The two most deadly dangerous political games are: playing with the ethnic and religious sentiments of the people.

Our ethnic and religious identities have direct link with our deepest motions. This emotion that remains dormant in the unconscious parts of our minds is like volcanoes; once it gets stirred up, it over rules basic human reason and logic and leads us to behave like wild animals.

The civil war in Yugoslavia and Ireland, Europe, the most horrendous genocide in Rwanda (Africa) where millions of innocent men, women and children were slaughtered like animals for no fault of their own, were all on the ground of ethnic politics. The massacred of hundreds of innocent Muslims in Gujarat by the Hindu fanatic because they are Muslims, is another vivid memory still remains a fresh in our minds..

Thus, the biggest thread to human existence today is not the nuclear war but ethnic and religious war. Knowingly or unknowingly North East region is also been effected by this social pathology in the recent past.

To cite a few incidences, the cold-blooded massacred of kukis (1992) including innocent babies and poor mothers, the killing of Hmars in Cashar Hills (Assam) two years ago, the lost of our best friends Isaac, and the recent quit notice to Tangkhuls from Nagaland resulted to the killing of innocent school going children etc are the clear evidences.

Before the situation gets out of our control North East people need to realize the catastrophe of ethnic politics and desist from indulging in such a dangerous game. Rather we need to explore every possible means to avoid the madness of ethnic war in our land.

Appearances, size, color, culture & tradition and even time and space may be different but the hearts and basic emotion and feeling of all human being are the same. What has happened in Europe and Africa or in Gujarat could take place in our land.

If we do not want to see with our own eyes, piles of mutilated & half rotten dead bodies of our love ones on the roadsides for burning, its right time that we wake up and say 'no' to ethnic politics. Such politics will lead us nowhere except to our destruction.

One might think that 'I am saved since I dwell in a citadel, far away from the crowd' but human hatred and madness has no boundary; it can spread like the fire and burn your own house any time.

There is nothing wrong or bad in ethnic identity itself. After all we are all born within an ethnic group; we cannot avoid it. In fact, it is good that we must preserve our multicultural ethnic identities.

However, literature written on ethnic politics by various researchers clearly tell that the matter is not ethnicity itself but the self proclaim leaders of the group who abused this most sensitive human emotional feeling and used it as their tool to achieve their opportunistic dreams.

I do understand that Darwin's theory of the 'Survival of the Fittest' is not just a fictitious theory but real; struggle for survival is a part of human life; we cannot avoid it but we can change the nature or the way of struggle-to a more civilized and humane; following civilized methods that will enable us to grow more as rational human beings leading to prosperity and peaceful co-existence of every nation and tribes rather than retrogress us back to irrational barbarous stage of society.

And in today's post modern society struggle through democratic means is the most civilized method of struggle for survival and we are so fortunate that India has democratic polity. Every citizen, community, tribe and ethnic groups have the right to express their views and ideologies through secret ballot papers; select their own leaders to struggle for them inside the assembly and bring the share they deserved.

But it is very unfortunate that we fail to take advantage of such a wonderful privilege and resort ourselves to barbarous way of struggling-threatening and killing one another at the gun point in the name of freedom struggle or struggle for survival.

Such were the acts and behaviors of primitive societies; such acts and behavior only show how uncivilized we are, to the world. Such acts are blatant violation of basic human right for which all human being have been fighting for down through the generations.

If we really feel that our poor villagers are too ignorant to know what is right or wrong or who the right person to be their leader is, the best way is to educate them instead of threatening with gun or carrot of stick. Our brethrens in the village may not be educated like you and me but I believe God also gives them basic human senses to know what is right or wrong and let us respect them.

Today North East villages are the most backward region in the whole world. Our villages are not different from those of 1st century villages-devoid of basic amenities of life - road, electricity, clean water supply, medicine, latrine & toilet, etc. Our children are still playing with animal dung and mud whereas others play with computer and video games.

Our village compounds are still filled with wonderful odor of animal and human faeces. In this 21st century our poor villagers struggle in the forest to survive- wrestling day and night with woods and stones; our poor illiterate mothers and sisters trudge 5-6 km on bare foot in the heat to fetch water and collect fire wood, our uncles and aunties walk 30 km on foot to reach the nearest shops to get the most basic needs- salt, kerosene, soaps, etc.

Are there any differences between our villages today and the villages of those of Head hunting days?
Who is responsible for all these?
Are various ethnic groups in our region responsible for all these?
Are the Meiteis responsible for the backwardness of Tribals in Manipur? or vise versa.
Are the Kukis backward because of the Naga or Hmars or Paites?
Are our uncles and aunties surviving by selling charcoal in Tapaimuk, Churachanpur, because of the Nagas or Meiteis or kukis?
Are our brothers in Tamai region, Tamenglong, poor and suffered because of Meiteis or Kukis?
Are the Angamis in Nagaland, poor because of Aos?
Are Semas backward because of Konyaks?
I don't think so.

