Manipur Tomorrow
If the present is the sum total of the past then we may well conclude that the present will be the indicator of the things to come in the future. Taking this parameter into consideration, can we then say that the Manipur of today is going to mould the Manipur of tomorrow? We journalists have gained notoriety all over the world for our penchant to study the tea leaves or gaze into the crystal ball during any election time or during any period of political upheavals and the same have been true for the journalistic fraternity of Manipur too.
To be blunt, we have had our fair share of hits and misses on this score and today even as the Manipuri society continues to be pulled at its seams by different and at times opposing forces, it has become necessary for all of us to decide what type of a Manipur we would like to bequeath our children when they come of age, 20 or even 10 years hence. And to come to a logical conclusion of what type of a place we would like our children to inherit we have to start studying the present trend with sincerity and honesty and desist from looking or hearing only things we would like to see and hear.
Like it or not, we have to call a spade a spade and today Manipur is but a place where force and intimidation has given way to dialogue, discussion and where rule of the might is the order of the day. It is therefore not surprising that today Manipur is a land of bandh, ban and boycott. No sir, no room is provided for any sane discussion on any of the hot issues confronting our State and the final say on any topic has to be the view point and stand of the group or individual who has the power and authority to brow beat or even nakedly threaten the others into submission.
Corruption has also become institutionalized and every job, every file to be moved in any of the Government Departments or any development projects to be taken up come with a price attached to it. Manipur today is a place where there is just no rule of law and yes, we can say, a place where the very set of rules and regulations are violated by the very persons entrusted to enforce it.
We have taken the pain to repeat what has been said umpteen times, but nevertheless we feel the compulsive need to remind these malaises afflicting Manipur, which has a 2000 year history to boast of, from a different perspective. Let us for a moment forget what the present anarchic and chaotic situation is doing to our mental and physical well being and look beyond to what type of a place our children will be inheriting. Is there something in us to better the lot of the place, not for ourselves but for our children? This is the question every blue blooded Manipuri should start asking themselves now.
Despite the number of malaises afflicting our society, it is our firm belief that not everything is lost and there is still scope to leave behind a place which our children will be proud to inherit and for this to materialize it is important that people shed their inertia and come out in the open and express their opinion and belief. We believe that it is only when the people start questioning the establishment that something good can come about.
Suffering in silence may have been one of the good qualities that have been espoused in the Moral Science text books when we were young or it may just be one of the qualities propounded by movies churned out from Bollywood, but in today's context, what is needed is not a mute population but a living, kicking group of people who will question the action and decisions of the establishment.
Silence should not be equated with resilience but a weakness of the mind which just refuse to wake up and ask, "What about our children?" Our action or rather inaction today is sure to have a lasting impact in the years to come and we at least owe it to our children to leave behind a place where their mind will not be fenced by narrow outlook that just refuse to look beyond the boundary of Manipur.
(Courtesy: The
Sangai Express)
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