Of bombs and monetary demands Bleeding the common folks

Governance, it is apparent, has obviously collapsed. Bomb placed at the residence of a doctor at Khangabok. Bomb placed at the gate of GP Women’s College. Bandh ultimatum served against the abduction of an individual. Locals get together to raise a collective voice against the growing trend of serving ‘demand letters’ to the people at Kangmong in Bishnupur district just the other day. These are some instances that immediately come to mind and people coming out to lodge a protest or two against the growing trend of ‘looting’ from the public is nothing but a manifestation of the failure of the Government to rein in the situation and demonstrate that there is a Government in place. The people of Khangabok have gone a step or two forward other than just protesting and served an ultimatum to spell out the reason why the bomb was placed at the residence of the doctor with the rider that if no explanation is forthcoming then all armed groups would be boycotted in Khangabok area. A manifestation that everyone is just fed up. And what has the Government done ? It was not so long back that SP of Imphal West police announced for one and all to hear that anyone arrested for extortion would be booked under the stringent National Security Act. This announcement was made on October 14 and two weeks down the line what Manipur sees is nothing but people coming out and lodging strong protests against the strong arm tactics employed by the power players in the State. The monetary demands, the act of placing a bomb at the residence of an individual or a college may be seen in isolation of the ongoing ethnic clash, but everyone knows from where some of these power players draw their strength from. The Government will have to acknowledge the reality and see what steps ought to be taken  up or else there is no guarantee that more and more people will not come out to lodge their protest. The fact is the Government will have to understand normalcy beyond the guns going silent between the two warring ethnic groups, but will have to look at the dynamics at play. How many small time businesses have been compelled to shut down not only due to the ongoing ethnic clash which has affected all spheres of life, but also due to the unbearable monetary demands coming from different entities ? Will the Government be willing or be in a position to seriously study this ? Only those in positions of power and influence can answer but the very fact that this poser has been raised should give an idea on the all round chaos that have come to define the Manipur of today.
Manipur is bleeding and this has come not only from the ongoing ethnic clash and this is where one is left wondering why the leading CSOs have maintained a deafening silence till now. Isn’t it time for them to come forward and lead the people in saying a big no to the rampant extortion that has come to define the place today ? How about the different political parties, whether they are in the ruling front or otherwise ? Isn’t it time for them to come together and address the plight of the people ? At the moment it may seem that only the moneyed folks, those running profitable business houses are being ‘taxed’ but the reality is, the more the traders or business folks are made to pay extortion money, the more the people are affected for in one way or the other the loss is passed down to the people who have to pay more for all the essentials they buy from the market. Things cannot go on like this forever and people have today come out on the streets to protest and this should say something meaningful. In other words this means that extortions have crossed the tolerance limit and if this does not wake the Government up, then one wonders what will. Something has to give. The people have suffered for over 17 months and while Delhi continues to merely watch the ethnic clash, Imphal too seems to have overlooked the fact that the Government is here to govern and ensure the safety and well being of the people but when a bomb can be placed in such a high security zone as GP Women’s College, what is there to instil faith in the Government ?