#Widows

In life, we believed there is always a second chance. And I believed everyone deserve that second chance especially for the very deserving without any conditions. I recently read a very well written article “The Widows of Manipur” by Shaswat Malik posted on Roads & Kingdoms.com website, an independent journal of food, politics, travel and culture. The article breaks my heart after knowing the present social circumstances of the widows of Manipur who have lost their husbands to the regions insurgency related conflicts, and per se the ultimate victims of the draconian Armed Forced (Special Powers) Act. It is very sad to know that the widows have not only lost their husbands but the worst is the society lack of empathy and respect to the widows going by the article.

In our society where we have always held high regards and respect for women; and who have always taken an active role in shaping the history of Manipur but how unfortunate is for the widows who deserve to start anew notwithstanding their lost which could have been prevented otherwise! It is very presumptuous of us to question a widow character when ours can be more or less questionable. Alright, I’m a bit harsh with my statement but why not? It is because we can accept a widower coming home at night after work whereas it is questionable for a widow. And here we are finding ourselves at the aisle of gender discrimination once again.

Rather than accepting the core principle under the ground of humanity and equality about a person who's working on her fair share of very deserving second chance to start anew but instead we let our egoistic and sadistic minds to feed on the victims just because they are widows. Tell me, is this not gender discrimination? If the general consensus is, a Sati would be more honorable for the widows; look into the eyes of your grandmother or your mother or aunt or sister or wife or daughter or niece and make your stand, once and for all. Otherwise we are no saintlier than the sexual offenders languishing in jail. However, don’t forget the fact that we come from a society where our women contribution to our society is larger than life.

Remember the Nupi-lan, when our Manipuri women folk waged two historic wars in 1904 and 1939 against mass exploitation and artificial famine triggered by the British imperialists. Remember the 12 women who stripped their clothes at Kangla fort screaming their outrage at the rape and alleged custodial murder of Thangjam Manorama, a 32-year-old, by Assam Rifles, and thereby to safeguard the chastity of our state from sex predators in future. Remember our Iron Lady in Irom Sharmila, who is still fighting for us so we can have better future free from the draconian law ‘Armed Forced (Special Powers) Act, 1958’. Remember our Meira Paibi, our torch bearers. Mary Kom, the face of Manipur who have brought nothing but triumphs and laurels for our country! Please note that these people have something in common, i.e., they are all WOMEN!

The widows of Manipur deserve nothing but our love, respect and support. Same goes for all the widows around the world.

Food for Thought: “A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.” Coco Chanel.

"The road to Transition"

"You can't hold a man down without staying down with him." Booker T. Washington.

I read an article "Roots of Manipur insurgency" by Binalakshmi Nepram. The article gave me a good insight on how insurgency was born in Manipur. And it is rather interesting circumstances leading Manipur to become a part of India on October 1949 reluctantly. The rest is history however, I cannot deny the fact the underground organizations in Manipur came into existence out of resentment to Indian rule since then. Hence, labeling the state of Manipur as Disturbed Area before the revolution can turn into shape and made an impact.

In my opinion, the present problem with the many underground organization in Manipur is the lack of direction and goals despite the history of Manipur as their reliable alibi. Based on their timeline, it is clear they are not interested with the political solutions or negotiation but rather independence from India. In retrospect, it doesn't mean that the central government should ignore the history of Manipur and conceal every facts regarding the root cause of insurgency. I stil believed 'now' is the right time for all the underground organizations in Manipur to come under one roof and change their ideology for political solutions rather than armed struggle. They really need to make sense of their existence with principles rather than extorting and moral policing with threats.

The choice is there on the table; and they got to decide sooner than later because the present Indian Army onslaught of insurgency groups in Manipur and around the international border in co-operation with Myanmar can annihilate their existence. For the love of Manipur and for better future, lay down the arms and manned up for political solutions. Follow the Mizoram model of insurgency to electoral democracy because holding guns against the Indian Army or the Police won't bring peace and solution but only bloodshed. 

