Manipur 2.0 : Fast Forward

By Ranjan Yumnam *

Any project to solve the intractable problems of Manipur will be a herculean effort, if not next to impossible. If the problems of Manipur can be solved in one-day gathering of the university eggheads, bureaucrats and the dignitaries at the helm of the state, such an event would be nothing short of a miracle or a magic.

The recently held seminar on "Manipur : The Way Forward" was not one and didn't pretend to be one. At the end, it didn't - and was not expected to—produce any clear and concrete solutions that can be implemented the following day; it was ostensibly a platform being made available for all the stakeholders of the Manipuri society to come together, express themselves and appreciate each other's viewpoints. And perhaps to nudge the players slowly to the common ground and start laying out a roadmap for a better Manipur together. And on that front, the seminar was a success, despite the limitations of its format and time constraints.

During the course of the seminar, one particular point raised by an eminent former jurist of Manipur struck me most profoundly. The essence of what he said was this : We all have been talking at each other, behind the backs, with fists clenched, teeth gritted and the heart gutted. We all have been shouting against one another when what we should be doing is to just shut up—to shut up and listen to the voices from the other side. "Don't talk about other people, talk to them," he said, quoting liberally from the Bible, adding that trust was the casualty of such an attitude.

The result of this attitude is that the Manipuri society is getting balkanized psychologically along numerous ethnic lines. The valley people can't see beyond Imphal, and the people in the hills are perpetually nursing the grievances of being left out of the developmental process. This had to happen.

Here's why. The State today has no solid and reliable resource base; sometimes even the Central assistance cannot be availed of in time because of the State's supposed inability to cough up the required 10% State's share, a pre-condition for most of the Central sponsored schemes and projects. This is true of other Northeastern States.

A distinguished Planning Commission advisor who spoke in the seminar wondered whether the Gadgil formula, the mantra of the Central planners, used for apportioning Central assistance to States was still the best way of providing grants to the most backward States of the NE in view of the financial difficulties faced by these States. Notable point indeed, Sir.

Sceptics may speculate about the valley-hill developmental dichotomy. The truth is : whether we are in the valley or the hills, we all suffer due to the inadequate quantum of development and its tardy progress. We are so used to having low expectations and standards that we view the Imphal city as the mecca of development, which in fact, as one professor described it, is only a medium sized slum town. The Imphal city with its potholed roads, the perpetual power cuts, the dust and grime and the senseless traffic is not even a model of development; it is a village in chaos.

What we really need is to look for ways of boosting our economy on our own terms with our own resources, a thought which reminds me of one Chinese proverb that says, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." We seem to lack this kind of approach to problem solving. Take for instance, the power situation in Manipur. Instead of waiting for the big ticket projects like Tipaimukh to see the light of the day that can take years, why not harness the perennial source of hydel power scattered throughout the State through small projects that are affordable, a Parliamentarian of Manipur asked, an idea that I completely fall in love with.

What it all boils down to is this : governance or lack of it. World Bank defines governance thus : "the exercise of political authority and the use of institutional resources to manage society's problems and affairs". If there is one phrase which is sexy and cool in the public policy parlance, then it is good governance.

Yet, good governance is like bad weather; everybody complains about it but nobody does anything about it. The best thing about good governance is that it doesn't cost more money; good governance is all about making the existing institutions more responsive and sensitive to the needs of the public. For this to happen, our Government needs to set agendas, like the checklist in the hands of a pilot before taking off and landing.

What the high minders of good governance can do is to define expectations, grant power, or verify performance through a simple tool : Citizens' Charter. Every Government institution can strengthen the trust of the clientele it serves by proactively making its Citizens' Charter and publicizing it. This sounds simplistic, but it works elsewhere. So why reinvent the wheel when we can just adopt it? It will save a lot of time and energy.

Take heart : we missed the Industrial Revolution by a historical accident, as His Excellency observed, yet there is hope of our salvation through another equally important leap for mankind—the information revolution. This is a dream worth dreaming as the upcoming generation has taken to IT like fish to water and even walk, eat, dream and socialise in the virtual world helped by the latest gadgets and internet connectivity.

What we lack is peace. Peace is not just the absence of war; the very undercurrent of fear and the possibility of violence erupting any moment is akin to the sensation of being present in a war sans blood. Can IT in Manipur prosper and for that matter, can anything positive happen under the cloak of fear that has gripped the Manipuri society by its horns. The answer is No. Cicero once said, "I prefer the most unfair peace to the most righteous war." How profound, and it is in this spirit that we should understand that internal bickerings are hurting ourselves like the proverbial moron who attempts to cut the tree branch he is sitting on.

