The incidents of the last few days, both in terms of statements and deaths, have once again brought the issue of law and order in the State to the fore. While the statements from the Central as well as the regional leaders point to the problems in the State as more of an issue to be dealt with by the security forces, we would once again emphasize the need for a contextual appreciation of it.

Governance once more: We have been emphasizing repeatedly that the State faces fundamental issues of governance which need to be addressed appropriately before we can think of tackling the problems plaguing the State. The recent disclosures relating to fake appointments and fake pensioners are additional examples of the governance collapses over the years.

When it comes to Manipur we need to be very clear on our interpretation of law and order. It has to be different from the connotation usually associated as something to be addressed only by the security forces. The violation of law and the reversal of order are common features characterizing the administration of the State. This is where the crux lies.

The advantage to the administration of continuous portrayal of law and order as purely a problem to be tackled by the security forces alone is the scope for compromise with governance principles without subjecting to any scanner. This is exactly what has happened to the State, witness the fake appointments and fake pensioners.

Over the years the administration has been imagining to itself that it could get away with anything while the burden, blame and responsibility of any instability in the State would be left to he handled by the security forces. But the prevalence of the problems despite this approach has brought into the open and in due course the weaknesses of the approach.

Now this newfound reality is coupled by a determined head of the State bureaucracy who is endeavoring to establish a semblance of law and order in the administration, which honours the basic principles of governance. It is this coupling which has brought to the open in recent times of the innate lacunae in the State administration.

But this effort of the head of the State bureaucracy now seems to be fairly bogged down by the legacy of the earlier administrative regime and the innate non-performance at levels lower than him; his commitment and effort are simply not matched and complemented by those of below him. This is the fundamental governance issue of the State which should be addressed by the administration now.

Security Forces: The State security forces have been just a poor shadow of the non-committed and incompetent State administration till very recently. Similar with the State bureaucracy, the police administration now show signs of efforts for establishing norms of law and order within itself while at the same time inculcating the principles of governance within.

But it is this which has now come into conflict with the very legacy of non-commitment and non-principled compromise of this organization. The head of the police administration today show commitment and need for timely response in his actions.

But similar to the malaise in the State administration, his organization too seems to be heavily pulled down by the weight of legacy which is visible in the quite non-police like actions in ranks below him.

Silver Lining: But what is positive for us now is the emergence of the above conflicts in both administration and security forces of the State. There are now forces taking firm roots in both endeavouring to establish norms of governance, and firmly tackling the negative elements of a legacy of non-commitment, non-performance and rent-seeking.

The responsibility now is with the larger populace of the State to try to foster the new positive forces and give a permanent burial to the legacy of corruption and non-responsiveness.

At This Moment: It is at this juncture that we should be prepared to resist the new efforts to portray law and order as a pure problem of the security forces.

Any society, any economy and, for that matter, any state can never be a pure problem of the security forces at any moment in history. This is more so in the present juncture of Manipur.

What the State now faces are fundamentally problems of governance within and without.