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The economic blockade launched by the ANSAM
and the NSF, a student body based in
Nagaland for a staggering 51 days in a
stretch from 18th June till 11th August 2005
on the NH 39 and subsequently on the NH 53
has understandably generated considerable
heat and noise in the form of public outcry
on various aspects concerning the validity
or otherwise of the government order
declaring 18th June as a state holiday or
for that matter the wider impact of the
seige of the principal life-line of the
state by a student body representing a
student population of less than 40%, so on
and so forth. While quite a many had
elaborated the economic hardship faced by
the common men, quite some others had
questioned the moral authority of the
student organisation holding at ransom the
entire state for such a long spell. There
were still a few others advising the State
Government to come out clean on its attitude
in the matter of administration of the hill
areas vis-à-vis the valley by striking a
fair chord of transparency. The Government
was also pulled up for its policy of biased
administration in so far as the development
of the hill areas is concerned. It was thus
counselled that the Government could win
back the heart of the hills only if a
sincere attempt is made to gain emotional
integration en route to territorial
integration.
So far so good. What, however, one is
intrigued is the way in which material facts
are distorted, and ground realities
misquoted and so on in such a way as to
manufacture an artificial divide between the
hills and the valley and worst still, an
attempt has been made to pass a wrong
message to the common masses that could
disturb the sentiments of the innocent
people. Won’t it be our responsibility to
attempt to obviate any possible damage on
the minds of the unsuspecting general public
caused by a message tinted with biased
appraisal of the whole scenario?
I think we should, as far as we are aware of
it, try to tone down the issue, without any
prejudice or intention of causing ill
feeling to any body. The intention is to
soften the sentiments of the people which
otherwise would be charged with emotions and
hurt sentiments that could lead to partisan
attitude leading to divisive forces. This is
particularly important at this time in the
state when it is witnessing a sensitive and
extremely delicate phase with various
divisive forces at play.
The wisdom of the decision to set up the
Manipur University in Imphal was questioned
so also the rationality of the establishment
of the Regional Me-dical College in Lamphel
was doubted. In addition, the choice of
Iroishemba for the location of the
Agriculture University has not found favour
with some of us.
The analysis does not appear to be of
academic interest-rather the message is
intended to pass a wrong message to the
people to arouse sentiments to highlight the
ills of the administration meting out a
wholesale step–motherly treatment towards
the hill areas in the state. The economic
viability and the feasibility of major
projects should not be polluted. Without
going into the economics of the rational of
locating these projects it would suffice if
it is accepted that major decisions on the
establishment of state level or regional
character schemes are taken by the Planning
Commission of the Government of India, of
course in consultation with the State
Government. Even when the state insists on a
particular area for location, say of the
Agriculture University, it goes without much
debate that the economics of the project in
terms of viability and feasibility of the
various components of the proposal,
availability of suitable infrastructure
which points to the existing facilities in
respect of planning, organising, staffing,
controlling etc are invariably appraised
before a final decision is taken. While
space would be available aplenty in any of
the hill districts, the other critical
inputs at the time of projectisation of the
same would pose serious problems.
Such apex institutions are, more often then
not, usually located, in all fairness, at
the capital city as can be seen in other
states. It is understandable if regional
branches are open in distant towns or
centres as is happening in the case of NEHU.
Look at Assam. The once popular Dibrugarh
Medical College has over the years faded
away in stature and importance with premier
college having been set up and nurtured at
the state capital. Such instances are far
too many to cite in other parts of the
country. As against this, in respect of
relatively small projects, which fit into
the district parameters, things are
differently placed. Let us recall that till
1995 two hill districts of Chandel and
Tamenglong were not fortunate to have a Govt
college while the other three hill districts
were bestow-ed with two such colleges each.
This disparity is indeed unfortunate. The
Govt should have ponder-ed over this
discrimination. Here is a fit case for all
of us to make a hue and cry of the issue,
pass commentaries on this serious lapse of
the succeeding governments in power. We
didn’t then. We lost the patriotic fervour
then. The people in particular, the student
community of the two districts were denied
of their right to have centres of higher
learning like their counterparts in other
districts.
For, they should feel marginalized,
alienated and such a situation could arouse
the spirit of separatism and lose sense of
belongingness. Such a situation is not
desirable in the context of integrity of the
State. The situation, however, didn’t last
long. Good sense prevailed and ultimately
there was a strong proposal for
establishment of a college each in the two
districts. Even in this seemingly justified
case in the backdrop of the ground
realities, the working group of the Planning
Commission initially objected on the premise
that available resources did not warrant
taking up of new projects and alternatively
some of the colleges in the other districts
should be shifted to these two districts.
