Time to tell enough is enough!

Loghan H. *

If the sufferings of common people in the last 3 months are not considered serious enough, then what else could be Mr. Prine Minister? The ruling class - ministers, bureaucrats, contractors and power mongers - have no reason to worry, for they are the ones reaping benefits out of common peoples' misery.

There is no point prostrating at Sonia durbar anymore to get attention; it is time to pay back in the only currency that they are familiar with – electoral fight backs. If we cannot connect public issues with electoral results, as we have always been in the past, then perhaps we shall have to remain as what we are today – voiceless, insignificant and expendable.

If we have any pride left with us, then we need to tell the central government and the ruling party (Congress) that enough is enough. It's pretty obvious that the happenings and sufferings in the state have no bearing in Delhi. Then one wonders why do we need to support the party which gives a damn about our lives, our children and our future?

Yes, one might say 'with 2 MPs we will not be able to make much of a difference at the center', but remember, there were instances where a single MP or two pull down/saved a government at the center.

For almost 70 days more than 2.5 million people have been held hostage by a handful of self-style leaders and yet there is not a single word from the Prime Minister or the Congress President to reassure the public that they were concerned of the unfolding humanitarian crisis.

No surprise then they gave the 'GO AHEAD' signal to a person, who was primarily responsible for bringing permanent fissures between communities and sprouting of various Kuki insurgent groups, in Manipur to visit his native village, ignoring possible social and political ramifications in the state. Even if an honest mistake was made by giving the 'Go Ahead' signal, but what was more shocking was the indifferent attitude and stoic silence of the Central Government for over 60 days.

Why has the Central Government failed to instruct the Nagaland and Manipur Governments to re-open the blocked National Highway 39, even after two months? Why have not the culprits in Nagaland been booked yet, even after challenging the rule of law so openly? Is the Nagaland Government hand in glove with blockade supporters?

The State Government needs to tell its counterpart in Nagaland and to the center in un-equivocal terms that either take action or face consequences. One must not try to buy peace at the expense of another state or community. Every community or state has every right to protest in a peaceful and democratic way; no one has any objection to it.

But things have gone too far, and it has gone far beyond the limit of tolerance. Common people are not concerned about the politics behind the whole political mess, but for basic needs like food, fuel, education, healthcare, etc. What does the ruling Congress party in the state or the central government want from common people of Manipur? Another Darfur in India?

The state government has failed to act in every respect and more importantly has not been able to convince their Delhi lords to act. Then, what alternatives do common people have in these circumstances? If the ruling state representatives are truly concern about the sufferings of common people, as they often proudly proclaim, then they must all stand-up in unison and resign from the very party, which has shown little interest in the sufferings of the state, least of all state's geographical integrity.

You all can still be the rulers, with or without Congress, if you put states' interest above personnel interests. There are different ways to Rome; there are different parties ruling various states in the country; and Congress should not have the birthright to rule the state forever. Incidentally, the best performing states and CMs in the country are all non-Congress ruled states and non-Congress CMs.

We, common people, always tend to forget things in a hurry and expect others to take actions on our behalf. Accountability in politics and administration cannot be brought about by an individual; we all need to participate and take actions. If we do not act now, the day may not be very far for a complete Balkanization of Manipur state on ethnic lines.

The first step to avoid such a tragedy in the state is to change the political landscape of the state. This will serve two immediate fundamental purposes:
1) strongly remind Delhi masters that common people of Manipur can no longer be taken for granted and there will electoral consequences for failing to act and
2) get rid of those corrupt politicians who brought the whole mess in the first place and serves as a strong deterrent to future politicians to come clean.

If we wait for the system to correct on its own, history tells us that it will never happen. As electoral success has been the main yardstick for success and failure of a politician or a government, I think we have given a long rope to the present government by making it win in two successive terms and numerous by-elections, even after the immediate fallout of the July 23rd incident. The embedded message that we had sent out from such electoral successes were – people still have great faith in the ruling government and the public uproar and protests were just paper tigers that had no connection to common people.

It's high time for us to change the tag of an immature democracy and gullible voters with money power. If we keep on selecting the same party and the same crop of politicians who have brought us so much of misery and untold sufferings to common people again and again, I am afraid, our voices will never be heard and our credentials will never be improved.

The problem we face today and the sufferings we have now is the direct consequence of our electoral actions in the past. For a change, let's make the Congress party (both at the center and the state) pay in the forthcoming election for what they have done, I am sure, you will see a complete turnaround in our credibility and our voices will be heard again.

The Congress party must go now – this will make our voices heard, our prestige restored, our credentials improved and more importantly to make others aware that there will be electoral consequences if common peoples' interest were compromised. The choice is in our hands.