referred to as the father of the Indian nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Recall the Chauri Chaura incident of February 5, 1922, which all of us read about in high school. Outraged by the Rawlatt Act of 1919, an early antecedent of the familiar modern version, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, AFSPA 1958, the protest against which led to the infamous Jhalianwalla Massacre, Gandhi launched the Civil Disobedience Movement. Unlike physical and militant protests to which the mighty British Empire had a ready and overwhelming answer, Gandhi`™s innovative agitation of non-cooperation left the British virtually powerless. This was to the pleasant and gleeful surprise of leaders of the Independence struggle in its formative stages, including Nehru, Patel, Maulana Azad, and indeed Jinnah. Their scepticism of Gandhi`™s methods would change to admiration, at least at the time. But then the Chauri Chaura incident happened, in which, during a demonstration, a crowd got violent and attacked a police station, killing 23 policemen and three civilians. To the utter dismay of Nehru and others who thought the British were cornered, Gandhi called off his Civil Disobedience Movement saying India was still not prepared for such a movement. With the benefit of hindsight, it would soon be seen his intuition that the British could match violence for violence, and no violent agitation against them would bear fruit, was dead on target. In the aftermath of the incident, the British did crack down brutally on the agitators, imprisoning many, sentencing 172 to death, six more dying in police custody.

To reiterate the point again, the recent spate of IED blasts, even if they are perpetrated independently of any organised movement and therefore devoid of any ideology, because of their timing and circumstance, can have the effect of delegitimizing the perfectly legitimate demand for the introduction of the Inner Line Permit System, or an equivalent law. This being the case, these attacks could equally be acts in support of, or else acts meant to sabotage the movement for bringing in a new law that would address the legitimate apprehension of the local communities in the State of being ultimately marginalised demographically in their own State. In any case, even if the situation were to be assessed independently of the larger political movement and its strategies, the contention that the end does not justify unconditional means still would hold. Planting bombs at public places, will find no justification under any law or humanitarian norms anywhere in the world. These acts are thoroughly condemnable, and whoever is responsible must stop at once. The government must also take all precautions so that public security is not compromised any further.

Leader Writer: Pradip Phanjoubam

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/10/blasts-and-blasphemy/

Ebola scare in town
The news reports of a Japanese tourist triggering off an Ebola scare brings to fore that there is more that one should be looking at, apart from whether or not the tests results confirm the infection. Confirmation of an Ebola infection would be problematic for the trail of exposure that the tourist would have subjected to in her interactions with people around her during her stay and travel would be massive `“ hotel staff; people she met while eating, traveling; the medical team that looked after her etc. Unlike the swine flu infection that was confirmed in the state in a later and hence, not highly infectious stage, the Ebola viral infection is currently on a deadly infection stage, compounded by the lack of an approved medication or vaccine. Before the current Ebola scare, there were reports earlier of `check posts`™ being opened at Jiribam, Mao Gate, Moreh and at the Imphal Tulihal Airport. It is now time to do a serious assessment of how these check posts are being equipped and how much aware the health care personnel are. A mere registry of ascertaining where people have traveled prior to entering the state is not enough, given the nature of the Ebola infection and its transmission. There would have to be a scaling up in terms of infrastructure by installing body temperature scanners at airports and international and state borders and investing in training health care personnel.

According to a latest update from the Center of Disease Control, Atlanta Ebola does not spread through the air simply by suspended particles remaining in the air after a cough or sneeze. But if infected sweat, mucus or saliva gets on doorknobs or countertops, the Ebola virus can be spread `for several hours` by someone touching the surface and then touching their eyes, nose, mouth or an open cut. It can be spread by handshaking as well, if the infected person had gotten saliva or mucus on his/her hands. The reassuring part is that Ebola is killed with hospital-grade disinfectants such as household bleach but since it can survive on doorknobs and other surfaces for several hours even after it gets dried, this means that the hotel where the Japanese tourist was put up is better sealed up.

What is happening now is that with more infections taking place all around us (due to more people being interconnected), there is first and foremost a tendency for a large scare that in turn creates pressure on health and state authorities to respond to the situation. The fall out of a public health emergency and the scare that follows it, the risks and trails undertaken by health workers along with the economic sidelight that pharma companies enjoys: all of these and more have been well portrayed in Steven Soderbergh`™s acclaimed film that came out in 2011, `Contagion`™. The film largely captured various nuances of the swine flu and earlier SARS outbreak and featured a fictional viral pandemic, the mad rush to ascertain its origin, the politics behind finding a cure and then deciding who gets the medicine first before it would get on the public domain. A viewing of this film would be largely educational as it narrates the various push and pull factors that come into play when a global pandemic strikes. Call it a continuation of the debate over whether life imitates fiction or fiction imitates life for the questions that this 2011 film threw up is still relevant today with reports of yet to be approved medicines for the Ebola outbreak being a good therapy but unavailable to all outside of the well to do nations.

Yes, the other side of development, progress and better connectivity is that geographical boundaries open up and there are more interpersonal interactions that fuel the growth of the spread of infections. To cite an example, when an epidemic of plague or cholera or such broke out in a particular town or village in an earlier era, the most that the infection could travel would be to towns or villages or cities in the immediate surroundings. But the same outbreak now in this time and age of increased person to person interactions and more people being congregated at markets, airports and train stations mean that the spread of infection is increased manifold. The State Health Department and other concerned authorities would do well to tie up with personnel of the Medicine Sans Frontier operating in the State as the agency is active in Ebola stricken countries where it has effectively cured many.

