Let's make it more than just a fad
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: June 25, 2013 -

In a growing sign of its concern over the global issues of common interest to humanity, the tiny landlocked hilly State of Manipur has also picked up the trend of observing various International days that have been set aside for commemoration in an annual calendar, either by the United Nations or other International bodies, to mobilise collective action for different causes.

Around a decade or two back, this trend may not be as ubiquitous as it is today.

But today, Manipur joins the international community in the observance of so and so International or World day, is one very common news headlines that the people could not miss either in the newspapers or on radio and TV in Manipur.

We don’t know the exact number of such days of International observance, but there are certainly hundreds of them in a year. Even during the current month of June alone, there are at least 14 such days of International observance recognised by the United Nations, some coinciding on the same day itself.

In fact, United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture as well as International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking falls tomorrow, that is June 26.

So, every day of the week in a month and year is a busy day for everyone when it comes to the call for collective effort for making this world a better place to live in.

Now, the question is how much impactful these observances have been in Manipuri society?

Do these observances have been able to bring about any behavioural or attitudinal change on the part of the people towards the problems afflicting the State?

These are some of the moot questions that we need to ask, because despite observance of all these important International days throughout the year, the problems, whether it be crimes against women and girl child, poverty and unemployment, drug abuse and illicit trafficking, deprivation of basic rights and torture of innocent people, etc, seem to have only increased by leaps and bounds every day instead of showing any sign of abatement.

This simply shows that apart from the grand functions organised at every nook and corner of the State, rallies and campaigns taken out on the streets and delivering of endless round of speeches by various so-called resource persons or subject experts on the occasion of observing some International Days in a year, there is something more that needs to be done.

To start off, we could just stop this fad of waiting for a day in a year to talk and show our concern over the problems or issues that the people are facing every day of their life.

Moreover, what is more important behind observing such International Days is finding the solution rather than just harping on the problem, which everyone knows, over and over again.