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Public Dialogue (October 12) The just concluded public dialogue organized by the All Manipur United Club Organization under the theme Unity, Development and Peace threw open a wide canvass of issues which have been the bane of Manipuri society for long. The views and interpretations shared by the speakers through the 12-day public dialogue revealed in no uncertain terms the malaise that plagues the state and threatens the age-old ties amongst the people. Keeping in line with the theme of Unity, Development and Peace, Dr Nabakumar of the Anthropology Department, Manipur University hit the nail on the head when he observed that the crying need of the time is for all to shed cultural arrogance. The observation enunciated by the Anthropology teacher need not be elaborated here but suffice it to say that cultural arrogance can only lead to the fragmentation of the state and the sooner the people realize this the better. Nothing can be more harmful than the false and smug assumption that the one's culture and tradition is superior to the others and the rest are all minnows. Social worker Gaidon Kamei also echoed the same sentiment when he said that all should take care to see that the sentiments of any community are not hurt. A number of speakers also stressed on the imbalance between the hills and the valley. Dr Amar Yumnam highlighted a rather dismal picture of the disparities between the hill and valley people when he observed that hill children are still unable to get access to the primers while in the valley computers and the Internet are the in-things. All these observations however should not be read along communal lines but rather open our eyes to the problems besetting the state at the moment. As AMUCO noted in its 12-point charter, one of the chief factors for the problems besetting the state is the institutionalization of corruption, which has eaten into the vitals of the polity in the state. Corruption breeds more corruption and this leads to decay everywhere right from the developmental aspect to unity amongst the people and ultimately to peace. The theme of the dialogue, "Unity, Development and Peace" recognizes the point that unity is the first aspect to be fulfilled for development to take place and once development take place peace will be taken care of. So in essence, for peace to become a reality, all concerned should realize that peace movement is a struggle against poverty, domination and repressive measures, as Dr M Nara noted. So where do the people go from here? The pressing need at the moment is to cement the cracks that have appeared between the hill and valley people. While ensuring that the dividends of development reach the hill areas is important, it is also equally important especially for the hill people to realize that holding the Political leaders too should realize their past mistakes and try to rectify their earlier goof-ups. A closer interaction through cultural exchanges, tuning the people to the history of the tribals and above all mutual respect for one another is the need of the time and not some jingoistic outlook. Back to Top FrontPage Manipur Profiles Features Potpourri Opinions Editorials Books Photos Links Archives Contact Policy/Disclaimer |
