Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Pilgrim’s Un-Progress

By : H. Lienzamang Gangte

Seven homicides in five days screamed the headlines. And on the left bottom corner, the fine print said CCpur police station is without a landline connection for the last two months. On account of piling unpaid rental. This pretty much sizes up Manipur today. Pandemonium in full-swing. Admittedly, it’s not that much was forecasted from Ibobi as he came out to bat in his second innings. The fact that the palm was able to garner 30+ seats in the assembly was a precursor for sycophancy, delirium and abdication of responsibility.

Sleeping with the Enemy

I hazard we haven’t consigned to oblivion the Babupara Raid a couple of fortnights ago. I mean, even if we condone it. This dispensation that gives no flying fart to people within the legal civil society was denuded to its bones. Not that we didn’t comprehend its physiology before the raid. We have a government for the outlaws, a democratic Frankenstein mass produced in the Swiss of the East. I bet, Panditji would regret ever opening his mouth. NDTV says a certain terror group was diktat-ing over the MACS budget. That’s how the outside espied us. Still, better than a society wherein the noveau riche are terrorists. The Babupara Raid might have stultified dissent, the x-factor for the raid as generally perceived, but it fooled no 0onew. Perhaps, that was what the swashbuckler from Thoubal meant by ‘government must raise its voice to be heard.’ His report card for the last six months reads an F, simply because there’s no grade more slashed than that.

Battery on the Fourth Estate

The press guys are the most harassed lot in our land. That says it all- welcome to Iraq of the east India. It is unthinkable that elite publications like the Sangai or IFP are interrupted for days in a row. There is an aching need to protect and preserve the media. How could anyone scuttle and injure the fourth estate is the question the government must answer. No one is above the law and the media is a satrap under no ruler either. An institution in itself, it’s far more sincere in its goal than any other institutions we seem to have in Manipur. The government will do much better than by attempting to ‘parent’ the media houses. We are not desirous of a media fraternity that can be stopped, played and paused at whims. The persistence of the media under duress presupposes that civil life is no cozier than that of a vegetable. Now, they yak about NSA and what nots. The more apt procedure would be to stop taking stock of the situation after situation namby-pamby. Rather, take stock of the babus, policemen and bureaucrats. Seen in this light, the government of now is the least certificated to meddle with the media.

Peter-ing Out Life-Chances

It’s a specimen of petering out life-chances of many Peter Ngahanyuis, the real Peter being the collective aspiration of the five hill districts. PN is more than an individual, it is a masterpiece intentionally stained with inferior quality enamel to thwart its glory. Ibobi could have come up with a better idea than by slandering the senior most IPS officer with a crap called Officer on Special Duty. What’s so special about OSD, anyway? Deputation in the Northern Frontier Railways? Why not in the Khadya Prasanskaran Udyog Mantralaya? That’s the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, for your information. Surely, the powers that be must have heard of the Seniority Protocol. If not, it’s high time they consult the rulebook. Each of us is seasoned in humming the Ching-Tam tune as well as deciphering exactly what is not meant by that. The case of PN exposes how we must not govern. This intermittent interplay of currents forcibly pushes the hillmen to infirmity. Habitually. Smart Alec says the PN phenomenon is to inhibit the necessity of another New Year’s Gift to the Hills ala the late Thangthuam. The prevalence of such despicable apprehension only indicates that Manipur is doomed. Part and parcel. The only uncertainty is will it be under Ibobi or the next Plutocrat.


Source: The Imphal Free Press

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