Whereas on the other hand, 'we' as the people Manipur also comes with the responsibility to make our state a better place for today and the future. Unfortunately, we've been electing and supporting the wrong politicians to represent us in the state assembly, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for too many years. Just look at our current chief minister, cabinet ministers, MLAs, two MPs in Lok Sabha and one member in Rajya Sabha. Do you really believe they are the right people working for us and for the state? I don't think they got the balls to stand up for the people and lead us to right direction. But how did they become our elected representative? You gotta be honest with your answer... :)  

We are very aware that Manipur is one of the most corrupt states in India. As long as we continue to elect the corrupt politicians and until the underground organizations make sense, don't ever think the central government is going to revoke the AFSPA and withdraw the army. It has to be joint efforts in order to successfully clean up Manipur for responsible governance and better future. Our individual responsibility is to choose our representatives wisely not influence by coercion of the Rs. 500 note. We are better than this. Do you not agree? 

The Indian army doing their job with command from the central government but the system got to change. I just cannot fathom the fact that they are not accountable to civilian court as per the AFSPA although they are working under the directives of our constitution. Assuming, if we can persecute the President or PM of our country for any wrongdoing or against national interest, why is it not possible in army? It is about the accountability as a citizen of this country but not as army. After all, defence services are very much part of public services as envisaged under the constitution. Think about it!

Food for Thought: "When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw." Nelson Mandela.

Thank you.

"The Blind side of News media in India"

"Whoever controls the media, controls the mind." Jim Morrison.

Good Morning!

Do you think the news media in India is fair and just with the reporting of domestic current news and affairs? Generically, I believed the news media is not doing enough when it comes to domestic news reporting except around the time of general election. To prove my point, are you aware of the current situation concerning the north east states of India excluding the recent attack on Army convoy in Manipur killing 18 soldiers by an underground organization? Or, you are only aware of the fact that Mary Kom is from Manipur after watching the movie "Mary Kom" starring Priyanka Chopra. Then, believe me, the media has done nothing when it is concerning about the plights and the hardships of people living in the north east states of India.

However, when it comes to mainland India or the metropolitan cities, they'd even go to the length of reporting a dog killed by speeding car or a high affluent family car stolen away by thief because the driver left the car key behind. Well well, my friend, there are more important news to report like the violation of human rights by our own law approved by the Government of India which is still enforced in most part of north east India wherein the most victims of the law comes from the state of Manipur. I'm left pondering; why don't they highlights the Draconian law which is in the form of Armed Forced Special Power Act and its consequence rather than blaming the people as not co-operative? Why don't thay report about the staged encounter killings by the police and the Indian army? What is about Irom Sharmila fights? 

And why don't they expose the corrupted politicians and bureaucrats from north east India, and above all, the higher authority betrayal to people living out there? In Manipur, corruptions and its related money operates in parallel to normal business transaction. The fact is that you can literally buy a job post in state government sector. Try asking anyone from Manipur about the price tag for the post of Sub-inspector rank working for the Police department. Some will say Rs. 20 lakhs and some other will say Rs. 25 lakhs; and if you can afford the said amount, you'll get the job easily without any fuss. You can termed the corruption in Manipur as "The Wall street of Corruptions" wherein the market is always open for the rich people investing their money in government jobs and the return on investment is guaranteed. Unfortunately, the corruptions in Manipur is a topic ignored by the news media in India. It is like cutting us off from the rest of  India. But why?

Instead they'd rather stage a platform for a hot debate and telecast live on prime-time news hour slot wherein the participants and the speaker(usually the editor-in-chief) starts bullshitting each other inside the studio in order to increase TRP ratings rather than reporting the real news needing the attention of the people all over India. It means the news media in our country has its own agenda and priority which is an extreme violation of journalism and news reporting ethics. And sadly, when they do report any news concerning north east India, the news is all about music loving people, dog meat eaters, the short skirts and vice versa. The news media in India have to know that the real news of north east India doesn't originate from major metropolitan cities wherein the news source are the students and employees from north east India. 

