Time for An Academic State
- Manipur's need of the hour -

Amar Yumnam *

That Manipur has long been plagued by intractable problems for long – longer than necessary and warrantable – is known to all. We have been facing crises of underdevelopment, developmental exclusion, fractionalisation along ethnic lines, groups unwilling to be citizens of the newly created Indian state, and consequent conflict situations.

State Response:

The response of the state to all these crises has never been a structured one. In all it has been marked by ad-hocism and in some by one of indifferent attitude, thereby allowing the crises to acquire new turns and with more serious socio-political aggravations.

The atmosphere has become so deleterious that a powerful vested network and groups have emerged in both state and non-state sectors thriving in these situations. We have people in power, we also have power brokers, and people who sycophant on them and indulge in absolute rent seeking in every sphere of socio-politico-economic activity. This can now be seen in both state and non-state sectors. The even more dangerous emerging scenario is the seeming synergy and networking by the actors across the sectors.

This itself is worse enough scenario requiring a firm action by at least some rational and dedicated powers to reverse the trend. Historically around the world, we find instances of certain powers that be to try to reverse such a situation so that history would erase the bad precedents and project them in good light. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be happening in Manipur.

The Larger Danger:

But, unfortunately for the land and people, the risks and uncertainties do not end with the powers that be indulging in rent seeking. The greater and absolutely dangerous scenario emerging is the wider impact the prevalence of crises over the last few decades has started having on the larger social fabric and the very behaviour of every agent of the state.

We now see a deep-rooted and sweeping deterioration of institutional character in every department of the state. Though this deterioration without accountability seems to be loud and stark in the law and order enforcing agency of the state as evident in some "encounter deaths", the rot marks every other agency of the state as well.

While the rot in the law and order enforcing agency can be corrected with some harsh measures, the difficulty lies in its connection with rogue elements in other agents of the state and sometimes with similar elements in the non-state agents.

Besides, we now observe the social institutions, social norms and even technology being impacted upon by the long life of unaddressed crises in the State. Many group based organisations, collective action bodies and presumably sensible social pressure groups have now started suffering from the invasion of rogue elements and trying to be new rogues.

All these have started acquiring the rotting features of the state and non-state agents. It is a kind of situation whereby the entire society would go bust without redemption sooner than later. In this it is the people of the land who only would be the losers.

We Cannot:

But we cannot and should not allow such a situation without reversal sooner than later. But attempting to reverse the scenario is easier said than done. This attempt requires to be based on sound understanding of dynamics of the rot characterising the body politic, social framework and economic relationships in this land of ours.

We cannot however just wish and acquire this understanding on the flip of a finger; there is no magic wand for this. We know that we have in the State of Manipur all-knowing bureaucrats and solution providing politicians.

But time has now come for us to call them a spade a spade. No understanding of the crises and attempts to address the crises marking the land would be feasible without academic exercises meant for this. But as Milton Friedman said 'there is no such thing as free lunch'. The state must now come forward with its commitment to turn academic, based its policies on academic inputs and thereby make the policies accountable.

While it may not be possible to adopt a harsh measure in today's context, in an academic oriented atmosphere, the state can always take the excuse of the academic foundation as the drive for the measure. This calls for the state devoting funds to academic exercises.

While I say so, the devotion of funds implies something different from the payments of salaries and other expenses in the education sector. Well, the meaning would not be lost on any.

We now need an academic state so that the society survives. If the state is already hell-bent on destroying the society, the treatment lies elsewhere.