It is unlikely the multidimensional conflicts in Manipur would go away immediately. This is in spite of so many other conflict-ridden places in the neighbourhood going through a healing process. Sad as the case may be, it is essential the people assert their will to keep the place afloat and away from insanity. This will entail keeping all the essential survival qualities of a society intact. Above all, it will be an absolute necessity for the place to continue honing its competitive skills and spirit in pace with developments outside. This is not an easy task even in normal times, and will definitely be uphill for a place immersed in conflicts. But, there is no other way than to do it, if survival as a society is important. Surely, none of us want the state to be reduced to impoverishment and despair beyond recovery. The apprehension that such a scenario may become a reality in our state is very immediate, considering it is slipping in many spheres of activities needed to keep an economy going. Its education is in the pit. Most of the thousands of graduates churned out by our colleges and universities are today employable only by the government which grades qualification standards for jobs by academic degrees alone, and not by the market worth of skills candidates possess. Because the market has remained stunted thus, job seekers with worthy skills probability would leave the state for greener pastures elsewhere. In the absence of a government with substance, or more importantly moral authority, policy matters continues to be decided from the streets. All these say very little for the shape of Manipur`™s not so distant future. The vision of a weak and vulnerable people left to fend for themselves amidst the blinding rush of the competitive world, cannot fail to eerily haunt anybody who dares to imagine what Manipur`™s destiny might be, given our present situation.
There is no doubt the place has done well in sports and performing arts. But these may actually be a direct consequence of the violence and conflicts that have enveloped our society. In fact, to use a Freudian interpretation, they may actually be the manifestation of the same violence, but in a sublimated way. The angst within the soul that has been the driving force behind all of the violence may actually also be the materials that form the building blocks of our sports and arts. But in enumerating and evaluating the achievements of a society, there are things that go far beyond. The erstwhile East Germany and the Soviet Union were sporting powerhouses and havens for the arts. Their failure to survive should be evidence enough these are essential but hardly enough. So let the state not rest content with the laurels earned in these fields alone. There will have to be more, much more.
One needs only to look around to discover how many people are actually absolutely incomeless even in the state capital. The traditional family structure has been providing the cushion to absorb the devastation this could have caused. The welfare state that our polity is supposed to be by definition, even if it is a begging one, has also helped. If not anything else, it has been providing close to a lakh direct government jobs, justifiably or not, with hansom salaries, which have been managing to keep the fluidity of our markets, artificially or otherwise. The question is, how much can the family system and the welfare government buffers keep the place from imploding under the surmounting pressures? At this moment, remove these buffers and there will be very few props on which the economy can stand on. Hence the insurrection and the political uncertainty as an excuse for the chaos must end. Whatever the outcome of the conflicts, at the end of it, the people must still have the legs to stand on, and this can happen only if they make the extra effort to prevent the economy from grinding to a halt in the meantime.
Leader writer: Pradip Phanjoubam