The Arab Spring : Lessons for Manipur

Surendranath Sharma Laimayum *

Sit-in-protest against Bomb Blast at Sekmai Bazaar in April 2013 :: Pix - Deepak Oinam

The self immolation of a young man named Md. Bouazizi, a street vendor, in Tunisia on 17 December 2010, protesting against forceful confiscation of his wares, harassment and inhuman humiliation by a woman Municipal Officer provided the immediate spark for the peoples' impromptu movement against the authoritarian regime of Ben Ali. Ben Ali not only fell but also fled.

The flame of revolt ignited by Bouazizi soon fanned across the length and breadth of northern Africa and the Gulf, engulfing Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain. The ongoing civil war in Syria too is a product of rippling effect of the same. This wave of peoples' uprising cutting across countries and regimes in the Arab world is known as the Arab Spring.

While there existed a plethora of causes, let me pick out a few internal factors that encouraged, propelled and sustained the overwhelming public outbursts then seen on the streets of these affected countries. The protests did not emerge out any particular ideology. It was an immediate unstructured, unorganized public response to an incident.

What made the conditions ripe for such a movement may be found in the existence in these societies of prolonged Military or Emergency Laws, weak or failed Justice delivery systems, brutal and harsh Police with scant respect for civil rights, rampant illegal detentions, extra constitutional executions and Human Rights abuses, overriding overreach of the Police and the Military in the garb of security, gross corruption at all levels, extremely high unemployment rate, prevalence of abject poverty among the majority and lack of Political Freedom. Uncontrolled inflation leading to unaffordable food prices made matters worse.

Now, compare these conditions with those in Manipur. Prima facie, these exact same conditions confront contemporary Manipur.

What makes the case of Manipur peculiar is the unstated reality that while Manipur is governed by the established State machinery, other invisible, outlawed and armed non state actors too hold sway. On the established Government's side, Corruption is overarching though unprovable. Police, Paramilitary and Military meddling in the general life of the public is indubitable.

Emergency law in the name of AFSPA has outlived the lives of many. Illegal detention, extra constitutional killings and Human Rights abuses are the order of the day and Justice Delivery mechanism is frail to say the least. The Government has failed to adequately address the unemployment issue, allowing multitudes of able bodied, skilled and unskilled potential workforce to idle, besides large scale disguised unemployment in the agricultural sector and the small family-run enterprises.

The multiple armed opposition groups operate as invisible forces affecting the exact same public already groaning under the whip of State oppression. The extortion demands and 'taxes' imposed on any business activity, intimidations, threats to life, killings and the now fashionable trend of placing orphaned grenades at homesteads and workplaces of their targets, all add further woes and uncertainty to civic life.

Even temples of learning where the future of young children is shaped have not been spared. Toll gates of militants along the arterial Highways are a sight one cannot miss.

Corruption and extortion are different names of the same act. Thus, the officials extort through demand for bribes and the militants do it by its euphemism called tax.

Whereas generally the principle of demand and supply determines the price, the struggle of the traders and business community to recover the higher input cost arising from contribution towards both bribes to officials and taxes to the militants naturally leads to a further spike in prices. Hemmed from all possible sides, the public have suffered and are suffering.

Though Manipur is no Tunisia; being a State of the Indian Union where democracy is the polity; yet similar conditions of unbearable repression, humiliation and harassment not only attributable to the transgressions of the State apparatus but also to the non State groups prevail. The everyday struggle to live is like an act of faith.

The steam of rejection is building up steadily. The collective pent up frustration and anger is becoming discernible. The long patience, resilience and hitherto uncomplained suffering cannot be eternal. The seeming silence of the public must not be misconstrued as acceptance of oppression. It is not without reason that Morocco and Jordan escaped the storm of the Arab Spring. It was timely reforms based on informed appreciation of the peoples' mood that had saved them.

Real power lies with the masses. The collectivity of people has the power to bring about the desired change. All actors must, therefore, understand and respect the wish and desire of the masses before it is too late.

All they want is to live with dignity, free from humiliation, harassment, intimidation and official and non official extortion. In short, rule of law. Else, Manipur's awakening may be looming nigh.