Reflections on slingshots and the Inner line

Kongkham Biplob *

People in street to protest Killing of Student by Police firing and pro-ILPS :: July 10 2015 :: Pix - Shanker Khangembam

One rather commonplace observation doing the rounds among the Manipuri populace nowadays is that June and July are the most tumultuous months every year that grip the entire state in a feverish commotion. There is certain credibility in this light-hearted assertion if we look at the events that have transpired in the last two decades. The prevailing plethora of socio-political and economic dynamics in the state ensure that Manipuri society has never been in dearth of reasons or rationale to witness this near-ritualistic phenomenon year after year.

Issues have ranged from demands for repeal of draconian laws to creation of separate homelands and new districts, from protection of minority rights to the self-determining aspirations of numerous ethnic entities. This time, the furore is over a passionate, legitimate and long-held demand for implementation of the Inner line Permit system (ILPS) in Manipur which seeks to protect the indigenous natives of the state from being overwhelmed by outsiders in the foreseeable future.

The sheer intensity of the recent protests and the rather trademark callous nature in which the state government has responded throws significant light on the existing political culture of the state. The ongoing crisis reveals several trends, sometimes of a paradoxical nature, in contemporary Manipuri society that warrants critical concern and collective introspection.

A well-informed and vibrant culture of interest-articulation and a correspondingly receptive governmental structure is the foundation of any substantive democratic system. The mere existence of formalistic political institutions and processes, myriad civil society organizations and pressure groups are not enough to ensure qualitative democracy as long as a genuine spirit of honesty and integrity is missing in the people themselves.

Whenever in protest mode, the stinging cries from the denizens of this state is that our ministers and MLAs are indifferent and apathetic to the pressing aspirations of the people. This is indeed true but we should also remember the simple saying which goes, "people get the government they deserve".

Juxtapose this incapacity and apathy of our so called corrupt legislators to the pre-election days when the short-sighted and myopic electorate vie for cash and wine and feasts and favours of all sorts from the contesting candidates. Some cynics question the rationality in expecting people who have spent crores to win elections to be outright responsive and sensitive to popular sentiments after coming to power. Indeed, it is the commodification and commercialization of elections to political posts that is at the root of many ills plaguing our society.

Democracy is based on the principle of popular sovereignty which in turn is entrusted to elected representatives. Unscrupulous electoral practices give rise to a political culture that nurtures and sustains corrupt and incompetent legislators which in turn influence the executive, bureaucratic and law-enforcement institutions. This is evident from the fact that successive governments in the state have not been able to initiate any tangible populist legislation until the people rise in protest and innocent lives are sacrificed. It is high time the people realized that momentary profiteering from pre-election advances of career-politicians greatly diminish their own bargaining leverage afterwards. There is an intricate causal relationship between the quality of the government and of the governed.

The sad demise of a young teenager Sapam Robinhood and of severe injury to many others in police action is yet another instance of a police force which is brutal beyond description. Use of sporadically lethal, disproportionate force against peacefully protesting students and agitators have been the hallmark of our state police in recent times. It speaks volumes of a law-enforcement agency which has scant regard for public safety and values.

This is not surprising in a society where the accepted consensus is that donning the khaki uniform is tantamount to getting a license to extort, to be arrogant and to intimidate unassuming civilians with impunity. One wonders whether the long years of combating the tide of extremism and insurgency hardened them into heartless pawns in the larger game. Are the police only to be held accountable for the savagery as they unquestioningly follow orders from their political and bureaucrat bosses?

However, a holistic perspective would have us accept the fact that the brutal police, the protesters and students, the proponents of ILPS as well as the apathetic ministers are all sons of the same soil. There are several instances where the rebellious catapulting, stone-pelting, rights-seeking youth of yesterday's anti-AFSPA and anti-Indian-army fame have today joined the rank and file of the state police and reversed their roles. Many of them are now the merciless student thrashers, mock bombers and tear-gas firing squads that kill and maim their own brethren. Herein lies the contentious question whether us Manipuris have undergone an inadvertent and subtle process of internalizing violence in our minds and hearts.

Stakeholders in our society also need to urgently question the rationale of engaging school students as tools of agitations in those issues whose profound intricacies can't be fully comprehended by these young minds. Student politics emanating from colleges and universities have been at the forefront of many successful protest movements throughout the world including the recent Arab Spring. However, the culture of exposing young school-going students to tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets and live ammunition to further society's demands, however legitimate they may be, must be immediately stopped. This is not the legacy we ought to bequeath our younger generation. The clarion call to make education a sacrosanct zone free from political interference and external disturbances deserves universal adherence.

At a time when right wing nationalism and xenophobic politics are on the rise even in highly accommodating liberal democracies of Europe, nothing is more logical than the rising apprehensions over the growing influx of internal and external migrants in Manipur. Nothing is more imperative than a strong legislation to protect the demographic interests of a small indigenous Manipuri population.

If an archaic and exclusionary colonial law inadvertently becomes the object of popular fascination today and has the requisite attributes to stem the unchecked inflow of migrants – so be it! Others may call it xenophobia or jingoism or protectionism or even isolationist but for the Manipuris, it is primarily a question of survival and identity.

Following the decision to withdraw the Manipur Regulation of Visitors Tenants and Migrant Workers (MRVTMW) Bill 2015 it is incumbent upon the government now to seriously address the avowed interests of the people in the passage of a new bill, and later, an Act, through vigorous dialogue, consultations and consensus.

In spite of this chaos and commotion which has become an annual ritual for one reason or the other, and to which we have become so accustomed, there is ample room for optimism and hope in the restless people-power of the Manipuris, and of a brighter and more secure future. It won't be impertinent to recall Orson Welles who once said in The Third Man, "In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love. They had five hundred years of democracy and peace - and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock!" In this vein, who knows, Manipur will have her own Michelangelos and Da Vincis and perhaps later, a Mazzini or Garibaldi too.