India doesn't deserve Manipur. Manipur more than deserves
India - despite the holier than thou incarnates in New Delhi. The state
faces the worst step-motherly treatment in the history of independent
India. And it defies common logic why the state of Manipur would be
subjected to such treatment. Because in the 'them versus 'us' debate,
the dominant population in the state would qualify as more mainstream
than the overwhelming Hindu population in the so called mainland. Yes,
the Meiteis, Vaishnavite Hindus, are the staunchest that you would ever
come across in the country, even more than our knickerwallahs in RSS. I
say this at the risk of crossing my rabid right-wing followers on
twitter. Yet, the Meiteis are not only debarred from special
constitutional privileges granted to the Scheduled Tribes of Manipur,
they cannot even settle in the hill districts of their own state under
Manipur's "Land Reform Act".
But
what is more implausible is how a more than 100-day-old blockade is
allowed to continue in the state. A state where petrol prices have
reached Rs 250 per litre, a cooking gas cylinder is being sold at Rs
2000. A state whose government spokesperson, N Biren, whom I can claim
to be a friend of some degree, has the temerity to call and attempt to
clarify that top-boxer Mary Kom has not applied for a gas connection,
therefore she has to buy the gas cylinder at black market rates. In a
state, where the all-empowered Army is protected by the draconian Armed
Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
The
headlines over the past few weeks have continuously screamed that
Manipur is running out of essential supplies. And that needs a
clarification. Everything that qualifies for essential commodities is
available in Manipur. Period. But at a premium. (In private, I have used
more colourful language to describe this.) So, who benefits? The
protestors who are blocking the national highway? No. The unholy nexus
who has created the parallel economy in the state definitely is.
The
parallel economy is nourished and patronized by the political system. A
political system where leaders and minister do not pay income tax.
There is no examination of your bank balance, you can survive without
the omnipresent Pan Card. They receive meager salaries, but their
lifestyle is way beyond their reach. Grapevine has it that most from
this class owns houses and apartments in posh and cooler climes of
Bangalore and Pune.
And then there
is the army. They are unusually quiet in Manipur these days. Despite the
blockade, there's an unwritten agreement which exempts the Border Roads
Organisation from this. Usually, the security forces in Manipur have
no qualms in cracking down on innocent protestors. Their brutality have
been caught on tape, several times. They have even bumped off, in cold
blood, many Manipuri men and women who hit the streets for demonstrating
against the AFSPA. Yet, the economic blockade goes on. Because for
millions of commoners suffering, a select few is benefiting. And don't
forget, there is no blockade on the borders that Manipur shares with
Burma. And quite evidently, there's a spurt in smuggling from across the
border. The businessmen (many from south India) in the small market in
Tamo, across Moreh have reported unprecedented profits. Now, we all know
who guards the superfluous border in Moreh, don't we?
In
this one-way traffic of distorted information, many of us do forget
that a national highway in India is the responsibility of the central
government. I am sure Mr P Chidambaram is mulling over taking action.
After all, he has quietly cultivated the image of a man of action!
And
then, there is the media-shy, apparently reluctant Chief Minister Ibobi
Singh. On the 100th day of the blockade, he had warned of harsh action
against protesters. Speculative journalists have often spoken in hushed
voices about his preference of harsh action. It has always come to the
fore when some petulant journalist had started looking into the rumoured
accumulation of wealth by Mr Singh - from Goa to Gurgaon.
Manipur's
Meitei history might offer some solutions. Once, they were the most
ferocious headhunters. The British preferred them as body-guards more
than the commonly acknowledged fighting prowess of the Nagas. Till the
middle of the 18th century,when a Bengali from Sylhet - Shantidas
Goswami - came to Manipur and initiated them in Vaishnavism.
And
then their were blockades. It was spearheaded by women. In 1939
Manipuri women launched into an agitation against the oppressive
economic and administrative policies ruled by the Manipur Maharaja and
the British Government (1933-45) in the state. Nupi Lan -which means
women's war in Manipuri- had begun, it transformed into one of the
important movement in the history of Manipur. In the agrarian economy of
the state, women have been the most vital cog in the wheels; nothing in
any other other North-Eastern states comes even close. From production
to selling to marketing, from food grains to clothes, everything in
Manipur were driven by the fairer sex.
Manipur's
local inflation rate today is more than what Zimbabwe's was in 2009
when Robert Mugabe plunged the Rhodesians into despair. Manipur's crisis
also resembles the path-breaking 1993 Hollywood movie, 'Indecent
Proposal'. Demi Moore, a married woman agrees to have sex with another
man, Robert Redford, for $1,000,000. Manipur, today needs harsh action.
And someone needs to cross the cursed path. Perhaps, only another Nupi
Lan will crush the nexus of profiteering from Manipur, in and outside
Manipur.
The great Indian highway robbery has to stop.
(This article first appeared on Wednesday in Seven Sisters Post - www.sevensisterspost.com)
