A simple question

By Heigrujam Nabashyam *

Till about 1980s life in Manipur – and maybe for most parts of the northeast – were mostly mundane. The only breaks were the religious or social festivals or the Bollywood and Hollywood films shown in the theatres. There was not much of business and commercial activities beyond buying and selling of ordinary household requirements which were much simpler than today’s. However, there were all the problems associated with politics and corruption had been the rule rather than the exception in the affairs of the state.

Then with 1990s came the big break – the cable TV, the cell phone and the internet, which define the global world. All these came soon after India had opened up its market to the global players by dismantling the licence-permit raj in the beginning of the 90s under Narasimha Rao’s leadership, leading to the boom in the Indian economy.

Today, India rightfully has become a major player in the world – in economics and politics as well. And this new status has thrown up both prospects and threats; the prospect of one becoming a global participant and the threat to be obliterated into oblivion if one cannot take on the new challenges. And needless to say it is only education which could only prepare our children for the future in this global village.

Now right to basic school education upto the 10th standard has been guaranteed for every child in India since April 1, 2010. This is a belated milestone in preparing the child for the future. But the fact is this guarantee itself would not make any difference on the ground, unless the authority implement the act in true spirit and the disadvantaged parents and guardians, for whom the act is actually meant understand the importance of education and able to support their children in earnest.

In the case of Manipur, to make the point plain and simple and comprehensible to a common man, we may go through the recent records of such activities like, the Sharva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) or the Mid-day meal for all the children in government schools – attended only by the children of the disadvantaged or under privileged parents who are just about survive in this highly corrupt and disturbed state.

It hardly needs to be said again that both the activities – SSA and Mid-day meal – were followed only in letter and not in spirit. And probably the story would be repeating again in respect of the right to education, considering the ground reality in Manipur – rural, urban, hill or valley, which are not much different, because the problem is in the mores and psyche of the society.

The society and the social ethos in Manipur seem to have been insulated from positive changes; maybe because cynicism has become so deep rooted or it has become the very ethos of Manipur. And the reason for this dangerous metamorphosis is not difficult to find. It is the long perennial exposure of the young Manipur society to unchecked and pervasive corruption that metamorphosed Manipur into a harmful cynical society. In fact, unhindered corruption has been the rule in Manipur since before the society come of age.

And as it had been pointed out earlier in these columns, the British left Manipur in the hands of the King who loved to do anything except annoying the British rulers. And what was unfortunate was in that crucial formative days Manipur did not have a Raja Ram Mohan Roy to fight for social justice or a Mahatama Gandhi to lead a democratic movement for the rights of the people; nor the King encouraged the young society to usher in the modern world of learning and development which was very much permissible during the British reign.

Instead corruption and nepotism was the rule which had undermined all norms of justice – social, economic and political. No wonder Manipur remained a medieval tribal society till the early part of the 20th century. This is the yesterday of our today and that we have been extremely exposed to the corrupt ways of life and one can easily understand the inevitable effect on our moral and social values.

There has been no substantial change when elected governments have been ruling for the last three decades. It is easy to say that the people can vote the corrupt leaders out; but the fact is vested interests coupled with great ignorance of the vast majority of the public make the situation worse, and one can easily understand how corrupt the present SPF government could be, which has very little respect for the rule of law.

And what is dangerously lurking behind the pathetic situation is generations of youths have been exposed in the pervasive psyche that tells them that it is not hard work that will put them in good stead but it is something else that will pay them in life.

This is a situation which will never be improved unless those in power show the public – especially, the youths and the students that it is hard work that pays and not anything else. But again this cannot be expected from the present leadership looking at the records for the last eight years.

And what is saddest is the vast majority of our young youths are at a loss with no promise of their future. What is worrying most is the fact that they have developed contempt for the social and political institutions as the institutions have failed to promise them anything. This is a very serious problem which can only be addressed by those who are in the driving seat – the ruling elites. And is this not what ails Manipur ?

This is no time for confusing things or any of the sorts, because – look at the local communities! – the society is sinking, sinking much faster than what we could think of like the unsinkable Titanic. But we know we can retrieve ourselves from the situation we are in, as the old adage “Knowledge is power” teach us.

So are not we, the government – the ruling elite and the parents not ready to educate our children and give them the best of education to acquire knowledge which is within our reach ?