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1. Concepts:
Bandh, blockade, general strike etc. are all species of a family of collective extremist actions – ranging from peaceful means to violence – resorted to by a band of disenchanted people, after losing patience at their continued lot.
Earlier, the vulnerable section need have sensitized the issue by overstretching its own resources and taken a bid for such coercive action. At work is a perceived (or real) gap between 'aspirations' and 'ground conditions'.
Bandh etc. would thus cover all those short-cut or full-blown and peaceful or violent means to have 'their problems' recognized and remedied, quite unmindful of the twist and turn or short-circuit imposed on society.
It can be argued that Bandhs are organized on the basis of a proposition in which the existence of public support is taken for granted.
But in strict theory this can be neither proved nor disproved according to German mathematician Kurt Godel's Incompleteness Theorem which shows that every logical system contains some statement that it cannot possibly prove if it follows its own rules.
Bandh organizers call Bandhs by relying on, or believing in, active public support – as different from office-goers availing Bandh for
shunning work or children, schools. Now if they are right, they succeed. But if wrong, it won't make any difference at least to them, regardless of all the harm caused. It's game theory at work.
2. Manipur polity approaching its 'Tipping Point':
So frequent is their recurrence in 2006 that this erstwhile blissful land of smiles and creative art-forms/performing arts is now reduced to a land of Bandhs.
By virtually brainwashing the common mindset, a series of Bandhs has already succeeded in producing a syndrome of dragging down the entire society to a land of chaos. In the face of such constant fear of disorder, the youth has become disoriented far from becoming knowledge-workers and 'growth-drivers'.
Pessimism among commoners (overheard along market places and broad streets) has reached its extremity; and, if pushed any further, the entire polity will overbalance. So far it has irreparably damaged State economy by eating away human positivism even at its rootstock.
The relevant question now is whether Bandhs can make or break Manipur. More pointedly put: is there more in breaking than in making Manipur?
All this, because more Bandhs are being organized not by high-spirited persons but by those wanting publicity for a petty cause or for focus on a sectional interest, almost overlooking the disproportionate harm being done on society at large.
As seen in the late sixties (while striving for Statehood or for inclusion of Manipuri language in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution), the end result became all too obvious; and, quite arguably, 'end did justify the means'.
However, in most of the latter instances, intangible results and endless Bandhs have spelt double trouble. In brief, all communities of Manipur had only limited opportunities for developing a broadly political understanding of the situation and 'street politics' remained largely a reflection of traditional sectarian loyalties and identities.
3. Bandh-phobia Vs Hypochondria:
In terms of spread and impact on public psyche, Bandhs of Manipur have their likes in the rich Western communities as hypochondria, or widespread abnormal anxiety or a morbid depression about own health without any real cause.
For sure, almost everyone here has now a sickening feeling about Bandhs – so much of them, day in and day out, have been seen particularly this year.
In fact, even alert journalists, keeping tabs thereon, in sheer disbelief, look elsewhere for cross-checking its incidence.
The tragedy is that, Bandh-organizers seem more content with just calling a Bandh, and leaving its enforcement on some unseen hands or local elements. Alas, the poor and daily wage-earners are always so worst-hit as to go without meals.
And yet, not a single civil society organization (CSO) has become concerned as to do an independent empirical study particularly covering impact on Manipur polity, economy – including specifics on human rights, youth resilience, and lot of the poor.
4. Cost of Bandhs:
But an official release cites that in 2006 (April- July having 122 days) for as many as 53 days Manipur remained under intense highway blockade, while for 81 days, under Statewide or partial Bandh.
The same official source adds that each day of Bandh cost Greater Imphal residents Rs 2.41 crore, while the entire State population, Rs 7.5 crore worth of income (SDP). Thereby, Manipur's economic growth in terms of SDP during Tenth Five-Year Plan proved to be the lowest in NE states leading to widest divergence of Manipur's per capita income from the all Indian average.