And woe betides the woman who sits on the problems doing nothing about it. The bullet question is : Where men have failed, can women end the spree of hatred and violence by their soft power? Two woman speakers in the seminar were vociferous in saying that women have been historically neglected in matters of important affairs of the State. Despite the exaltation of the women in the popular iconography as in likening the Bharat Mata to the Indian Union, the real condition of women is that of playing a second fiddle to men.

The two speakers presented two theories : that involvement of women in negotiating peace will help bring onto the table agendas which otherwise would have been ignored by men. Then the other contention is that women in inter-tribal or inter-community marriages can effectively act as the mediators of opposing groups, by virtue of their being trusted by both sides. Such women mediators were known as Pukrila in the Tangkhul society, and they wielded great power to stop conflicts between the warring clans. This custom can be revived and even institutionalised for improving the sore relations between communities in Manipur. Remember, Greek women withdrew all sexual privileges from their husbands to force the end of Polynesian war in the ancient times. Does it ring a bell here?

In the warlike situation that Manipur finds itself in today, it goes without saying that the police definitely has a big role to play. Forget good governance, even a semblance of governance is barely possible with the strife and violence, twin brothers in arms, now taking Manipur to hostage. On the face of it, policing has become the most important responsibility of the State, observed a top cop of Manipur in the seminar, under the present circumstances. And it has insanely become highly specialised.

Obviously, criticism of actions of law enforcing agencies in the highly charged up atmosphere is bound to come from some quarters. A professor pointed out that a bad dog could be justifiably killed, but nowadays, a dog was killed first and given a bad name later. We heard of software monopoly, this is monopolised violence, continued the wise man. But nothing is lost; wherever there is a will there is a way. An economist, who read out a paper, said the Manipuris are not yet emotionally drained and spiritually challenged. Like the phoenix, we can fly our aspirations again. Keep the faith.

Seminar could be vocabulary builders as well. We learnt about monopolised violence, let me introduce another term : developmental violence, by which it is meant the victimisation of the disadvantaged people in the developmental process often resulting in their displacement on the threat of violence. Development is not the only thing, humane aspects and its effects should be taken into consideration for the common welfare of all, not just for a privileged few.

Media fraternity was in full attendance, not only to cover the seminar, but also as participants. How refreshing. The panelists of the session : "From Marginalization to Mainstreaming" saw discussions centred on media ranging from why national media neglected Manipur to why Manipur was a reporter's paradise. Truth is subjective; there can be no absolute objectivity in reporting, said one editor of an English daily.

On the blackout of news of Manipur from the national media canvas, one panelist opined that it was because of the ineptitude of the local reporters, a view contested by the editor of a popular news channel, who reasoned that the national media was driven by commercial interests and Manipur figured little in their scheme of things. The one consensus on the media was the lack of press freedom in the State because of interference from State and non-State actors.

Perhaps the best was saved for the last session in which the Volunteers of Youth, a group of committed and socially responsible youths presented their vision for Manipur. Armed with a PowerPoint presentation, a power smile and a power audience in front of them, the youth representatives argued for more opportunities to be given to them for participating in the State's activities. Between showing slides of photographs showing environmental pollution right in the heart of the city, they pleaded for the State Youth Policy to be adopted and notified soon. The kids, barely in their 20s, won ears, sympathy and acclaim of the audience.

The seminar, despite its drawback of compressing too many topics in a day, was on the whole a grand success. The objective of the organisers, it seems, was to bring together discrete, diverse point of views and interests together. As one speaker said, we should not be burdened by our overarching ambition to bring solutions instantly. Every journey must begin with a single step and it is the journey that is more important than the destination.

Of course, there is a need to involve the civil society and the intellectuals of Manipur in the peacemaking and economic development of the State through initiatives such as the present seminar. A point of view that emerged strongly during the seminar was that critical matters of State should not be left to the Ministers and bureaucrats alone, who often delude themselves into thinking that they are the all knowing, omnipotent and omnipresent class of human beings. The authorities should engage and co-opt the expertise and experience of the non-governmental sector. In that sense, the seminar was a step in the right direction, towards the way forward for Manipur.

(The seminar, held on 15th September, 2010, was organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms, Govt. of Manipur. It was inaugurated by His Excellency, the Governor of Manipur, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Manipur, Chief Secretary and other dignitaries from outside the State).

(Views expressed are personal and do not represent official position)

Ranjan Yumnam

* Ranjan Yumnam, presently an MCS probationer, is a frequent contributor to e-pao.net. He can be contacted at ranjanyumnam(at)gmail(dot)com. This article was webcasted on September 21, 2010.