Leader Writer: Chitra Ahanthem

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/10/ebola-scare-in-town/

There are many reasons why the Manipur government`™s move to streamline attendance in government office, marked by the kick-start initiative of installing biometrics attendance recorders in all government offices and institutions, cannot be standardised across the board without first introducing suitable variations. This will be especially so when it comes to offices which are away from major townships. During the mid and late 1990s, the then Manipur Governor, Lt. Gen (retd) V.K. Nayar, was wont to take out long tours of the districts, some of them for a few days at a stretch, requiring overnight halts at different points. During a particular spell of Presidents Rule when the then elected Assembly remained in `suspended animation` on account of a Constitutional crisis brought about by MLAs switching allegiance constantly, these tours actually became a defining style of governance that he introduced. He was also in the habit of taking along his friends in the media, not with any intent of having his tours covered, but so that those in the media can also have a feel of these remote places more intimately.

Among other administrative realities that became evident during those tours was that the almost nil attendance of government employees in many government institutions located away from major population centres. Contrary to widely held beliefs however, and probably also taken advantage of by vested interests to hide their own wrongdoings, these absentees did not always fit into the popularly understood matrix of conflict of interest between the Hills and Valley. In a government high school at Phungyar for instance, the head master who was among the staff who showed up in the school premises only occasionally, was from Tolloi village. But the school also had virtually no students, and those enlisted were either non-existent or else were studying elsewhere in private schools in Ukhrul or Imphal. The staff, probably cooling their heels in Imphal and other townships, however continued to draw salaries regularly. Schools in valley districts, including the two capital districts were hardly better. However, it was the explanation given by a teacher in Tamenglong district, posted in a village school in the Tousem sub division which was interesting. Enlisting his difficulties, he said he had to manage his own accommodation in the village. But his woes did not end there. He had to fetch his own water from the brook at the base of the hill, occasionally make a trip to Tamenglong town to get his daily ration and so on.

The moot point is, many of the complaints of the employees are genuine. In outlying places when the government decides to set up institutions, which it has no choice but to, it must include in the projects, constructing necessary infrastructures such as accommodation and other basic essentials of daily living of the staff likely to be posted there. If it cannot do this, it will be of no use trying to enforce the same attendance norms applicable in townships where at least the bare essential living condition is available. For these outlying areas, staff recruitment must be to the extent possible done from amongst the locals or else people living not too far off from the area so that the burden of also assuring secondary infrastructure related to board and lodging is minimised. Wherever this is not possible, the attendance norms must be adjusted to align closer with the hard physical realities which would make keeping strict routines impossible. As for instance, this could be done by introducing longer weekends, more leave facilities etc. Once these basic conditions have been met, like everywhere else the government can then enforce the rule of law strictly without further compromises.

Leader Writer: Pradip Phanjoubam

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/10/catering-to-different-needs/

Attending the three day long Ziro Music Festival at Arunachal Pradesh was quite an experience. Going by road till the festival site was a unique challenge in itself, the terrain was quite similar to the hill districts of Manipur. Despite the nearly 800 km ride through Nagaland and Assam till Arunachal, there were no significant problems aside of the mechanical ones and climatic conditions.

Things were pleasant all the way and we reached Manipur. Approaching Imphal from Mao was more troublesome than crossing the three states altogether. There Police men were courteous and co-operative; they even declined to see the driving license when we said that we had come from Manipur. But, on the way back, the torch light wavering half drunk policemen shouted abusively and were more threatening than a highway looter.

Speaking of looting, two friends who travelled with us from Arunachal on a motorcycle were held at gunpoint near Motbung. They had ridden ahead but called us up. When we answered, there was no conversation but heard tribal dialect. It turned out they had simply left the phone open to signal that they had run into trouble. We saw them with some youths in a secluded area of the highway, they were being frisked. So, we halted beside them and one among the youths approached me and inquired why I stopped. I replied that I came with the bikers.

They asked who I was and I identified myself as a journalist, they asked for identification and they confiscated my identity card. Later, they explained that the bikers needed help and they had assisted them, someone had taken some money and they had helped get the amount back. With this, the biker friends were let off and they drove away from the scene. We finally met up at Sekmai, where they told the story. The youths had identified themselves as cadres of a hill based insurgent group and took money, their footwear, air-pump and were on the verge of tearing up their bags. The youths also beat them with a stick.

Even as they completed recounting their ordeal, a phone call came to one of my friend who was a resident of Thangal Bazar. It turned out he wanted to inform me of a bomb blast. An air of gloom pervaded over us all. When we thought of the adventurous ordeal we had gone through, there was pride and gratitude that we had been fortunate to have the experience. However the latter chain of events completely brought us back under a cloud of gloom. The bravado was gone and we were no longer in charge of our fate, the rights of the person to commute freely and with a sense of trust was lost. Sanaleipak did not sound so comforting at that moment.

The terror attack at Thangal bazar is condemnable without reservations. Our friend from Tangal bazar was looking forward to join the Durga Puja festival on that day. Had we arrived a bit earlier, we might have been one of the casualties, or worse, even a fatality. One hopes that the future of Manipur is not a big zero.

Leader Writer: Paojel Chaoba

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/10/from-ziro-to-zero/

For Manipur, news from the boxing ring of the 17th Asian Games at Incheon, South Korea, in the past few days have been packed with high drama. While Mary Kom, the sporting superstar in her own right, brought in ecstatic tidings having become the first Indian woman to win a boxing gold medal at an Asiad, stories of Laishram Sarita and Laishram Debendro were heartbreaking. The latter two, from all appearances, were given dubious verdicts by the boxing judges at their respective bouts, both against South Korean opponents, denying them the glory they well could have won. Had they lost fairly, there would not have been any further need for extending the ado, but the developments were far from such an outcome, from the accounts of all who watched the bouts live, as well as all of us who saw them on TV. Even commentators doing the running commentary of these bouts for TV channels expressed utter surprise at the results. One cannot be certain if the judges were swayed by the chants of the home crowds, or else they were, as some suggested, part of a match fixing racket for money, a bane few popular sports have been spared. This suspicion is further buttressed by the fact that the Indian boxers were not the only one to complain of unfair verdicts. Earlier, before Sarita was rudely shown the exit door, the entire Mongolian boxing contingent officially complained of a similar verdict against one of their boxers fighting a South Korean opponent and threatened a walkout.

