Bandh: ‘Stop the Silent Killer…’

By Hausienmuan Munluo

Manipur `Jewel of India ` said Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime minister of India. For Him, it may be the landscape, the multi-culture that exist or our thought that determine us as entities. However, what will Nehru say if he is to comment again this insurgency-torn Manipur. On the law and order front, Manipur has earned itself the titles of being the `worst state` in the country. The chief minister Ibobi has been the most controversial Chief Minister, who has handled (or miss-handled) the maximum bandhs, agitation and blockades, making unfulfilled promises to negotiate.

A recent report published in the Imphal free press gives us an idea of the total numbers of ultras in Manipur. Imagine, more than 20 UG outfits operating in our state Manipur. They UG one way or the other disrupted the state functioning and ‘halt’ public life. Again, the student bodies, different organization that resorted to bandh to demonstrate it’s own anger against the government. How many precious days have been lost? Do bandh make us achieved our goal. Did it really give us development?

In an ethnocentric place, should resorting to bandh be entertained? Bandh are the most peaceful means of demonstrating public anger against a public outrage or nuisance. They are also the most effective means of focusing public attention on issue of national concern. That should be ideal. But what happen really? Bandh bring life to a standstill. The result is total disruption of normal life. It is a silent killer of economy, education and unity. In this context, are bandh the most effective means of resolving public or national issue? And when they came one too many, don`t they lose their purpose?

For what is a bandh in effect? A total close-down of education (school and colleges), commercial and creative activities. All public services, barring essential ones, get disrupted. Life came to a standstill. For the individual wage-earner, rickshaw-puller and vegetables vendors, in addiction to hardship, it means a loss of the day’s wages or one day hunger. For business house and trader it is a loss of one day’s business or production which converted into hard cash runs into lakhs of rupee. For our nation, it is a loss of man hours.

When so much is at stake in a bandh, why should we resort to it so frequently, so often? If the purpose is to find solution to our issues plaguing us, then bandh are not the answer for four solid reasons. First, it is a passive response to a crisis because “it fails to generate and mobilize social energies or focus public concern in a positive way. Second, our politician got used to (calling) bandh that often they do not back up bandh and never heed it. Third, a bandh is an expression of frustration and helplessness rather than of active concern diverted at achieving specific result. Last, a bandh “offer a false substitute for positive action, a ritualistic escape route, a way of evading issues, not facing them squarely”.

What, then, is required is a positive alternative that can motivate the people to be active participants in the fight against such issues as landmines, rape case, killing, corruption sixth-scheduled etc. And this can be done by organizing public education campaigns against issues of general concern.

In conclusion I may say that let’s bandh the silent killer and find a new way of demonstrating our anger. With an antagonism Chief minister in Manipur, bandh would not execute our goal (Issue). We call bandh and make our poor section suffer, to evade our issue the government negotiates; it is the same history that repeats “an economy bankrupt of corrupt government unfulfilled promise”