The rest is history. The issue being
highlighted is that projects and programmes
have their own characteristics of
feasibility irrespective of whether there is
constraint of resources or a particular
expert group does not find favour with the
proposals despite pressing requirements felt
by the State. It is here that the State
should step in.
Having discussed so far, can we surmise that
we should not be carried by mere sentiments
or whims of narrow partisan divisive
ideologies governed by artificial divide of
hills or valley. Such random thoughts spring
up on our minds perhaps because we have
nurtured this artificial connotation of hill
or valley. Had it been all-plain or hills
given the tiny area or still tinier
population we have, such random thoughts
would not have arisen. Such public outcry
only helps in conveying a distorted message
of partisan colour to the common people
especially of the hill areas. It is far
simpler to ease such biased impressions in
the case of illiterates but far more complex
in the case of pseudo-literates and less
exposed people. We as responsible members of
the society at large should be doubly
careful when passing message to the society
on issues of public importance.
Some time in 1998-99, a certain Naga
organisation headquartered in Ukhrul
submitted a memorandum to the President of
India alleging, inter alia, that the
Government was utterly partisan denying
genuine demands of the hill areas and in the
process the hill areas have remained
backward and sought presidential
intervention to set things right. Among the
primary charges a few, were i) huge funds
sanctioned by the Government of India
specifically for the hill areas had been
siphoned off to the valley areas, ii) the
hill areas were not provided with
electricity, iii) facilities of the 5TH
National Games were all concentrated in
Imphal, and so on. The instant issue is if
these charges stand the test of ground
reality. Has the organisation actually
collected the relevant records of, say, the
sanction orders, verified if there were any
orders of reappropriation of the funds for
which the approval of the State Finance
Department would be required as otherwise
the Treasury would not clear the bills of
several corers of rupees every year. Not
only this, the prior approval of the
Government of India would be required for
any diversion of funds realised under the
Special Central Assistance. It is, in all
probability, a hollow charge without any
substance. It cannot, it is repeated, cannot
happen at all. It is absolutely a wild
charge. To my surprise and perhaps to the
surprise of many who had the indulgence of
scanning through some of the recent columns
in the local dailies, the same charge has
reappeared. The recent charge has added
another featherweight. It is claimed with a
sense of complacence that the diverted funds
had been utilised in the development of
roads and by-lanes of the Imphal Municipal
area. It is unbelievable that many of our
educated few could openly state this charge
let alone speculating on such fantasies.
Are the authors of this hypothesis totally
ignorant of what they are writing about or
could it be that they only intend to pass a
prejudiced message to the target group.
Obviously, it should be the later. Then is
it fair for us to pollute the otherwise
clear atmosphere by concocting tales. Should
we not rise as informative persons, to
dissuade the spread of such unholy tales
before they create havoc in the society? The
hard facts are, however, different.
The funds earmarked for the hill areas both
under the State plans and the special
assistance of the Centre are never diverted
to the valley areas. An infinitesimally
small portion was earlier apportioned for
the tribal settling in the va-lley. The
manner in which the funds were actually
utilised, whether these did reach the target
group, are entirely separate areas on which
I would not make any observation for this
aspect is not directly connected with the
present note.
Patriotism is a rare quality. We should all
go for it. Not many succeed. For those who
are blessed with success there should be a
limit too. But patriotism practised through
a distorted message is unfortunate. It may,
however, suc-ceed in creating a sense of
distrust, divide among the communities, for
hardly a handful of people have access to
the ground realities and are thus easily
carried away by wrong signals. This may
accentuate the already surcharged
hill-valley gulf. Sometimes such prejudices
and mutu-al distrust lead to uncomfortable
situations. Look at another observation
tinted with communal colour to the brim.
When Meitei officers are posted to the
department of tribal and bac-kward classes,
for the first time in the State, it was
observed as something not called for, for
according to some of them only tribal
officers should handle that department. What
a rational? Are the non-tribal officers
incompetent or would they not understand the
plight of the tribals. History, however,
showed that the non-tribal officers are more
rational in a judicious management of the
scarce fund. It is on record that a certain
Naga officer who functioned as a Head of
Office of the TDBC Dept had to be
unceremoniously removed and the Government
had to evolve fresh guidelines to provide
stringent check and balances to plug
possible loopholes.