Debendro bowed out quietly though visibly perturbed when the verdict was pronounced, but Sarita did not. Stunned and in sheer disbelief she wept bitterly even as the verdict came, and then thereafter lodged a complaint against the judgment. She then refused the bronze medal she was still entitled to even after the loss, leaving it on the podium where she was given it, earning accolades from onlookers, but possibly putting her future career as a boxer at great risk as well. From news reports so far, AIBA, the apex international amateur boxing control body, it seems is probing her extreme protest, and at the worst, can suspend her from participating in tournaments under its banner in the future. If AIBA does go ahead with such a ban, Sarita, who is already in the afternoon of her career at ripe age of 32 for a contact sports which demands extreme physical fitness and mental grit, may not have the opportunity or time to make a comeback ever. The greatest disappointment for fans and her would be if she is made to miss the Rio Olympics about two years from now.

What was also shamefully confounding in the entire episode was the attitude of the Indian Olympics Association officials who accompanied the Indian contingent to Incheon. From the picture which is emerging now, it seems none of them were by the side of the two distraught boxers when they needed their help the most. Sarita, it now has become clear had even to borrow the fee of 500 US dollars for making a complaint as the IOA officials avoided joining the action, quite in contrast with what the Mongolian officials did for their boxer similarly dumped by the judges. The complaint was rejected on the technical ground that such complaints can be made, as per AIBA rules, only against the referee but not the judges. Had the IOA officials been by Sarita`™s side when this trouble was brewing, perhaps she would have been spared making the protest all by herself, thereby avoided attracting scrutiny of the AIBA on her individual self. As officials they are expected to know these rules of protest better than the athletes, and they are supposed to give sane counsel to the latter at such times. But none of these happened. If Sarita does get slapped with an AIBA suspension, the IOA officials must be made to shoulder the responsibility.

Leader Writer: Pradip Phanjoubam

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/10/boxing-disgrace-and-disaster/

The Manipur government`™s new initiative to introduce biometrics attendance recorders in all government offices and institutions is welcome, and we must add, long overdue. The government, according to records made public, employs a little less than one lakh, and this, if labour norms were to be strictly applied, should amount at least 60 lakh man hours in a day, if as per the same norm, each working man (or woman) were to put in eight hours of office a day on a 9am to 5pm office routine, with a one hour lunch and tea break in between, and after giving allowance for employees who would be on entitled leaves on any single day. But this has been hardly the case, as any ordinary citizen who has had to deal with government officials for routine petty official works such as acquiring a ration card, domicile certificate etc, would vouch. Needless to say, practically everybody would have gone through these mundane but necessary exercises sometime or the other, therefore know the working of government offices pretty well. All will therefore agree that there is hardly a time when they have had not to return to the same offices several times a day and sometimes for several days even for simple official jobs because the concern official to clear the matters, were out of office, and for ludicrous reasons such as attending the feast of a relative to mark the chagumba (solid food initiation day of a new born) and sometimes simply for unexplained reasons pronounced with a look of askance by a colleague: `he was here a while ago, but not sure when he will be back`, as if this is a perfectly legitimate practice and therefore part of the accepted everydayness in government offices. What Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, said upon being sworn in to the country`™s number one job, reverberates loud here. As he said, it is for not for no reason that government employees are referred to as government servants. They are employed on the tax payer`™s money so that they may provide their various services to the people. This is the unwritten contract continually being breached on a daily basis in Manipur today by many if not most government servants.

Under the circumstance, if work done were to be translated only in terms of man hours put in by a worker, instead of the estimated 60 lakh man hours daily that the Manipur government should have optimally got out of its one lakh work force, it is probably getting only about a third of it. This has a number of very obvious inferences. One of them is that to achieve the level of productivity the Manipur government currently has, it would probably need only a third of its current work force if each worker were to give his due of eight man hours a day to his profession. If the Manipur government were run by a private company, where ever redundant expense is a threat to the overall welfare of the company, this would probably have been the employment scenario. The inference can also be on a more positive note. Since the Manipur government is able to afford a huge work force of one lakh employees, when all of them are working optimally, with the aggregate sixty lakh man hour a day the government`™s productivity would have gone up by as much as three times of where it is now.

If this had been so for just the last 15 years or so of the present government, all of Manipur`™s roads would have been of international standard, quality of education would have been comparable to the best in India, therefore there would have been no need for parents to send their children away for school and college education out of the state, many of the short-lived public sector undertakings, such as the Manipur State Road Transport Corporation, the cycle reassembly plant, etc probably would not only have survived, but become blue chip companies by now. But, as they say, it is better late than never. The government`™s move now to at least streamline office attendance is a necessary move in the right direction. Only those who want the benefits of being a government employee, but are averse to also shoulder the responsibilities which come with it, would be against such an initiative. There are of course many genuine reasons why the government`™s attendance norms cannot be an absolute and universal standard, especially when it comes to extremely remote postings, but we will leave these unique cases as the subject of a subsequent discussion.