Nagas are miserable not because Kukis or kukis not because of Nagas. Meiteis are poor not because of Tribals and Tribals are backward not because of Meiteis.

Our people are poor and miserable not because of other tribe or ethnic group; we are poor and miserable because of the wrong leaders who represent us in the house of struggle for survival (Assembly) We are miserable because we are exploited by the unscrupulous politicians who do not have any sense of sympathetic feeling toward their brethrens who are struggling in naked in the village for three meals a day.

Our people are suffering because of the so called leaders whose human senses are numbed by their greed and selfishness; whose ears are shut to hear the silent weeping of his brothers and sisters in the deep village; whose eyes are closed to see his naked brothers struggling in the forest burning charcoal for survivals.

Such people may say many things during the election campaign but in reality they have a single objective in contesting the election: to occupy the seat of power with a host of body guards surrounding them. Hence, the primary issue here is not various ethnicities in the region but the wrong leaders that represent us in the state assemblies and parliament.

During election they come and beg votes like beggars, giving all kind of empty promises but after getting elected they become completely indifferent. They are busy thinking of how to fill their bank account first, how to make their houses as the best looking ones with imparted tiles and furniture. No doubt, they ought to be because they have invested all they had during election by giving feast and parties to our innocent brethrens and thus deceived them.

What is the evidence? 90% of the schools in the villages of hill district (Manipur) do not function due to lack of staff (whereas there are excessive staff in the schools in the valley) building, furniture, and so on; 95% of the villages in do not have basic need of clean water supply, road, medicine facilities, etc.

But I have never seen or heard any of our representatives, (MLA & MPs) banging his hand on the table and shout at the top of his voice and raise the issue in the assembly or parliament, asking question to the concern ministers.

Where are they? Did they not know that the village that has sent him to assembly does not have road or water supply or there is not even a single teacher on the school of the village?

They know it very well and they heard it several times but they decided to shut their ears and close their eyes to see the reality. This shows how much they have concern for the people whom they represent.

No wonder, it is because their basic motive is not to serve the people but to occupy the seat of honor and enjoy the glory of the world at the cost of their poor suffering brethrens. In order to achieve it they have done all they could-investing all their hard earned wealth in the biggest 'North East Multinational Company Private Ltd, 'Election Feasting" through which cheated his poor sisters and brothers and mothers.

Hence the most serious and urgent concern for NE is, not rhetoric slogan based on ethnic ideology which breeds the atmosphere of hatred and animosity, but to root out corruption and muscle power during election and thereby elect a leader who has a heart for his suffering people, who has a vision and capability to translate it into reality.

Therefore, instead of invoking our emotions for ethnic politics we must channelize our it to fight against evil of money and muscle power during election.

Instead of using our emotion to destroy ourselves with the fire of ethnic politics, we must divert it to fight against feasting and partying during election. Playing with ethnic politics will bring more disaster and woes but fighting against corruption of money & muscle power will bring peace and prosperity in our people.

In this coming Assembly Election of Manipur, I wish that civil societies and NGOs in North East specially in Manipur, such as ATSUM, ANSUM, UNC, KIMPI, KSO and including Churches, wake up to fight against the corruption that has deeply rooted in electoral politics in our region and states by sensitizing the general public the catastrophic consequence of feasting and partying during election; educating them the to realized the value of their democratic rights and exercise it with highest wisdom and elect the right leader to represent us in the assembly; a leader whose ear is wide and sensitive enough to hear the silent weeping of our brothers and sisters in the dark corner of the village; a leader whose eyes is keen to see the toiling of our poor friends in the heat and the rain day and night for three meals a day.

I wish that civil societies, beginning from youth societies in the villages and Leikais carry out massive campaign to make our people understand the serious consequences of the selling their valuable votes with a piece of pork, bottle of whisky and a cigarette box during the election.

If our so called leaders of different ethnic groups really love their people and want to serve them, they must start from this basic step (educating their people to elect the right leader).

If we take this step in this coming election, ATSUM would not need to shout again on the streets and ban on the National High ways and add another woes to our people. Rather, I am sure, this single and right step will wipe out all the backwardness, poverty and conflicts in our region within a few years and North East especially Manipur will truly become the Switzerland of the East.

Let us stop playing with the dangerous game of ethnic politics but fight against corruption and muscle power during the election, than the rest will be alright.