Therefore, the Bandh organizers need to introspect before a Bandh is ever called, whether it is done as:
(a) a trouble-shooter;
(b) one's own image-building exercise;
(c) grandstanding the right of a section against the whole;
(d) posturing a (political) stance;
(e) violence-coated pill for attention-drawing;
(f) sloganeering by piggy-backing;
(g) eye-catching claim for one's own frontal leadership;
(h) attention-deficit-hyperactive-disorder (more like Nupi Lal); or
(i) being too long-ignored and 'air-brushed' out of picture (e.g. non-governance in hills and interior Manipur).
But the public need not remain so unconcerned with Bandhs as such; for hitherto they have been:
(a) slap-happy in (pleasure) relief from daily humdrum;
(b) bewildered (surprised but helpless);
(c) skeptical (doubtful of the demand as a “policy-bomb”);
(d) impressed by Bandh (more as an alphabet-soup of over-optimistic slogans and demagogues); or
(e) envisioned by the opposition party's modus operandi?
5. More discerning public needed:
And yet the public (at least some) seem to support the Bandh regardless of whether:
(a) Bandh-organizers have courage and experience to tackle great challenges required for effective Bandh?
(b) cost of the Bandh (Rs 7.54 crore/day) will be less than the outcome the Bandh-organizers hope to achieve?
(c) Government itself is responsible for the attention-deficit-hyperaction-disorder (ADHD) of Bandh?
(d) Bandh-organizers can easily seduce the public and thus even succumb to less serious demands?
(e) Bandh-organizers have really waited very long for their ADHD through a preparatory process of quorum-sensing, if not, a referendum itself?
Unless organized as a mass outburst on emotive issues of an emergency nature, Bandh-organizers must mobilize public opinion, if for nothing else, for sort of quorum-sensing, prior to calling a Bandh by:
(i) making out a solid case for their “attention-deficit” in terms of hard facts and figures; justification and counter-justification/rejoinder to counter-views, if any; and
(ii) organizing mobilization, rally, public meeting, debate and symposia.
6. Community relations commission:
Various identity-based commissions have so far been set up by Government, unintentionally pitching up inter-identity differences. In the face of commoners' disillusionment with politics hitherto, there are several inherent elements in Manipur's critical path to positive peace.
Activism on the part of these erstwhile harmonious groups must be restored by recreating organized community activity.
But Manipur now lacks a supra-community infrastructure under whose auspices such a pool of community activists can be built up among local leadership who would eventually connect across the 'divide' and create a new non-sectarian stratum of society which could facilitate a new brand of politics.
Towards that end, more cross-community and inter-ethnic contact groups need to be promoted vigorously among youth. Various such rallies and fora need to be organized to demonstrate a strong desire to end violence (resort to Bandh) and develop a positive peace process momentum and a new synergy of development activities.
Summer schools and holiday camps need to render teaching of 'peace education'.
In addition, it is necessary to bring about a paradigm shift in public opinion-making process and substantially influence decision-makers and politicians. Individuals and civil society groups should extend their concerted good office to carry messages, facilitate meetings and help political groups to evaluate their strategies and goals.
Once all cards are laid out by both the local and Government leaders before such an independent (government-appointed) Community Relations Commission, all existing misconceptions would be on the way out, resulting in amity, peace and accord.
Further on, need-based pragmatic solutions of different groups could be unanimously prioritized within full glare of the Commission, also leaving execution to an agreed agency again monitored by the Commission.
In essence, such an agreement epitomizes that their integrated future can be determined only by the consent of its people. What is important is that this consent is not mechanically defined as agreement by the majority of population, but instead as an agreement by the majority of people in the differently nomenclatured communities – a process of democratization of the struggle.
In other words, Manipur's future can only be determined on the basis of a 'genuinely popular consensus that would cut across all communal and sectarian divisions'.
Much more importantly, such a process would also embody a fundamental climb-down (most pragmatic) on behalf of, say, an armed group to the logistics of obtaining public consent for all their planned actions.