The tribals are placed far more comfortably
in the Government. Take the case of postings
or for that matter, promotion. They always
secure favours from the top bureaucracy in
the secretariat, majority of which belong to
the reserved category. They always cause
visible or invisible influence in the matter
of promotion or postings. The charge that
the reservation quota meant for the tribals
is distorted in favour of the non-tribals is
totally fabricated. I do not claim to be the
authority in this regard, but I am confident
that this general charge of margin- alizing
the tribals in the matter of promotion by
denying their reserved quota is a hoax. If
there were one post of driver sanctioned for
a particular department in Churachandpur
district, there would be 5 drivers posted
against the lone post; reason being Chur-
achandpur is a prized place for the
inhabitants of the district. Officers in the
line departments become Head of the Dept in
due course of time vis-à-vis his seniority
and performance. Where is then the case of
tribal officers being denied of the
position. Similar is the case in respect of
the members of the civil services. The cry
of discrimination, denial, and disparities
only adds fuel to the atmosphere, which is
already supersaturated with some form of
mistrust, divisive tendencies among the
public. This trend unless checked and
restrained through a proper dissemination of
ground facts and realities, the artificial
divide between the hill and the valley would
only widen. This is not a healthy
development. Natural differences and divide
would die down in course of time unless some
vested interests try to put this on hold
through a well conceived orchestrated
propaganda often loaded with biased
statements and virtually incorrect
information. One could talk, write and act
more cautiously while discussing such issues
of immense delicacy. As any message
circulated among the masses and opinions
formed with an intention to create an
impression is difficult to be erased from
the minds of the people especially from the
common men. Of course, it much depends on
what the ultimate objective is about.
In the early fifties when the State was hard
pressed, if some elderly Tangkhuls visited
villages and leikais, on their own, in
desperate search of manual job, to eke a
living, and finally struck a deal to dig a
trench or the like why should we generalise
it and try to make an opinion. It was purely
a deal between the two parties involved.
Both are happily placed for one got his wage
and the other his work done which otherwise
would have not been done. Only we are sore
about it. There is no element of
exploitation whatsoever or forced labour.
This is a crude form of free market economy.
To this day this practice goes, only the
balance has tilted, the Meities go around
the hill areas in search of job for a
living. This is not confined to the men folk
only. The Meitei ladies set out on a long
trip of often near a week or so to sell
edibles, and other essentials in the far off
hills. Where am I placed to make a
derogatory remark about this? Is it not a
plain fact that many of the Meitei ladies
from families below the poverty line often
lay hands on odd jobs here and there
particularly in the Imphal market areas, in
the many families in the bazaars where they
work as domestic helps. The story even goes
to the extent that a certain member of the
legislative Assembly in whose house a
certain Tombi worked was asked to come after
proper bath. When asserted that she had
already taken bath in the morning she was
commanded to put on tilak [Chandan]
henceforth. What could be the rational for
such a demand? Was it for the consideration
that it was always better to come neat and
clean, but for performing household odd jobs
was it really desirable?
To my mind the social relations between the
different communities in the State is
reasonably harmonious and any divide that is
being nurtured is grossly exaggerated. The
social stigma and so called taboo that
existed once upon a time is no more
discernible, only the faint memory persists.
There is an increasing acceptance of
inter-marriage between the two major
communities and the two families have no
problem; only we try to paint a communal hue
that suits our design. Look at what is
happening in the more advanced states today.
The communal divide is visible. The Dalits,
the Meenas, the Yadavs are treated as second
class citizens in the society, atrocities,
insubordination, etc are meted out to this
community. The Tripathis, the Srivastavas,
regard themselves as the superior breed even
in the midst of the elite civil services.
This visible disparity is nowhere to be seen
in the State.
We as responsible citizens, should endeavour
to bury this artificial divide on communal
lines rather than work to instigate the
masses by feeding concocted tales where
attempts are made to generate anti-Meitei
tirade and projecting the hill settlers as
perpetually suppressed and oppressed. Small
incidents like the one at Langathel recently
where one or two drunk Meitei youths had an
altercation with some tribal ladies who were
on rounds in the vicinity to sell
merchandise can be ignored rather than try
to exaggerate tales with a malicious intent
to plant a communal hue. Such incidents
happen anywhere and any time. What would be
the fate of the Meiteis if the recent
unfortunate incident at the Gateway of India
where a fanatic attacked two tender Naga
girls so barbarously happened to be in
Imphal? At the present rate of going, a
communal hue would be painted and widespread
propaganda on communal lines would be
generated only to malign the Meiteis. To day
the Meiteis are at the receiving end either
by design or more probably, by sheer
coincidence. In either case they are
painted. The need of the hour is to make a
fervent attempt to mould the mind-set. It
all depends on this single term whether one
talks about emotional integration or
territorial integration. However much we try
to evolve a viable solution, under a rigid
mind-set with a stony defiance, much of the
enthusiasm to gain emotional integration
would not bear fruit and we would be wasting
precious time on practicing
pseudo-patriotism without any tangible gain.
Why not we ponder about a strategy to
reinforce the approach to soften this rigid
mind set? |