Leader writer: Pradip Phanjoubam

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/10/biometrics-terror/

The unseemly scuffle on Sunday in New York`s iconic Madison Square Garden, in which the former chief editor of the major TV channel CNN-IBN was heckled by NRI supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ahead of the latter`s public appearance there, tells of several rather portentous pictures of new India which go far beyond just the incivility of the immediate event. It tells for instance of the direction in which the Indian media and how it perceives the ethic of journalism are evolving. This became loudly evident in the manner major media establishments in the country, including most visibly the TV channels, for whatever their reasons, chose to virtually ignore the event. We are talking about here of a man who was once thought to be an important face of Indian journalism. Sardesai was at this venue, famous among many others for having been the arena of some of the best remembered world boxing heavyweight title fights through the 1970s and 80s, including some of the man who floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee and captured the imagination of boxing fans of the time throughout the world, to interview the crowd gathered there and have a sense of the mood there. It is quite an irony that Sardesai was pushed into a sparring match on these same hallowed grounds, though this bout had all the stink of infamy rather than fame. From the few reports available, basically after alerts that Sardesai himselve tweeted, he in his characteristic style, asked very provocative questions about the Prime Minister and of his NRI supporters, when he was confronted by some of Modi`s ardent supporters. This is understandable and can happened wherever and whenever overprotective fans feel their icon is being slighted, but what is confounding is, why have the Indian media remained silent on the matter, especially when one of their own, and a very senior and reputed member too, is the man in the spotlight.

Beyond the immediate issue of the media`™s response and coverage of the event, the episode has once again reinforced distinctly the larger than life charisma of the controversial Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. No other political leader of Independent India, apart from those who emerged out of the Independence struggle against the British, has arguably achieved such a level of public engagement. Modi is turning out to be one of those public figures who few can remain indifferent to. People either love him passionately or hate him bitterly. This was always so long before he became Prime Minister, but after becoming the Prime Minister, there seems no other way of assessing him or his policies but from the divergent viewpoints of the two extreme poles his entry into National politics has created. Postings on social networking sites such as Facebook will bear evidence anytime, and since on these sites “friends”are generally not restricted to actual friends, (except for puritans who accept only real friends as `friends` and send out `friends` requests to only actual friends) therefore belong to all political and ideological hues, these posting can be treated somewhat as representing a cross section of the society rather than bear likeness to sharing of ideas between an association of like-minded people, as is normally the case in a group of actual friends. No need for elaboration, for all would have noticed that one camp sees him as India`™s saviour and another as the harbinger of India`™s ultimate disaster.

There is nothing wrong in people holding divergent ideologies, for indeed, this is one of the attributes of a free society. But as another veteran journalist, Vinod Mehta noted, this difference cannot be considered harmless if it begins to accentuate communal hatred, a curse India has been afflicted with in all of its life as a modern sovereign nation. If it does, it can actually spell the ruin of India. To this assertion, probably all in the Northeast will want to caution of the possibility of the polarised political scenario in the country beginning to acquire a racial tint as well. In either of the cases, it may very well be that such a scenario is not the least of what the leadership of the country intends or desires. But between the leaders and followers can often be a wide gulf in understanding as well as approach. The scuffle in Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday should have provided a glimpse to all of how ugly this gulf can become.

Leader writer: Pradip Phanjoubam

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/the-modi-divide/

If we are to talk of development projects, there is a drastic divide with Government agencies and the corporate sector being seen as sheer villains with community people as the sufferers or victims. This divide comes mostly because development projects in the country and the state are often pitched and implemented without involving people at the grass roots. On the other hand, people who are asked to shift out of their homes and living environment would not be too happy to be asked to pack up and go. The tussle between community resources and Government control over land often leads the later to literally bulldoze all or any sort of opposition to have its way.
Yes, developmental projects are the need of the hour for the generation of power, expansion for urban townships and other institutional set ups, for building roads and railways and this would inevitably mean taking over people`™s lands as increasing population density levels mean that there is a shrink in available land area. But to do it with brute force and to drive out people to bring in private players for profit would mean growing antagonism between Government agencies and the people on the ground. Developmental projects come along with inbuilt mechanisms of environmental clearance and impact assessment studies but the trust deficit on Government agencies and the very nature of their functioning is such that till community stakeholders are involved, there will always be suspicion and defiance.

Aiding this lack of a public and a more inclusive debate is the lack of the attention of the national media on delving deeper into the behemoth of development projects vis a vis nature, people`™s rights etc. While small media outlets are burdened by lack of resources to dig into such issues, the lack of access to information, lack of expertise in the area all contribute to not being able to look into a sustained coverage of the `development v/s nature/people`™s rights`™ issue and given the final nail in the coffin that small media outlets are limited in who they reach out to; the discomfort of the national media in going beyond the development buzz that the government dresses up its actions means that there is no mention of people who lose their homes and livelihood, no mention of ecological imbalances. The media mention happens only when there are mammoth disasters taking place and preferably in the region beyond the north eastern states.

The national media in general gives its attention and engagement to the issue of `development v/s nature/people`™s rights`™ only in the aftermath of disasters or when there are protests taking place. We saw this cursory engagement in the form of the all too brief media buzz on the national scene following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant suffering major damages after a 9.0 richter scaled earthquake and subsequent Tsunami hit Japan leading to radio activity being released. News reports carried coverage of the nature of destruction and the kind of efforts on the ground in terms of evacuation in Fukushima. The disaster in far away Japan also led to a brief media interest in Indian`™s own nuclear power plant, which has been under construction at Koodankulam in Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu since 2002. But more than in depth reportage on the safety mechanisms or the lack of it at the nuclear power plant site, the media attention was on the protests by people in the area and activists of the People`s Movement Against Nuclear Energy group. Disasters or anything else for that matter taking place in the north eastern region do not get the amount of brevity, engagement or sustained coverage in the national media.

