In a State like Manipur where a slew of issues ranging from social, political and decades-long insurgency mar maintenance of peace and tranquillity, the quality of life the people long for seems not too easy. As the strife-torn State is inhabited by different ethnic groups with different origins, cultures and traditions; different aspirations and pursuits too exist. Perhaps, these lead to division amongst the communities, quest for supremacy and bone of contention to say the least. Sense of division and alienation and superiority seem to prevail, leading to conflicts of interest and fragile relationship between each others. These do not corroborate the broad meaning of society which may be illustrated as an economic, social, industrial or cultural infrastructure, made up of, yet distinct from, a varied collection of individuals. Value in common is what the present society is missing. If a society is going to hold together and not fall apart, it needs a values consensus. It is noted that important values in so
ciety need to be built and propagandized to bring about positive changes that the people need. It is the values that reflect the society and pave way for flourishing.
Frequent imposition of bandh, blockade, strike and other forms of agitations both in the hills and valley just to materialize a particular community’s demands whether it is legitimate or not is a clear example of how much the State is vulnerable to social unrest. Few have bothered to ascertain the magnitude the people suffer from such sorry state of affairs. For instance, prolonged blockade along the National Highways incur heavy loss to the State as a whole. This is just to make black-marketers content. If one calculates the loss incurred in terms of money, the figure will be staggering and hard to mitigate. Skyrocketing price of daily needs in such uncanny situation does not need introductory.
On the other hand, political parties engaging in slugfest even in petty issues is too far from cherishing for the people. Political ideologies and ideas have a lasting impact on the society but this is still obscure in the people’s minds. It may be attributed to the lack of assertiveness from political representations.
Insurgency in the State that dates back to 1960s too hits stability even though it was triggered by issues concerning mainly identity, ethnicity and hostility. The armed conflict has only brought feeling of insecure amongst the people. At the end of the day, it is the public who fall prey to the inevitable collateral damage. There is no reason at all on why the public should be left searching for ramifications.
While the onus lies on the government for sensing the adverse affects to come up with prompt rectifications, public too should throw voice on the raging issues pertaining to the State. There cannot be more forceful than the public voice, the voice that can surge against the collateral damage.
Leader Writer: Rakesh Lourembam