7. Any bandh for sanitizing Assembly election :
It is doubtful if, even with overwhelming public support assured through a commensurate motivation campaign among voters, any CSO will ever dare call a 'policy-bomb' Bandh aimed at a much nobler cause like sanitizing the impending election process by, among others, 'separating voters from their cash'?
Or, for that matter, will Bandh-organizers be prepared to husband another aimed at 'easing frequent power breakdown chiefly due to spurious consumers', because the answer to 'uninterrupted power supply (UPS) for greater productivity in IT-enabled services and SDP growth' is to make more efficient use of existing supply through greater honesty by none other than the consumers themselves (?).
Or again, can Bandh be organized to achieve 'easing congested road-traffic', because the only answer to grid-locked/dead slow traffic is 'road-pricing' (through road-user charges) to make more efficient use of existing network and raise fund for capacity building (e.g. an over-bridge)?
Also there is an inalienable human right angle to the whole issue, because Bandh-organizers are depriving: the poorest section of their meagre meals; income-earners, of their right to life or to pursue a livelihood (e.g., for an office-goer if the Chief Secretary enforces dies non or 'no pay no work' principle); and people's choice, generally to move about freely or to enjoy the finer quality of human life.
8. Indefinite Blockade:
However 'Indefinite Blockade' stands out almost as crusade of the extreme – the most violent – form? Even if there are dissenters, they insist: 'Do what we say; or we go? (but we are not going anywhere else!)'.
It was inevitable that violence would muffle the voices of those against. As distinct from those seeking support through moral persuasion, herein support is commandeered (or, shooed-in). Were you the decision-maker (government) in question, would you have succumbed to the perpetrated demand?
Switching onto quite a different track: is there a magic formula to solve each and every problem at a single sweep or mere wave of the magic wand?
Or else, does it not amount to holding to ransom the entire community? Utterly oblivious to the colossal harm being perpetrated on the polity by blocking the free flow of supply-chain of 250 trucks each carrying at least 9 mts of essential goods plying all through the day along NH-39 & 53.
A dislocation for a month of this unstoppable supply chain means starving people of 67,500 mt of rice, valued at about Rs 70 crore at pre-blockade price, which would go up around 3-4% during and after blockade.
Unlike ordinary Bandhs/strikes whose purposes are more or less to draw recognition to the 'attention-deficit', indefinite Bandhs, blockades and strikes are
(a) well organized and violent in nature and operation apparently awaiting orchestrated response; and
(b) determined to decide their own demand through negotiation with proper authority, if necessary, by even 'travelling that extra mile'.
Perhaps its most striking part is that the principle of consent is woven into every strand in terms of memoranda of agreements under sheer threat to otherwise resort to continued spell of dislocated normal life and complete disorder.
9. Conclusion:
As stated, if Bandh organizers' belief in public support is forthcoming, they succeed. Otherwise, it won't make any difference, as far as they are concerned. And this is very good game theory in application (gain, if at all: otherwise, nothing to lose).
But herein too Richard Dawkins would scent a problem. Because this famous Oxford professor of bio-sciences (and author of The Selfish Gene) would portend in the instant case that whatever the Bandh organizers 'have to do is to pretend', except of course that if Government (read God) turns out to be omniscient, they better 'watch out'.
While still on it, Dawkins would mock at the entire notion of believing and belief in God, as well as he might, because belief is central in his (read Bandh-organizer's) 'theorem'.
Incidentally, Dawkins cites that God and religion lie at the roots of many current problems.
For example, had neither been there, would 9/11 have happened? And so on; as also, all the violence perpetrated in the name of God and religion. Eliminate both, the world would certainly become a much safer place. It is easy to see why. Even highly educated people, who make 'rationality' cornerstone of their lives, suspend it when it comes to at least God.
Thus, if something can neither be proved nor disproved, all you are left with is mere belief. And since it's all about belief, will rational arguments change things? God alone knows!
Related Article:
Dr D.S. Sharma wrote this article for The Sangai Express .
This article was webcasted on March 21st, 2007.
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