The added factor of the resources of the region being used to supply various outputs like power, oil and other minerals for the consumption of the people n the rest of the country subsequently puts on the veil of silence and sight on what is happening in the region. In such a context, what is needed is for environmentalists and subject experts to step forward, make studies and then share their thoughts. One cannot leave it to Government agencies who will give it the `development`™ spin or to the NGOs whose very nature, especially in Manipur is to only oppose the take of the Government.

Leader Writer:Chitra Ahanthem

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/engaging-in-development-issues/

The judgment on Saturday by the Special Court in Bangalore which convicted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha of corruption and sentenced her to four years in prison, over and above a fine of Rs. 100 crores, in the disproportionate assets case, was to say the least, explosively landmark. There would be few, in any, who were not left gaping in disbelief at the news that such a judgment can every have happened in India. Though startling that such a tough ruling can ever be pronounced against a serving Chief Minister, not many people would have been disappointed. First and foremost, it was an assertion that in a democracy, everybody is equal before the law. This vital premise of democratic law for long had seemed buried forever in India, with VIPs and their children treating the country and its laws as their personal fiefdom, and nobody, not even the courts able to do anything about it so far. Corruption perpetrated by them is everywhere. Beginning from brazen and perennial robbery of the public exchequer, to openly breaking traffic rules, they have virtually turned the law upside down.

Second reason why the judgment would have been enthusiastically welcomed universally in India is because the ruling provided hope that the country can be salvaged from the corruption which has condemned it, to borrow the words of the late Gabriel Garcia Marquez, to `One Hundred Years of Solitude`. There is no need to even explain that corruption has permeated into every pore of India. It exists at every level of public life and business, and because almost everybody has been a part of it sometime or the other, nobody can even accuse another of corruption. People in glass houses would not throw stones at others, for return stones can also shatter their own houses.

In Manipur, the mood is one of anticipation that similar justice could be on its way here too. That corruption has corroded all vital organs of Manipur is today a truism. Although in terms of volume, the money rendered black by corruption in Manipur would be only a fraction of what happens in bigger mainland Indian States, it is quite likely in terms of its depth and spread, Manipur would rank as amongst the highest. Nothing moves without bribes in the officialdom. Apart from a few shining examples of entrepreneurship which have made the men behind them wealthy, nearly all of Manipur`™s disproportionately rich would be government officials and government contractors. This has split the society into two poles. On one are a class of very rich and on the other an increasing number of extremely poor. When we refer to the rich in the Manipur context however, the scale is not based on the annual income tax returns they file, but measured in terms of the marble palaces they build and the properties they acquire. The depressing part of it all is, everybody has come to believe this is normal, and to be in a position of receiving bribes is coveted as a privilege. There is no longer any shame in corruption, and therefore even petty officials, with very limited legal sources of incomes, have no reservation about vulgarly displaying their wealth.

In direct proportion to the prevalent corruption are the crumbling infrastructures of the State. Black toppings of roads peel off every monsoon, only skeletal frames remain of many government school and college buildings, government officials are absent from their seats for most of the time causing immense public inconvenience and the list can go on. But above all this, corruption has destroyed not only the belief that truth and honesty ultimately prevail but also severely inhibited talent, for it has made sure only bribe in its various avatars is the only way to reach the top of the social hierarchy, and little else matter. This ruthless murder of talent is much more dangerous for the society in the long run than even the sense of injustice induced by the eyesore of the corrupt becoming inordinately rich. For this stunting of talent would result in an overall withering away of the spirit of innovation and invention, and without these qualities, the survival chances of any society or civilisation would become increasingly limited. We do earnestly hope the Bangalore ruling becomes a national trend and that it reaches Manipur too, and disproportionate assets of anybody, from the most powerful government official to the seedy businessman, are made accountable to the law. This is said not with any desire for envious vendetta, but in the hope that the return of a just society will be able to save Manipur not just from its present crippling problems, but also from any possibility of a collapse anytime in the future.

Leader Writer: Pradip Phanjoubam

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/landmark-judgment/

Certainly the time has come for us all to shed our inhibitions and egoism and to inspire and be inspired by one another for a better tomorrow rather than bemoan lack of opportunities. The State, for the past many years, has witnessed people bemoan every other action of the others and complained about being left out from the scheme of things. While the desire to succeed as an individual or promote one`™s own group should be cultivated and encouraged, it should not be at the expense of others. Considering this the reported statement of the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj minister Francis Ngajokpa at a seminar that the people of our small State are still divided on so many issues comes as a welcome reflection. The minister`™s statement is all the more important as he was addressing students who are pillars of the future. During the same seminar, the Kuki Students`™ Organisation president had also observed that the mutual distrust, rivalry for preservation of identity, disparity in economic conditions or standard of living, and a sense of alienation now prevalent among the three main ethnic groups Meitei, Kukis, and Nagas have ruptured the idyllic social mosaic that Manipur was. He had also expressed that each group is not willing to see the larger picture of promoting their own culture and identity without compromising on social integration.

If we have anything to learn from these observations, it is to realise the depth of the crisis which is fast engulfing the State, before only the proverbial ashes remain of the State. Where distrust and alienation act as the guiding force for the people, survival and growth of the very society is very much at stake. For anyone who is remotely interested in the political or social developments in the State, it would be easy to point out that people are easily herded around by some towards wrongly interpreted goals. While it is important for every individual or group to think for the welfare of their own group and have all the fine visions for the future of their own, it is also equally important not to offend or be blind towards the interest of others and at the same time that of the larger society. The means to realise my own good and wants cannot at any cost affect the overall good of the society.

