Moves to curtail blockades
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: December 22, 2011 -

Economic Blockade imposed by the Sadar Hills Districthood Demand Committee on August 6 2011 - Pix :: Jimmy Leivon

The writing was on the wall that such a bill was in the offing. The Manipur Bandh, Blockade and Economic Blockade Bill, 2011 was finally tabled in the State Legislative Assembly on December 20.

But it took about one and half years to come to this stage. The seed of this Bill was sown when Opposition MLAs O Joy, Dr I Ibohanbi, Dr Ng Bijoy and R K Anand moved a private member resolution on July 9, 2010 for the enactment of a law to prevent bandhs and blockades in the state.

Following the discussion on the said resolution a House Committee was formed chaired by Law and Legislative Affairs Minister Th Devendra to look into the various aspects of the matter.

After four extensions of its tenure, the Committee finally submitted its report in the present session of the 9th Manipur State Legislative Assembly followed by the tabling of the Bill.

The people of the state who had borne the brunt of long periods of economic blockades, will look forward to the Manipur Bandh, Blockade and Economic Blockade Bill 2011 becoming an Act at the earliest.

The extent and frequency of bandhs and blockades in the state had reached extraordinary levels and required extraordinary measures and the Bill is one such measures. Civil society organizations, students' bodies and every other sundry organizations or groups have developed the tendency of calling for bandhs and economic blockade for any grievance or demand.

The last economic blockades imposed by the SHDDC and the UNC together lasted for a total of 121 days, creating a dubious record of being the longest ever the state has witnessed.

The blockade caused untold sufferings to the general public with the old infirm and the economically disadvantaged section of the population being the worst victims.

The all round shortages of essential commodities and petrol products severely disrupted the normal functioning of the society, affected the education of young children, adversely affected the livelihood of many people.

This shortage also facilitated the growth of a whole class of hoarders, profiteers and black marketers which have entrenched themselves in the society and who are still operating with impunity. Though, we feel strongly that in a democratic polity there should be space for expressing aspirations, for fighting against injustice and and for raising legitimate demands.

There is also the need to adopt democratic means of agitation which cause the least inconvenience to the general public.

However legitimate a demand is, there is no justification for causing deprivations and suffering to the general public for extended periods, who are not directly related to the issue at hand.

The Bill proposes imprisonment for a term not less than one year which is extendable to three years along with fine of Rs 15,000 to Rs 1 lakh from members of all oganisations, political parties included, who call for bandhs, blockades and economic blockades and the losses suffered due to the same will be recovered from those individuals.

A Special Court will try bandh and blockade sponsors and the offense id non-bailable. It is clear that once the Bill becomes an Act, the state government will have the legal means to act swiftly against future bandhs and blockades so that the people do not have to face the disruptions and deprivations they recently went through.

But enacting a law is not enough, those running the affairs of this state should also have the political will to act when the situation demands.