The cliche "good old days" is often used to refer to a time in the past that is remembered fondly or idealized. In the case of strife-torn Manipur, there are no ‘good old days’ as such to reminisce about except for its relentless struggles. In a sense, what was there to be proud of: a once proud Asiatic nation brought to heel with the public hanging of its patriots by Britishers and reduced to a Part-C state by India to be governed by an ‘alien’ Chief Commissioner; a vibrant economy with food surplus reduced to a dependent economy; a principled political class becoming corrupt and self-seeking leading to the takeover of politics by the bureaucrat-businessmen-contractor lobby; and the military running roughshod over the civilian population. Only good thing is that, the general population remained defiant and never ceased to struggle to demand its rights and return to its pride.
For 22 years, Manipur had to struggle for statehood and then for a place for Manipuri Language under the sun, among other great languages to be followed by the movement against human rights violations by state actors and for repeal of the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act. In fact, struggle has become a way of life for the general population. Life, as such, consisted of general strikes, bandhs and blockades, restrictions and curfews, fake encounters, extortion and killings, violation of human rights, and what not. In fact, it had become normal and people had gotten used to manoeuvring these hurdles and had learnt to accommodate the new ’normal’ in those times.
People had begun to live and survive even with a string of bandhs and blockades in the state. Suddenly, BJP came into the picture and bandh/blockades faded from the scene for some time. Since it came to power in early 2017, central and state BJP leaders had been baying about how they have managed to cure Manipur from the malady of bandhs and blockades. BJP leaders blamed the Congress regime for the malaise. Now, the bandh culture is back with all the paraphernalia they are nowhere to be seen or talking about. What BJP did not know was that bandh blockade had become a way of life in the state and it will take more than ‘deals’ to cure the malaise.
In Manipur, bandhs and blockades are called at the drop of a hat by anyone or anybody. It is the easiest way of airing a grievance or making a demand by announcing it. Manipur being a land-locked state highly depends on the highways for ferrying in food and all other goods including essential items from outside the state, which is exactly why highway blockades have become a bargaining chip for groups who have an axe to grind with the state authorities or holding it to ransom for realisation of their demands howsoever petty it be sometimes.
Off and on since the commencement of ethnic clashes, the national highways particularly the Imphal-Dimapur and Imphal-Jiribam roads continue to be under a sort of blockade, economic or otherwise. As a result of these blockades and attacks on transport carriers including petroleum tankers besides LPG bullets, the general public is feeling the heat with scarcity of petroleum products and LPG. Even though, LPG distributors are not able to supply filled cylinders to its consumers regularly, it is always available in the black market. The price of potatoes, onions and vegetables have soared.
While on the other hand, groups specializing in extortion have become a dime a dozen and the number of those seeking ‘donations’ have increased manifold in recent times. The state government is back to playing with Section 144 while dealing with public unrest or protests. It has become so routine that it seems to have lost its utility. Several districts, more particularly the two capital districts of Imphal had been perpetually under prohibitory orders of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure with only some breaks in between. It is like back to square one.
(The views expressed are personal)