What has been done has been done and cannot be reverted, but it is never too late to restart anew if the desire is genuine and the inspiration is there. The first step could be to rebuild where there has been a trust deficit. Tolerance of one another`™s simple unintended blunders could also go a long way in paving a path for mutual trust to grow among the different groups. At the same time, let the government take the lead and encourage equal participation of all and promote social integration. Allow the minister to act on and continue in the same vibe as he had shown during the seminar and not allow it to rot like the many assurances and promises of our State leaders. The public unfortunately seems to have become accustomed to the failure of the leaders to honour their own assurances and promises. Unless we act together and drive out the dividing wedged amongst us, our own survival could become dubious.

Leader Writer: Wangkheimayum Bhupendra Singh

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/call-for-social-integration/

Practically every commentator of politics of Manipur must have said or written about this. Indeed practically every lay debater in the morning tea stalls in Imphal as well as on the social media would have had something to say on the matter too. It is also unlikely those whose ears the recommendations from these discussions were meant for have not heard it. Yet nothing has been done to address the issue. We refer to the lack of coordination between various wings of the Government of Manipur, especially those whose activities have a direct and visible bearing on immediate public welfare and public convenience. The ugly evidences for this is available on the roads of Imphal on any given day in the form of literal trenches dug across the roads by individual consumers of municipal water to access main PHED water supply pipelines on the other sides of the roads. Why cannot these engineering departments of the government draw up a joint blueprint of the city and areas where their works are likely to come into conflict or else be an impediment of each other, and reconcile these issues before embarking on their individual responsibilities? At the moment, it does seem, what the left hand of the government does, the right hand does not know. So if the PWD goes ahead and lays a road one day, it is as if there is nothing wrong for the PHED to decide to dig up the same road to lay their pipes and damage the road the next day. These are just two departments, but it can be so many others whose work spaces are virtually the same, such as the telecom department and now the electricity department as well for they too now lay their cables underground. These trenches on the roads are not only ugly scars, but potential traffic hazards, especially at nights on unlit Imphal roads.

Our engineers and town planners would probably know it much better, but one way of getting past this problem could be to have those departments which need to lay underground pipes or cables, either lay them on both sides of the roads, and if this is not cost effective, to have their pipelines or cable lines, as it were, branch out across the road at regular intervals of say 50 meters and put a connection junctions on the side of the road with no main supply lines so that consumers on this side can connect to them instead of having to dig up the road to reach the main lines. Maybe the consumers would have to spend some extra to reach these connection junctions, but that is a reasonable price to pay for the greater common good. Once this has been put in place, then the law must come into full force, prohibiting anybody from digging up roads for the purpose. Heavy fines, including even imprisonment, must be made the deterrent penalty for anybody who defies such prohibitions and cause damage to public properties. It is said in places like Singapore, if a man meets an accident and rams his car into a public lamp post, the man is quite likely to be made liable to pay for the damaged property. This example is quite likely to be apocryphal, but still interesting in the light of this discussion.

A general lack of respect for public property is becoming the standard in Imphal, and indeed the whole of the State, and the government must therefore take it as its responsibility to reverse this trend. It can do this precisely by enforcing rule of law. In doing this, it must lead from the front and demonstrate that everybody is equal before the eyes of the law. What is forbidden by the law must apply to VIPs and commons alike. Only when this has been assured, respect for law, and rule of law, can be regenerated in the society as a whole. In making any such social projects a success, what should obviously come across as vital, is also for the government to keep its ears close to the ground, and listen to pulse of the place, and in equal earnest read the writings on the wall. At this moment, those who genuinely, and with no touch of cynicism, wish the government would get about governing in the interest of the public, are simply ignored, just as the numerous commentaries by so many on the issue of the bizarre clashes of work spaces of government departments that this editorial is once again raising, have been.

Sometimes, those in the media, and other such professions, who by the compulsions of their professions are called upon to make observations on such issues as these, are left feeling like the Chorus in Greek tragedies, merely watching the protagonists of the stories and passing comments in utter dismay, making wishes and judgments, but never even nurturing the hope that they would ever be treated as participants in the unfolding drama, allowed to contribute in the shaping of the destiny of which their own lives also are vitally a part. It can be frustrating.

Leader Writer: Pradip Phanjoubam

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/coordination-needed/

The State Cabinet has decided to lift restrictions on recruitment in some of the government departments. Approval has been given for filling up vacant posts in the Department of Information and Public Relations, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Agriculture Department, Transport Department and Horticulture & Soil conservation Department of the government of Manipur. This decision of lifting restriction in some of the departments has been rather out of compulsion, as maintained by the spokesperson of the government. There have been vacancies of posts, and the lack of adequate staffs has hindered in implementing various centrally sponsored schemes. Here, one can definitely gauge the importance of centrally sponsored schemes in the State. In a setup where State sponsored schemes are almost nil, the only option is to cling to the centrally sponsored schemes. This dependency on centrally sponsored schemes has become painfully chronic, that a mistaken belief has taken roots, not only in the minds of the State authorities, but also in the minds of the people that central schemes are the only source of subsistence for the State. However, this is not to discount the importance of the centrally sponsored schemes. Instead, it is to be registered that these schemes are bound to be of significant help to the provincial States because of their larger economic framework. And it is fiscal imperative for the States to embrace the schemes. The modalities of this embracing, no doubt, could be given more thought.
The unemployment scenario of the State has remained bleak. In no time the numbers of unemployment registered in the State employment exchange will hit one million. There are also unrecorded numbers of unemployed, especially of those not registered in the exchange. In a sense, the State is virtually sitting over a million time bombs that can explode any time. It must be registered that unemployment has serious implications with the rise in crime in the State. In a scenario like this, the government can no longer afford to remain uninitiated under the garb of financial exigencies. This is not to suggest that the State should provide employment to all the unemployed, which is rather an illogical proposition. As many economists have maintained that the problem is more about employability, which is true considering the overall picture of unemployment in the country. At the same time, the issue of human migration is also bound to become more complex unless unemployment is not checked.
How does the employed fare in this scenario? Frequent appeals by the government employees for timely payment of their salaries are being made over and over again. The employees cannot, but make feeble appeal, fearing adverse action from their superiors. They are left to live on credit, putting their dignity and self-respect at stake, only redeemed by the sheen of being a government employee. What kind of efficacy and productivity can one expect from an employee who has been deprived of salary for months? Unemployment in the state assumes the proportion of Gordian knot. Will promoting tourism or banking on the much talked, ‘Look East Policy’ be the answer to this problem?
Leader Writer: Senate Kh

