The rot in the system
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: April 18, 2024 -

"SOMETHING is rotten in the state of Denmark". This is a line spoken by Marcellus to Horatio in the famous play, "Hamlet" written by English poet and dramatist William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1602.

Among the often-quoted lines from the plays of Shakespeare, this eight-worded line from "Hamlet" has come to be used as an idiom in modern English language to describe in general a state of sorry affairs prevailing in a society, state or a country due to political as well as moral corruption.

This editorial, however, is not a commentary on the inherent 'character flaw' of indecisiveness and overthinking that Hamlet, the young protagonist in the play, exhibited in the way he reacted to every given situation which ultimately led to a tragic end for all nor it is a tutorial on the origin and usage of English idioms.

We are just trying to allude to the 'rottenness' in Denmark that Marcellus had talked about as the same 'sorry state of affairs' seems to be slowly seeping into the social fabric of Manipuri society today, which is very unfortunate.

Following the announcement of the schedule for the 18th Lok Sabha election, which is going to be conducted in seven phases starting from April 19, the strife-torn Manipur has been in a state of turmoil, which is quite different from the one that the people have been enduring for more than eleven months now following an unprecedented violent ethnic conflict that broke out after the people of Kuki-Chin community clashed with the Meetei/Meitei aftermath of a court's order vis-a-vis the latter's demand for recognition as Scheduled Tribe (ST).

The magical spell of politics is such that the fight for survival of the Meetei from the unregulated influx of illegal immigrants and countering the threat posed by narco-terrorists to the territorial integrity of Manipur has transformed into a quest for political dominance with everyone within the community wanting their "pound of flesh" with least concern for the thousands of families who have either lost their loved ones or homes or both in the blazing flame of the ethnic conflict, which is yet to be extinguished.

Through this column, we have made our position clear time and time again on conducting election to the 18th Lok Sabha election in the midst of an unresolved humanitarian crisis.

However, as this democratic exercise of electing their representatives by the people is a rare opportunity that comes only after every five years, it is appreciable that the election conducting authorities in the state as well as at the centre have left no stone turned in their efforts of ensuring electoral participation by all legitimate voters even to the extent of making special arrangements for the displaced people to cast their votes at the relief camps where they are taking shelter.

In addition to organising multi-intervention programme like the Systematic Voters' Education & Electoral Participation (SVEEP) to educate voters about the electoral process by the state election office under the auspices of Election Commission of India (ECI), civil society organisations (CSOs) have also chipped in to encourage ethical voting among the people.

Unfortunately, all these efforts as well as the time, energy and money invested for ensuring free and fair conduct of the election would go down the drain if armed miscreants were allowed to run wild and dictate the people to whom they should cast their votes or not.

We agreed that criminalization of politics, not just in terms of individuals with criminal background entering politics to contest and win election but also using criminal elements to advance their vested interests is an enduring phenomenon in Indian politics that would need time to rectify.

But this does not mean the election conducting authorities, just because they don't have the suo-moto power, should remain blind and deaf to the disturbingly increasing activities of the armed miscreants who are openly intimidating the voters and rival candidates.

As they say, if an authority knew about a problem but chose not to act in time, then clearly something is rotten in the system.