Honouring Yangmaso Shaiza : The legacy and the contemporary compulsions

Amar Yumnam *

Yangmaso Shaiza : Chief Ministers of Manipur

There are some people who have left this world for the heavenly abode but who did leave indelible marks on people in our lives in this planet. Of course there are parents local elders and others both within India and Europe who would leave such marks on ones life. The Library of Mumbai University it was Bombay while we were students and I still prefer this is on the mailing list of the government of Manipur publications thanks to Shri Yangmaso Shaiza.

But I cherish his memory for very personal reasons but with wide implications of an involved public leader. It was the beginning of 1979 when I first met Shri Yangmaso Shaiza purely by chance. I was a student in my early twenties doing research for my doctoral degree at the Centre of Advanced Study in Economics of the University of Bombay as one of the two the other being a good friend from Tamil Nadu Junior Research Fellows of the University Grants Commission.

I took leave for a few days to visit Manipur and was in the Indian Airlines flight of Calcutta to Imphal. Thank God. My luck had the fortune of sitting just beside Shri Yangmaso Shaiza the Chief Minister of Manipur. I have heard of the name of course but I did not know him in person.

In a very fatherly way he enquired about me and I replied with what I was doing. At that point of time in history there were not many research scholars from Manipur doing research in Economics around the universities in the country. While alighting he wished me good luck and advised me to be serious I still keep this advice with me. In due course I went back to Bombay again to rejoin my Department after the break and resume my research. This time I did not take leave to come home and in fact I did not come home for almost twenty four months.

Since I have been away from home for a long time I took leave for a week to visit home. Well this time I did not have the luck to be seated next to the Chief Minister of Manipur Shri Yangmaso Shaiza. At the end of the week I was at the Tulihal Airport to catch the Indian Airlines flight to Calcutta to go back to my alma mater.

Lo I can never forget it. He was also at the Airport to catch a flight. I saw him but I could not gather the courage to walk up to him and talk. But here comes out the Greatness of the Man in full bloom. The moment he saw me he came towards me and asked me "Ibungo nanggi research karammaina touri kayam youshalle" "Son how is your research going on what is the progress".

OHH My goodness I was completely floored. A momentary encounter of two years before could remain so vividly in him and register the look of the person even after such a long break despite his hectic engagements in the affairs of the state. I know I am not important. But as time goes by it is increasingly clear to me that the interest in me was driven by the interest and involvement of the statesman in him for the welfare of the people of Manipur doing research on the development issues of the region must have appealed to the man who was seized with the transformational issues of the land.

Pondering over the governance and development problems of contemporary Manipur I cannot help feeling that with him today the picture would have been very different. Examining his behaviour statements and whatever story I have heard of him it is clear that he was a man absolutely alive to the demands of development for Manipur.

First he was forever seized with the need to understand the socio-economic dynamics of Manipur. While doing so he unlike many others strongly felt the imperative for appreciating the dynamics of Manipur contextually and not with borrowed glasses.

Second his enthusiastic readiness to put Bombay University Library on the mailing list of government of Manipur publications establishes the relevance and conscientiousness of the person in emphasising information as a route to understand the issues. It is only during the last few years and with the rising intensity of the application of Information technology that the policy makers now emphasise information availability as a prelude for evolving relevant and effective interventions. But in Shri Yangmaso Shaiza was a man who understood this significance three decades ahead of the rest of the world.

Third the emphasis on sharing information also indicates that he was a leader who underlined the importance of transparency in governance. Again Shri Yangmaso Shaiza is much ahead of his time in this regard. This implies that he was committed to making himself responsive responsible and accountable to the society and the steps he takes in the interest of the public. This also means that he was not one who would enjoy feeding pretentious information and giving false assurances to the public.

At this historically critical juncture of transition of Manipur we face today with certain dangerous norms of governance being put in practice and we need to compare this with the principle Shri Yangmaso Shaiza lived for. First in this twentyfirst century the provincial government still tell the public You dont have to worry well take care of everything for you. But the age for such reassurances is gone for good.

Second the provincial government still adopts the principle If you want to stir up citizens simply put forth the effort to shroud your government in secrecy. This again is definitely not in sync with the smart phones in everybodys hand.

If Shri Yangmaso Shaiza were still alive there would have been a different approach. We miss you.