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/the-unemployment-time-bomb/

As things stand now, there is no dearth of information to a certain extent with regard to common health issues. Of course, there are riders for factors like remoteness, lack of access to information and knowledge etc. But generally, it is a fact that there is now more information available along with the health care delivery systems making its presence felt both in the public and private sector. The increasing number of chemist shops in both urban and rural settings is an indicator that health is an integral community concern. Here again, a lot still needs to be done and achieved in terms of quality medical care and treatment that is affordable and easily available to people cutting across where they are located, how much they can afford for treatment etc.

The interesting thing about health seeking behavior is that most often, one tends to delay getting a diagnosis or a medical consultation till the time our bodies start complaining. Over and above the complaints that our bodies register with us, there are social factors that subconsciously affect our health seeking attitude and practice. For example, our social behavior vis a vis health is different from our social behavior towards education. With the later, parents are determined that they see their children in a formal school by the time they are four years old. But the same parents may not be determined about undergoing health check ups as they enter their 40’s and 50’s, the stage where most diseases make their entry: blood pressure, heart issues, high cholesterol, diabetes to mention a few. With health, most of us tend to skirt around issues till the time something drastic happens that leads to medical consultations, their diagnosis and then treatment.

The social determinant towards health seeking behavior can be seen more clearly with the example of the HIV and AIDS services and programs available. In the late 90’s and the ensuing decade, the social norms of fear about HIV and AIDS coupled with ignorance contributed towards acute stigma and discrimination which led to people not stepping forth to seek services. Those who battled this social barrier lacked the support of affordable institutional care as we see today with free ART, medicines for opportunistic infections amongst others thereby limiting people from accessing whatever services were then in practice. Over the years of course, institutional support systems came in place and along with the advent of people living with HIV and AIDS coming to the fore to speak of their felt needs and to call for solutions, the specter if fear and ignorance attached to HIV and AIDS have changed to a more public health approach.

In a sense, health and health seeking behavior is a culmination of various factors at play, including of course, the whole economics of it. But if there is one area in the health sector that is not really talked and discussed at length and hence least understood is that of mental health where the general overview is that mental health must surely mean a sort of deviant from ‘sane’ behavior and something to be kept under wraps. Also, the traditional and conventional methods of prescribing medicines that suppress various manifestations of mental health without the supplementary component of counseling in Manipur has in a sense made mental health more individual based and one where the family is not involved. Yet one more area of mental health that is least discussed and understood is that of post partum depression, a clinical depression that can affect women after childbirth. In all the medical related process and stages that comes along with pregnancy, this area is totally left out with more focus on dietary support, vaccinations, dietary inputs and even post natal care of the child and the mother.

For those of us who think that health is only about a doctor-patient process, the truth is far off the mark for there are social factors that influence how one perceives health issues. To ensure better health for everyone, the impetus should not just be on focusing on improving institutional set up and train doctors, nurses and other medical practitioners but also to factor in cultural and social norms.

Leader Writer: Chitra Ahanthem

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/social-factors-and-the-health-sector/

No other film has generated such intensity of debate than the film ‘Mary Kom’, in the recent times. Mary Kom had shared that she never imagined that a film would be made on her. In the same vein, Mary might not have imagined that the film could invoke the kind of debate that has been taking place. The debate had already started much before the film was made. It started when it was announced that a popular actor from Mumbai would act as Mary on the silver screen. Mary had wanted the film to be released in Manipur. According to her, she had approached even the State Chief Minister to arrange screening of the film in Imphal. But it did not materialise as Hindi films are currently prohibited to be screened by an underground outfit in the State. Some cinema lovers from Imphal have purposely flown to Guwahati just to witness the film. In spite of the ban, pirated copies of the films, mostly theatre-print are available in plenty in Imphal now. The aftermath of the viewing has been significant in terms of viewers’ response. One has never witnessed such ardent response over a film. Such is the magnificence of Mary.
However, it is not only the film ‘Mary Kom’ that deserves a good debate. We need debates concerning all popular movies because they give strong suggestions of how a cultural industry reacts to a period of economic, political and social crisis in a society. And it has been said that one of the major difficulties involved in understanding a popular genre is how to unearth the different layers of ideological communication within the complex processes that go into the making and receiving of a movie. Manipur film industry, for that matter, produces at an average 60 feature films per year. Some of the Manipuri films earn the status of ‘box office hit’. A pertinent question is whether we can afford to leave the popular Manipuri films ‘un-debated’. For how long are the debaters going to sideline these films, saying that these films do not meet the demand of their aesthetic sensibility or cinematic excellence. An informed debate on Manipuri cinema will benefit both the film maker and the audience. This will help shape the understanding of cinema as an audience, and also help the film makers in widening their cinematic horizon. Coming back to the ‘Mary Kom’ debate, one has to admit that it encompasses a wide range of issues that have been part of our existential crisis, in this corner of the country. It has been exhilarating to witness some of the best minds taking part in the debate, employing the best of their intellectual arguments to register their thoughts. The debates on the social networking sites have spilled over to other spaces. Some of the debaters have made themselves heard by writing on the newspapers. This is no insinuation that newspaper is the best site for a debate. And by debate, we do not mean over-intellectualising the subject, leading to academism; neither the debate should reduce to a verbal slugfest. Manipur as a society have seen debate on a strangle hold. Let the current debate on the film ‘Mary Kom’ pave ways for more serious engagements in the days to come.

