Opposition on the Treasury bench: Growls to squeaks
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: August 30 2011 -

Manipur never ceases to amaze and one of the more prominent characteristics that has come to define this is the near perfect state of harmonious co-existence between a people who appear absolutely content with all the nonsense that is being staged at their expense and an Opposition which is beginning to look more and more like the third partner of the SPF coalition Government.

This in effect means that the comfort zone is an endless journey for the Congress led SPF Government-an extended honeymoon with the chair of power and privileges in innings number II.

A people which has unfailing been sending out the message that everything is hunky dory, through the deafening silence they have been maintaining all these years, plus a non-existent Opposition is the best prescription for arrogance to sit prettily on the profile of the Government and the long queues that are visible in front of petrol pumps, the pot holed roads and lanes, the practically non-existent water supply, the joke of a power supply roster, the defacto authorities that have emerged along the National Highways, the free for all scenario where anyone with the moolah to hoard goods have the liberty to hike the prices of essential commodities in the absence of any effective checks, are indica- tions of this arrogance becoming a permanent fixture of the Government.

In the silence or indifference of the people, it is not hard to read the trait of a culture of selfishness, which has taken an ominous form, threatening to suffocate everyone.

Describing this silence and meek submission to the inconveniences as people's rectitude or resilience would amount to smoking the opium of the mass as these are nothing but terms conveniently coined by the political leaders and those with vested interests to remain comfortably perched in their seats of power and authority.

At the moment Manipur is supposedly going through a fuel crisis, thanks to the cutting off of the National Highways, but the interesting part is the availability of the same in the black market.

It is just a matter of money and given such a situation, it is not surprising to see a litre of petrol being sold at Rs 130/140 per litre in the black market.

Ditto too for a filled LPG cylinder with its price shooting up to the range of Rs 1500/1600. The more amazing part is there are buyers, people willing to shell out the extra money, just so that they can move around in their fancy vehicles and their kids are not denied the opportunity of zooming around.

The next bike racing champs in the making ? Since the people are apparently satisfied, the absence of any organised protest proving this, then it follows that the Opposition will have no issue to pick up with the Government.

Or is it the other way round, with the public under the impression that since the Opposition seem quite happy with the performance or non-performance of the Government, it is best to follow their example and ensure that they place themselves closer to routes of the moolahs ?

Either way, such a scenario has only gone to complete the sketch of the joke that Manipur has become.

In fact so effectively has the Opposition parties been checkmated, that even the one man Opposition the State witnessed in the person of the veteran Rishang Keishing during the endless musical chair exercises in the latter part of 2000 and early part of 2001, seems much more potent.

The manner in which the elected representatives of the people became nothing more than Summer campers, with all of them switching camps with disturbing regularity, had its consequences and in as much as the June 18, 2001 uprising was an act of saying No to any design which sought to compromise with the territorial integrity of Manipur, it was also about the huge disenchantment of the people with the political class or politicians.

The smouldering embers of the burnt remains from the offices of political parties, the remains of the State Assembly and other institutions all carried the tale of Manipur's integrity as well as the proverbial last straw on the camel’s back.

Yes, the people seem totally at ease standing in queues for hours to get petrol worth Rs 500 or Rs 300, the people seem ready to shell out Rs 1500/1600 for a filled LPG cylinder, the people seem reconciled to the fact that many schools have had to partially suspend classes as school vans have been grounded.

The question is how long will this state of cheating oneself go on ? In the absence of an effective Opposition and an equally unresponsive people, it has been left to the lot of the State media to don the role of the watchdog and while this is an indication of a healthy and vibrant media, it does not speak very well of the inbuilt system of a democracy.

A system where the people have allowed themselves to be reduced to the status of Lotus Eaters and where the Opposition have increasingly come to resemble one of the coalition partners of the coalition Government, provide the perfect recipe for a disaster, which is Manipur today.

Or maybe all need to doff their hats to Mr Okram Ibobi for perfecting the art of decimating anyone he deems to be standing in his way.

Remember it is not only the Opposition which has been craftily silenced but also the civil society organisations.

Remember the numerous cases of public movement ending with a whimper, which otherwise started off with a bang ? The transformation from growls to squeaks, from hands on the hip posture to tail tucked in between the legs retreat is amazing