TODAY -
Manipur elections: anger and apathy
CNN-IBN | Arijit Sen | Jan 09, 2012 at 12:26pm IST
In a 2009 interview, historian Lokendra Arambam, former President of the Apunba Lup (a conglomerate of 32 civil society organisations in the state of Manipur) told me that when it comes to Manipur, "the government of India is interested in the land and not in the people." In 2006, just three years before Arambam's remark, Henry V Jardine, US Consulate General, Calcutta, returned from Manipur, which borders Myanmar, and sent a confidential and detailed cable to Washington DC (Source: The Hindu, March 21, 2011).
Several Manipuris argued that they had greater rights under the British Raj than under the present federation. The Indian civil servants were also clearly frustrated with their inability to stem the growing violence and anarchy in the state, feeling their efforts to effectively control the insurgencies was hamstrung by local politicians either in league with or at least through corruption, helping to finance the insurgents".
According to the Human Development Index, Manipur remains in the lowest rung of the infrastructure ladder. This is not difficult to find out in a state that has on an average 4-5 hours of electricity a day. There are local militias calling the shots in various places and in many places the ideology of resistance has been replaced by the convenience of a money-sharing arrangement between local militias and the bureaucracy.
Main issues:
Unemployment
Corruption
Absence of civic liberties
Economic blockades
Territorial integrity of the state
Naga People's Front fighting elections
Repeal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958
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* This Post is uploaded on January 09, 2012
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