Sensationalism, Negative Idiosyncratic Traits and Quirks: That is what Manipur Is Now

Prof Jodha C Sanasam *

Sit-in-protest against Bomb Blast on April 22 2013 :: Pix - Deepak Oinam

If you want to be famous overnight it is not very difficult. You can create a sensation. Manipur has a rich soil for any kind of seed, maybe a negative trait or a wrong tenet, to grow luxuriantly into a firm big tree, and for the tree to spread out branches to be accepted later as the social tradition of the populace.

You lie stark naked in the Khwairamband Bazar near the Shamu Makhong over the raised platform, just for the heck of it; or you can do it in protest against something like Tipaimukh Dam or against exploration of minerals in Manipur. It may sound idiosyncratic, but you will earn a name sure over the headlines next day.

The rational general population may take such outrageous stunts as mere quirks and stupid exhibits. But in Manipur there are many who will gladly accept to carry out such an act freely. If an award with money is declared secretly or openly, so many will be ready to do so; you may find problems who you will select.

The saying among the intellectuals has it that Manipur is a place full of leaders but each with hardly any faithful follower. Any day you can see in the TV. Public meetings take place frequently on important issues in Manipur. About 10 people will sit on the dais as presidium. Each speaker will be warned to make his or her speech brief.

However each speaker will spend one-third of his or her speech-time in addressing and attributing the importance of the presidium members on the dais. He hardly has enough time to discuss the focus-points and what should be done about the matter of the day. Then what is the use of organizing such meetings? The organizers also never take to work on collection of public opinions in a massive coverage. The same few will harp on the same keys of their own strings in every such meeting.

An easy way for earning a name can be in terms of such jingoism. Collect a few stray guys as the members, then keep harping on some slogans; then you become the leader. This trait seems to be an innate nature of the belligerent people of Manipur.

Revolutionary movements, once considered a public-supported wave in Manipur, have become a thing of jingoism and a popular practice to earn a living with plenty of money now. To establish a regiment or a military outfit, and to maintain it, is not a matter of joke even for the governments. One can analyse the budget of a country or a state in matters of home department affairs and police keeping.

Manipur public have been spending their money for the last 30 years or so to maintain the 20000-30000 strong or so cadres of the 36-40 revolutionary groups: for their food, clothing, uniforms, most of all, their costly guns, hand grenades, IED bombs or explosives, even lethode bombs and small scale rockets as the news says so.

In average the amount harvested by the so called revolutionary groups altogether from the population of Manipur per year is about Rs. 50 crores or Rs. 500 million; the siphon for the last 30 years or so will be Rs.1.8 billion.

How much longer are we to continue with this siphon or leakage in our economy? In one way Manipur public are very rich. Just imagine wherefrom this money comes and where it goes to. Another irony is that these guns, hand grenades, IED explosives are now used against the public – a bounce-back self damage, a sign of desperation and degeneration of the revolution.

If one digs into the history of American Revolution against the British imperialism one will find that the revolution had the enthusiastic support of very highly rich Sugar planters in the upstate region of the North America. French Revolution was also actively and financially supported by a group of very rich Montagnards who later became members of the Directory of Five.

But unfortunately Manipur has no such solid and financially strong supporters. Yes, plenty of hardcore workers and patriots might be here in Manipur too; but when the matter of financing the revolution comes to the picture there is nobody. So naturally the revolutionists have to collect money from the general population. However the amount they receive is only a molehill whereas what they require is a lofty mountain.

If the collection is based on donations and considered as generous contributions, not as exemptions of taxes or extortions in the form of terrorist’s dictatorial decree, the public could have continued to donate to their best effort. Now the demand letters are with commands of fixed amount and are always associated with threatening language during the subsequent negotiations. Eventually revolution in Manipur is now in a precarious condition.

United Nations (UN) will intervene only when massive genocide, bloodshed and human devastation of high proportions happen, that too when the USA ask them to act. Just merely participating in and submitting representations to the committee for indigenous people, or such kind, is not going to make things happen. The USA representative in the UN also is not going to open his mouth until and unless his President asks him to do so.

Thus if the money collected from the public of Manipur was used for diplomatic talks to convince the American President, and if possible the Presidents or the Prime Ministers of the seven countries, members of the Security Council of the UN, that Manipur is still under colonization, and what we want is freedom on our own feet, things might have been different.

The revolutionists should now give serious thoughts to this present trait of collection of money from door to door. There is a big fear that this trait will ever remain as a social tradition in Manipur; because Manipur’s soil to grow any seed, especially the seed of a negative trait, is very rich; in fact the phenomenon has even begun to work in this line.