But the real news is still out there in the region; and they need to investigate starting with the ground reality from the perspective of people living out there and identifying the root cause of corruption as well as insurgency related issue. And when the truth is exposed, only then, people all over India will realize the central government 'divide and rule policy' and also for wasting a hell lot of taxpayers money on defense budget every year. According to Union Budget for fiscal 2015-16, the central government led by Narendra Modi will allocate Rs 2,46,727 crore to defence sector even though we are officially not at war with any country. Alright, Pakistan is the only threat to our country. However is the allocated amount of Rs 2,46,727 crore justified when 179.6 million people in India are starving as per the revised methodology and the poverty rate of Manipur is 36.89 percent?

The truth is we don't deserve the cold treatment from the news media in India even though our culture and appearance are somewhat different from the mainland India. We are all humans and foremost the rightful citizens of this country. We can feel the same pain like the families of the brave 18 soldiers killed in an ambush attack in Chandel District (located in Manipur) because we too have lost our brothers and sisters to gross injustice and custodial killings. Yet the government will always stay without any remorse because the Draconian law like Armed Forced Special Power Act is valid for them and our justice system will continue to protect the government interest by hook or crook if the news media continue to watch from behind silently like an agency of the government.

My only expectation from the news media in our country is do their job honestly irrespective of people origins and regions. Only then, India can move forward as one in the right direction for progress and development. And I bet, no one will say India is a developed country whereas the north east states of India is neglected. Don't you agree? 

For your information, on 23 March, 2009, the United Nations asked India to repeal Armed Forced Special Power Act, an act that they considered to be contrary to the Article 4 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights. The United Nations Commissioner on Human Rights at that time, Navanethem Pillay termed the law as "dated and colonial-era law" breaching the contemporary international human rights standards." The United Nations also questioned the constitutionality of the Armed Forced Special Power Act under Indian law.

Food for Thought: "We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people." John F. Kennedy.

Thank you. Have a good day!

"Liability or Human shield?"

Good Morning!

First of all, my condolences to the 20 army jawans who were ambushed and killed in Manipur by the so called underground outfit NSCN-K on 4 June 2015. The ambush itself is a cowardly act and showing us the true nature of the banned underground organization who do not believe in peace. I cannot fathom the fact that this very organization used to be in peace talk with our central government under the ceasefire agreement for 14 years until March 2015 after their leader SS Khaplang decided to go for the arms struggle instead of negotiation. How is the arms struggle helping their cause? Killing more innocent people and the Army is never going to resolve the region issue.

Now that the Central government has given the green light to the Army to go all out against the outfit, NSCN-K, I truly fear many innocents may have to be victims as collateral damage. The people of Manipur will have to bear the burnt of conflict arising between the NSCN-K and the Central government wherein their issue has nothing to do with Manipur. I'm really fed up of the leaders of Naga telling the Nagas of Manipur that their fight is for all of us. But it necessarily doesn't gives them the right to cowardly killed the 20 jawans in Manipur in order to grab the attention of our Central government in Delhi. 

The fact is that I DO NOT WANT TO BE A VICTIM. Why can't the NSCN-K follow the example of Mizoram? They must know that India ranks third among the top ten countries with the largest armies. You know that the central government has given the green light to go all against the Naga Insurgent in Manipur. And Manipur is not a war zone wherein many civilians are living out there. You also know that the Indian army is armed with the Armed Forced Special Power Act. So, in the end, the civilians are going to end up as victims because NSCN-K is not going come out in the open rather hiding behind the hills. 

In 1977, Protocol I was adopted as an amendment to the Geneva Conventions, prohibiting the deliberate or indiscriminate attack of civilians and civilian objects in the war-zone and the attacking force must take precautions and steps to spare the lives of civilians and civilian objects as possible. Although ratified by 173 countries, the only countries that are currently not signatories to Protocol I are the United States, Israel, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Turkey. It means our central government is not accountable for any civilians killed in their fistfight against the Naga insurgents in Manipur. 

Technically, we are a liability to the central government and a human shield to the insurgents in Manipur. God help us. 

Food for thought: “Listen up - there's no war that will end all wars.” Haruki Murakami.