Pressures of pulls and pushes from within Wake up to the reality
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Manipur needs to wake up to the reality. The present more than says that it is not only the ethnic clash that people have to contend with but also the pressure of pulls and pushes from within and perhaps nothing illustrates this better than the series of sit-in-protests staged by people of the great Meitei society. It was not so long back that Imphal witnessed a series of sit-in-protests, dharnas and the coming together of students, teachers and managements of different schools against the unbearable monetary demand served on them by different power players. Go back a little in the time period and one must still remember how shop keepers were constrained to down shutters and come out on the streets to protest against the unbearable monetary demands from different power players, all emerging in the name of doing something for Imaleibak. Come to the present, the Now and surely none would have missed the protests staged by different LPG dealers, again against the unbearable monetary demands followed by the Manipur Petroleum Dealers Fraternity (MPDF) coming together under the slogan ‘Against the extremely unbearable and unending monetary demands,’ and it is more than obvious that the script has been prepared to tear apart the lives and existence of the people and in the process the understanding of Manipur. The main grouse of the fuel transporters is obviously the taxes collected on the highways and this underlines the fact that even today Delhi has not been able to make the highways safe for transporters, businessmen and entrepreneurs, the last also being understood as job providers to quite a large number of people. Entrepreneurs, they should come close to the understanding of ‘Industrialists’ a term used with so much meaning by Ratan Tata, in a place like Manipur where there are no industries worth the name. Obvious that in the name of doing something for the place, many seem intent to kill the entrepreneurial spirit of the enterprising few and the script to take Manipur deeper and deeper into a state of hopelessness is being prepared with a finesse. But who cares ? Just a few days back, in the intervening night of July 30 and July 31, three vehicles and a school bus were torched inside a school campus at Ghari and while no one seems to know the reason behind the act of arson, the scar it would have left on the psyche of the young students can only be imagined. Is this how Manipur is to progress ? How about the Government ? What steps have been taken up to check such acts ? One hopes the Opposition takes these acts of riding rough shod over the sensibilities of the people in the ongoing Budget session of the State Assembly.
For over 14 months Manipur has been on the boil and while Imphal and Delhi must be desperately looking for ways to settle the issue, it should not be forgotten that the people have also been unnecessarily bled dry. It is not without a reason why Manipur has hit the spotlight as the place with the highest inflation and making things more miserable for the common people are the pressures of pulls and pushes from within. Add the high handedness of some rogue policemen and the tragedy of Manipur may be said to be complete. It is still not explained why a rally proposed to be staged by the internally displaced people and who are currently taking shelter at the relief centres set up at Akampat, Wangjing and Moirangkhom was so brutally sought to be thwarted with the men letting loose their fingers on the trigger of their guns and firing rounds of smoke bombs. Tear gas bombs landing inside the classrooms of a school or college goes against all the understanding of stopping a proposed rally, a rally which had not even started, and in the process expose students in their kinder garten classes to the sounds and smoke of the smoke bombs being fired. Can the mental trauma the children had to undergo be compensated ? Only the Government can answer this, but the smoke which swirled inside the classrooms told the story of a Government which has totally failed to understand the plight of the people. In the melee that followed, a young reporter for a local TV channel was also assaulted and while the Chief Minister has assured that action would be taken up without delay, it tells the story of a trend where cops have come under the impression that they can throw their weight around and assault anyone who they think are standing in their way. The tragedy of Manipur is complete.
For over 14 months Manipur has been on the boil and while Imphal and Delhi must be desperately looking for ways to settle the issue, it should not be forgotten that the people have also been unnecessarily bled dry. It is not without a reason why Manipur has hit the spotlight as the place with the highest inflation and making things more miserable for the common people are the pressures of pulls and pushes from within. Add the high handedness of some rogue policemen and the tragedy of Manipur may be said to be complete. It is still not explained why a rally proposed to be staged by the internally displaced people and who are currently taking shelter at the relief centres set up at Akampat, Wangjing and Moirangkhom was so brutally sought to be thwarted with the men letting loose their fingers on the trigger of their guns and firing rounds of smoke bombs. Tear gas bombs landing inside the classrooms of a school or college goes against all the understanding of stopping a proposed rally, a rally which had not even started, and in the process expose students in their kinder garten classes to the sounds and smoke of the smoke bombs being fired. Can the mental trauma the children had to undergo be compensated ? Only the Government can answer this, but the smoke which swirled inside the classrooms told the story of a Government which has totally failed to understand the plight of the people. In the melee that followed, a young reporter for a local TV channel was also assaulted and while the Chief Minister has assured that action would be taken up without delay, it tells the story of a trend where cops have come under the impression that they can throw their weight around and assault anyone who they think are standing in their way. The tragedy of Manipur is complete.