To many an outsider, who have an inkling of the realities here, Manipur would represent a land of many opposites and we really cannot blame them if they come under this impression, for the fact staring us in the face says this without an iota of doubt. As this column has noted before, Manipur is at most times in the throes of confusion with the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing and if we may add, one factor that has added to the confusing scenario prevailing in the State is the presence of an overwhelming number of apex social organizations.
The presence of a lame duck Government which cannot even dispense with the most trivial of things has only added to the confusion. In fact so important have these apex social organizations become that practically everything, things that directly affect the man on the streets, are now today under the agenda of these organizations and the confusion arises whenever there are opposing stand on the same issue among these apex organizations. And it goes without saying that whenever such conflicting stand arises, the brunt falls on the State dailies, which are placed on the guillotine and told to skip according to the drum beat of the organizations concerned.
If the situation is not so serious, then it would surely have looked a farcical show being enacted by some amateur theatrical group, but unfortunately we can neither laugh it off nor ignore it altogether. It is not only opposing stand point that has become a cause of major concern but also the attempt to steal the show on issues which concern the welfare of the people. Show of one upmanship over issues concerning the welfare and future of the Manipuri people can only be encouraged at the peril of the people and we need not elaborate on the dangerous prospect of such practices.
Today we talk about the presence of numerous apex social organizations, because in many ways this reflects the lack of co-operation and unity amongst the people at the societal level. We do agree that for a society to move ahead and progress, there should be enough room to accommodate differing viewpoints and yes it is healthy to have adequate platforms to express one's view point, but encouraging debates and discussion are not exactly the same as the presence of too many apex bodies each claiming to represent the interest of the people.
As in the old saying, ‘Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth’ the presence of too many apex bodies may just relegate the issue at hand to the back burner and the danger of reducing the issue to a tussle between the different bodies cannot be written off. The point we are trying to bring home is that there can be a meeting point for differing ideas within a set up and there should be no need to set up different ‘camps’ to accommodate the opposing view points.
Social organizations should be just that, work for society and politicking should be left to political parties which are best suited for such practices. We do not need to crowd the slot which should be reserved for the apex body of the State.
|
