Welcome 2025, good riddance 2024 Road to recovery ?
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Welcome 2025 and good riddance 2024. Much like how Manipur greeted 2024 and bade goodbye for good to 2023. Will it be anything different when 2026 comes knocking ? The remaining 12 months or 365 days will bring the answer, but it is the people on either side of the clash divide who will script how the coming days turn out to be. And this is where the responsibility of the people lies. So even as Manipur and her people step into the new year, will it be a question of looking forward to the coming days or will it be a case of dreading the days to come, a feeling which many school boys feel when the time for the declaration of the examination results draws close ! An observation made on the lighter side, but it capture the essence of the reality, if one looks back at Manipur since the evening of May 3, 2023 but the good news is, it is in the hands of the people to script what happens in the remaining 365 days. A hard, sincere look at the days since the evening of May 3, 2023 should have woken the people to the need of the people setting the agenda and not let it get hijacked by narrow political agenda and this should apply to either side of the divide. At the same time it is also extremely important for the people to be wary of the elements who may emerge and try to take centre stage, all in the name of doing something good for the people but in the process end up pursuing their own personal agenda. No examples need to be quoted here, for it should be obvious to everyone and if the people have not picked up any lesson in the days after the evening of May 3, 2023 then it would only add to the strength of the forces out to besmirch the understanding of Manipur and her people. Again the understanding of Manipur need not be elaborated here, for A’s idea of Manipur may differ vastly from B’s idea of Manipur, but this should not be taken to mean that one of the ideas is wrong and is against Manipur. It is with this knowledge and the willingness to accept the diversity in thoughts and ideas that one should step into 2025 and it is when such diverse ideas and thoughts can be vocalised freely that Manipur can hope to see an improved place and people. The present crisis will obviously be on top of the minds of everyone, but yet at the same time it is important for the people as a whole to sincerely look inwards, identify the warts within, work towards removing them and make the stepping into a new year all that more meaningful.
Stepping into 2025 also means that Manipur would have taken one more step into a year that brings the people and the place nearer to 2027, the year Manipur is scheduled to go in for Assembly elections. And it is ahead of this that the Congress today appears to be making all the right noises. Remains to be seen whether the oldest political party in the country will be able to take ahead the excellent show it registered in the Lok Sabha elections held in the earlier part of 2024. The BJP must also be aware of the aggressive style the Congress has adopted and it will be interesting to see what strategies it comes up with to neutralise the blows the Congress has started delivering on the BJP led Government. One also wonders what strategy the champions for the ST for Meiteis call adopt with the coming of the new year. Will it be a case of giving time for the matter to cool off for the present given the ugly experience the STDCM faced some time back when it had to cancel a much publicised convention ? Or will it be a case of coming back with a stronger voice in 2025 ? Only time can tell, but it would do good for the ST for Meiteis champions such as STDCM, World Meetei Council, Meetei/Meitei Tribe Union and others to study how best to give a shot of fresh energy to the demand. Perhaps the miss call campaign may be reminded to the Government, so also the house to house campaign at the residences of all the valley MLAs some time back. The arithmetic is simple enough. 2025 means the next Assembly election is just a little over two years away and it would be a big thing if the ST for Meiteis demand can become the calling card of all political parties before the elections in 2027.
Stepping into 2025 also means that Manipur would have taken one more step into a year that brings the people and the place nearer to 2027, the year Manipur is scheduled to go in for Assembly elections. And it is ahead of this that the Congress today appears to be making all the right noises. Remains to be seen whether the oldest political party in the country will be able to take ahead the excellent show it registered in the Lok Sabha elections held in the earlier part of 2024. The BJP must also be aware of the aggressive style the Congress has adopted and it will be interesting to see what strategies it comes up with to neutralise the blows the Congress has started delivering on the BJP led Government. One also wonders what strategy the champions for the ST for Meiteis call adopt with the coming of the new year. Will it be a case of giving time for the matter to cool off for the present given the ugly experience the STDCM faced some time back when it had to cancel a much publicised convention ? Or will it be a case of coming back with a stronger voice in 2025 ? Only time can tell, but it would do good for the ST for Meiteis champions such as STDCM, World Meetei Council, Meetei/Meitei Tribe Union and others to study how best to give a shot of fresh energy to the demand. Perhaps the miss call campaign may be reminded to the Government, so also the house to house campaign at the residences of all the valley MLAs some time back. The arithmetic is simple enough. 2025 means the next Assembly election is just a little over two years away and it would be a big thing if the ST for Meiteis demand can become the calling card of all political parties before the elections in 2027.