Highway reality
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: October 05, 2010 -

Emotions and sentiments can only take us some distance and ultimately it has to give way to rationality and a practical approach that will yield the desired results. By this, we are not altogether rubbishing the important factors of the two basic human characteristics-emotions and sentiments - for more often than not they have served as the perfect catalyst for mankind to take the first step towards rationality or adopt a practical approach to deal with an issue or a crisis.

The sentiments and emotions behind the decision taken by the Transporters' and Drivers' Council of Manipur, following the unprecedented 68 days economic blockade on NH-39 by the All Naga Students' Association and backed by the United Naga Council and even spilling into neighbouring Nagaland, never to take this route but opt for NH-53, which runs almost entirely through the territory of Manipur, is appreciable and should be noted down.

There is a reason why there is the universal observation that "Time is the greatest healer" and taking this into account, we may assume that the initial bursts of emotions and sentiments that drove the Transporters and Drivers' Council to take the "Only NH-53" decision, may have subsided by now and it is time to sit down and rationally approach the issue all over again.

As things stand today, NH-53 is not fit to be even called a road, leave alone a National Highway and its conditions, which have been highlighted by the media many times over, should be enough evidence that not taking NH-39 at all, would amount to inflicting self destruction.

Being a State, without rail connectivity and connected to India only through NH-39 and to some extent NH-53, the highway politics involves a whole gamut of the social, economy and polity of the people of Manipur and down the years NH-39 in particular has come to mean different things to different people.

While road connectivity is universally seen as one of the important factors for bringing people closer together, NH-39 on the contrary is gradually being reduced to the status of a route which drives people apart. This is what is worrying.

With a Government, that is only satisfied with adhocism in this age, when the Greater Lim threat is hanging over the heads of everyone, this route, which feeds and keeps the 25 odd lakh population of the State in contact with others, has become the perfect bargaining tool for the people who live or wield influence over this route.

Maybe it was some kind of kindred sentiments or maybe it was the astuteness of the Naga underground leaders, but incidents in the past few years have left no one in doubt that this route comes under the influence of Naga underground outfits and the NSCN (IM) has succeeded in not only turning NH-39 into a never ending income generating route but also a political tool, which can be used effectively to highlight the Lim issue or anything that has to do with the "interest" of the IM group or the "Naga people."

The 52 days economic blockade in 2005 and the recent stand off over the proposed visit of Th Muivah and the boycott of the election to the ADCs are more than enough instances to show how NH-39 can be used both as a political tool as well as a never ending revenue generating source.

It is against this reality that the TDC took the decision never to take to NH-39 again and instead stick to NH-53 and we can well understand this outburst of anger and its firm stand, but at the same time, we also need to recognise the fact that a great part of NH-39, from Mao Gate to Moreh, runs through the heart of the State of Manipur. No one can say that Manipur will be complete without NH-39 and this fact should be kept in mind while deliberating over the highway issue.

Just as the photographs carried in the local dailies tell us, the DG of the BRTF was candid enough to say that it would take at least another three years to make NH-53 fully motorable and herein lies exposed for one and all to see, how ineffective and insensitive the Government has been in all these years.

This is not the time to indulge in any game of political one upmanship, but if Mr O Ibobi Singh had taken the highway issue seriously with the merit it deserves, there is no reason why Delhi cannot be approached to crack the whip and get the BRTF to start working on NH-53 after the 52 days economic blockade in 2005.

There is the general perception, amongst the political class as well as the Babudom, that it is the media's favourite pass time to train its guns on the Government when anything goes wrong, but no one has yet shown the political maturity and the determination to anticipate what lies ahead or can be expected, five years hence.

This lack of political wisdom, can spring forth from various factors, such as the inefficiency of the political leaders, the corruption which has blinded them to see the truth and the utter lack of interest in the well being of the common people. By contrast, the fact that the importance of NH-39 had dawned on the NSCN (IM) years back, show that they have a think tank who actually think for the interest of their outfit at the cost of about 25 lakh odd people of Manipur.

To put things straight and simple, Manipur would not be facing the situation today it is facing if only the Government had learnt some lessons from the 52 days economic blockade five years back.

Remember the then Governor of the State, Dr SS Sidhu personally travelled along this route at the height of the blockade to see how the repairing works are being conducted or carried out ? That was a show of concern and a demonstration of the importance of NH-53 to Manipur.

Unfortunately and not surprisingly, this valuable demonstration flew over the head of our respected Chief Minister and what we are reaping today cannot be attributed only to the frequent blockades called by the Lim advocates on NH-39, but also to the indifference as well as lack of political astuteness and far sightedness to fathom what Manipur should be like, five or ten years down the line.