Elusive Normalcy (Sept 20)
The undercurrent of friction between various communities, it seems is not just about to leave Manipur just as yet. Even if the ordinary people desperately wish for the return of normalcy, the leaders amongst them seem to think it is in their best interest to keep the heat on. As ordinary men, we too are with the public in wishing for normalcy. The lofty ideals and goals of politics, mainstream or otherwise, when they
come at cross purpose with peace and stability, fly over our heads.
Amidst these charged and unsettled times, we often miss mundane issues like environment planning, campaigns against air and river pollution, state of public hygiene etc. We also terribly miss the space
that once use to be reserved for individual pursuits in the fields of sports and arts and academics... When will they ever return? More relevantly, what can we do to have them return? From the way things have been all around us, it may very well be that we are alone in feeling this way, but all the same, we do honestly continue to feel that these are some very urgent questions that our society needs to address itself.
Most of the debates in our society today on the other hand have ceased to be intellectually stimulating or to provide material to fire the imagination. Or else they are replete with mock grandeur, full of sound and fury but signifying nothing. At best they are worth bandhs and blockades, strikes and dharnas, and nothing much more.
When the state was actually on fire barely a month ago, we had appealed
earnestly to all parties concerned that the problem at hand should be resolved by democratic discourses between the people. We had appealed for all to be willing to begin the debate on a clean slate and mind. Those engaged in the debate did acknowledge the necessity for debates and dialogues. We now notice that while the different parties claim openness to debates, not many seem ready to open up their minds and hearts.
They have begun on a clean slate but not a clean mind. Their launching pads for the exercise remain their original stances which had resulted in the deadlocks that gave rise to the dangerous conflict situations. We are not really hopeful anymore that the discourses and dialogues can do much to influence changes in each other's viewpoints and jointly discover meeting grounds for minds and hearts. No light is also likely to be shed on the darkness all around.
We are also still awaiting the enlightened administration that everybody had hoped the President's Rules would be. An administration that is capable of being tough where it needs to be tough and soft without hesitation where it needs to be soft. Merely keeping aloof, will hot serve any end. Particularly because it is also on a race against time.
If at all tackling the bigger issues seem impossible within its extremely brief deadline, we would appreciate even a mere
whitewash that many other spells of President's Rules the state has seen resorted to. Widening roads, demolishing illegal constructions, cleaning and tending the few parks and road... There may not be any tangible achievements from such resorts, but the doses of kinetic energy thus infused, have never failed in breaking the ennui and boredom, and put smiles and vim back into everybody's life.
(Courtesy: The Imphal Free Press)
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