Midnight deal: Uncovering people’s power
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: August 28 2015 -
Now the baton has been handed over from the masses to the people’s representatives or the so called MLAs.
The stage has been set for tomorrow. Not one, but three Bills would be tabled.
Any MLA who does not support the three Bills would be counted as the people’s enemy given the people’s growing fear of being overwhelmed by outsiders and the sense of urgency felt by the vast majority to enact a legislation which can provide an effective constitutional safeguard to the indigenous people.
After several weeks of sustained and massive struggle which entailed huge casualties, the Government of Manipur and JCILPS which is spearheading the mass movement signed a historic agreement in the midnight of August 25.
According to the landmark agreement, the Protection of Manipur Peoples Bill 2015, the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh amendment) Bill 2015 and the Manipur Shop and Establishments (Second amendment) Bill 2015 would be tabled in the Manipur Legislative Assembly.
What a sweet victory for the struggling masses?
Now the ball is in the court of the 57 MLAs after excluding the two MLAs disqualified by the Speaker’s Tribunal and another stripped of voting rights.
Being the representatives of the people, they must do their part and they must act perfectly this time.
The seven-point agreement signed on August 25 is one undeniable testimony of people’s collective power.
It shows beyond any doubt that the ultimate authority lies with the people, not with the Government or the elected representatives.
The MLAs should now realize they are only a medium or agents to carry out people’s collective tasks.
They may be a centre of authority or power over each individual at normal time.
However, when each individual unite together for a single collective cause, the elected representatives must know that it’s not time for them to dictate terms but follow what are dictated to them by the masses.
After all, they derive their power and position from the masses.
The MLAs must have certainly seen that the vast majority of the masses are determined to enact certain legislations which can effectively protect the indigenous people from the onslaught of incessant influx.
The MLAs, we believe, have no other option than pass all the three Bills. Let us presume that all the three Bills are transformed into Acts.
Just as much as the Bills or the Acts are paramount, it is equally crucial to see that they are implemented in letter and spirit.
Any legislation how powerful and comprehensive it may be, is as good as dead if the same cannot be implemented properly.
Yes, there is anti-rape law but rapes do happen.
Likewise, there are volumes of anti-criminal laws but crimes do happen.
Anti-criminal laws were enacted to deter criminal activities but manipulation by political leaders and distortion by corrupted bureaucrats render many of these anticriminal laws ineffective.
Just because the three Bills have been passed, migration or influx of non-local people would not stop all of a sudden.
Herein lies the crucial importance of the implementation part.
The combination of the three Bills, of course after they are transformed into Acts, should be effective enough to deter permanent settlement of non-local people in the State.
If effective implementation of the new legislations is required for survival of the indigenous people of Manipur, a lot more is required for their progress.
If we must progress and prosper as a people, we must be on the driver’s seat of the State’s socio-economic and political engine.
At the moment, we can only hope the midnight deal of August 25 opens a new horizon of socio-economic security for the indigenous people of Manipur.
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