Right move in the right direction
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: August 11, 2014 -

The 15-member all political parties' committee headed by Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam as chairman and MLA RK Anand as convenor has for the first time taken the right step in the right direction after several days of turbulent agitation.

Perhaps, this is the only meaningful step taken up by the State Government after scores and scores of students were assaulted in the most brutal manner, not to mention about detention of many women activists who were released only a couple of days back.

The State Government's engagement or rather reaction to the issue of Inner Line Permit System is unfortunately quite inconsistent.

It is not only the ruling party, all the legislators of the State did not bother to raise the issue even once in the State Assembly during its budget session held last month.

It was in the backdrop of their total indifference that one well known human right activist called all the legislators mithibong mitambal.

What an uproar it evoked in the State Assembly? It was exactly on the last day of the session that the issue of ILPS was deliberated on the floor of the House.

But by then, the mass movement for ILPS or any such regulatory mechanism had already turned violent and nasty with the State Police unleashing all their brute force on students and women activists alike.

The undue disturbances and subsequent repressive measures adopted by the State which resulted in injuries and detention of scores of pro-ILPS activists could have been avoided if any of the legislators was sensitive enough to raise the popular issue in the State Assembly at least during some stages of the session, if not in the early stage.

Both the scornful tag of mithibong mitambal as well as the casualties suffered by young students was avoidable if only the legislators were not so callous.

If all the MLAs can look the other way when the State is virtually burning on the popular demand of enacting a systematic mechanism to check and monitor immigration, then we cannot help but question, "Is there a disconnect between people and their representatives?" Unfortunately, there was neither synergy nor any sign of compatibility between the people and their representatives till the last day of the Assembly session at least in the context of the popular demand for ILPS.

This disconnect is a serious challenge to the very idea of democracy and republic.

The last day of the session, somehow, ended on a positive note with the Government finally coming to its senses to hold an all political parties' meeting.

It was a result of this meeting that a 15-member all party committee was formed to look into the popular demand or the common aspiration of all the indigenous people of the State which is putting in place a systematic mechanism to check influx of immigrants.

The committee held its first meeting yesterday and it decided to rope in the services of legal experts, intellectuals, academicians and members of the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS), the body spearheading the popular demand.

This is a significant stride and a huge impetus to the people's movement.

Not only the intellectuals and legal experts, every stakeholder should be consulted, if we must add, and their apprehensions and aspirations should be taken into account before taking the next step.

Mr. Speaker has already assured the committee to provide them a room with necessary infrastructure and staff at Manipur Legislative Assembly Secretariat.

We hope the committee's office at the Assembly Secretariat will serve its intended purpose and we don't expect the committee to abandon the issue mid-way.

We believe the all-party committee or for that matter the State Government can definitely do something on the popular demand if only they have the required dose of political will.