Leader Writer: Senate Kh

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/on-mary-kom-debate/

Much has been written about the demand for the Inner Line Permit System in the State and dwelling at length on the issue would be akin to flogging the proverbial dead horse. However, we can make a few observations vis-a-vis the demand for the implementation of ILPS in the State.

To start with, there is no clear end in sight as to how the demand for the ILPS will unfold as the State government by all appearances is too impuissant to act on its own and hence is bidding time by setting up an all party political committee with the purported intention of deliberating on whether it enjoys the power to implement it by seeking opinions from legal experts and academics alike. It remains to be seen how long the dilatory tactic of the government will work as the civil body leading the charge in the demand for the implementation of ILPS is running out of patience. The civil body enjoying a groundswell of public support at the moment is dictating terms to the State government which is in an unenviable position of being caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.

If the reaction of a former Home Minister who dismissed the proposal of enacting such legislation in the State not so long ago by terming it “insane” is any indication, the ongoing demand for the implementation of ILPS looks Sisyphean. Notwithstanding an official statement which claims that the talks between the civil body spearheading the movement for implementing ILPS and the State government held today has proved eventful, we will take such pronouncements with a pinch of salt as without the blessings of the Union government , the State government  in spite of its best intentions cannot implement it.

Despite objections from some quarters who have dubbed the demand for the implementation of ILPS as absurd, regressive and stopping short of stating that it will never materialise, we cannot deny that not any other mass movement in recent history has enjoyed such massive public support in the State.  From a purely economical point of view, some economists would say that migrants are good for economics. It makes the labour force more competitive and so on. This is what the people of the State must take notice. In the era of the free market economy, migration is a necessary evil. People in this State, especially the work force, must think ahead and start preparing to stand up to the challenge. People are going to hire those who are willing to work the hardest at the most minimal wages.

On a completely different note, the feeble attempts by some national newspapers to portray the slugfest at the hostel mess of the NIT, Langol as a full blown racial attack on students from outside the State is disappointing. An innocuous brawl between errant students high on testosterones has been totally misrepresented.  We beg to know whether some reporters of a highly venerated national newspaper who gave a completely twisted picture of the incident were in town to report on the sorry incident themselves or were reporting about the issue by talking with some students over the phone. Such one-dimensional reporting reminds one of an incident in which an editor of an extremely popular national magazine on being asked how the magazine was dealing with the affairs of the North-Eastern States having replied  that they have a bureau in Kolkata.

Leader Writer: Svoboda Kangleicha

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/no-clear-end-in-sight/

Bamboo, commonly known as poor man’s timber, has now gained the epithet ‘green gold’. One could find it hard to believe, but it has been proven that bamboo survived the atomic devastation of Hiroshima in 1945. The plant provided the first re-greening of Hiroshima closer to ground zero after the atomic bombardment. Among its myriad qualities, the growth rate of bamboo is amazingly fast. No plant on the planet features a faster growth rate, as maintained by experts. Bamboo can be harvested in one to five years, while hardwood trees take at least forty years before they can be harvested. It can be a viable alternative for hardwoods, and therefore, bamboo promises to be one of the highly reliable renewable resources of the planet.  On the 6th World Bamboo Day, an event which has been gaining momentum across the world, the organisers of Manipur edition deserves commendation. In lieu of organising the function, as most often is the case, somewhere in Imphal, the organisers took it to a rural village. The choice of Kangsim village under Chandel District is even more appropriate. The village is inhabited by the Khoibu tribe, who are known for their skill in bamboo craft. Organising a function of this scale will certainly help in opening new vistas for the village craftsmen, who are directly involved in bamboo based productions. Exposure to new boundaries of bamboo craft and its potentials as a viable source of economy is a much needed exercise. Khangsim village of Manipur is just one example. In fact, bamboo is a plant that is abundant in the Northeast part of India, and also particularly in most parts of the State, either in the hills or plain. According to experts, the Northeast has two-third of the bamboo resources of the country. The State has more than 50 varieties of bamboo. This ‘Green Gold’, as in most Asian countries, has been integral to life of almost all the ethnic communities of Manipur. With the current global demand of bamboo products, the State of Manipur can surge ahead, for which a right direction and serious initiative are needed. The National Bamboo Mission, NBM in this regard has an important role to play, with its objectives to promote growth of bamboo; to promote marketing of bamboo products, and to promote and develop technologies of bamboo based products. With its objectives, NBM envisages to promote employment opportunities to the rural poor and marginalised craftsmen. Under its mission, State chapters of Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura already have their own State bamboo policy. The State of Tripura is well ahead of its counterparts in the Northeast. Tripura has been the first State to have Bamboo Park in the Country. The State had even tied up with China’s Nanjing Forestry University, for development of the park in 2007.  Disgracefully, the Manipur State chapter of the NBM has been in slumber, without a State bamboo policy.  All these while, the State has been trying to promote tourism, without giving attention to the ‘Green Gold’. Bamboo industry and its products can be one of the vital components of tourism industry. A resource which is available in abundance has been neglected. But there are few people, who have been working hard for promoting bamboo industry without any support from the government. Perhaps, they are light at the end of the long tunnel, however faint the glow may be.

Leader Writer: Senate Kh

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/09/neglected-green-gold/