Rants on a social tragedy

Shoot to thrill?

[Image by Jean Sander, www.publicdomainpictures.net]

It seems we commit crimes, therefore we are. I’m talking about this heaven-turned-hell place called Manipur. And I would not mind if ten people from here and there pop out and criticise me for writing again a rant on this hell, simply because we are like that kind of people only. Condemnation is our birth right. While it is unanimous the draconian AFSPA should be put to death and that we have got enough from the thugs who have banked on the prevailing condition, the cycle of violence continues unabated. Ideally, it would do us a world of good if we can squeeze all these I-kill-for-business-and-pleasure people in a rocket and send off to Uranus. But as it is not possible, the best thing we can do is to pursue deliberation, or plainly, a conscious and foresightful discussion.

When the solutions are too scarce, we can only turn to ideas that would give us insights into the problems. Possibly we would find answers in the discourse and do away fixing our jealous eyes on the stolen possessions of the ruling, special class of the land too. And we know books are truly called our best friend; and in them we can seek the path. This is too pedantic; though again we can add: Ideas create action. But more than once I have found myself and some of my friends, hiding behind the chairs during private tuition in our schooldays. The reason: There were fierce shoot-outs between the insurgents and the police in the locality. Those days were comparatively better because we didn’t know that the contractors rule the land. We don’t have to lose the hope, anyway. The most feasible thing for us is to keep sharing the universal principles of humanity. While we know we have the animal in every parts of our body, we can also think like human beings.

If you enter any contest where you have to compare Manipur to any object/article/thingy in this world, make sure you get the chance to change the question. Or else, leave. There is no equivalence to this land. Our tragedy is that we are crushed between the two demigods. The ‘devil and the deep sea’ thing sounds a cliché. These demigods are simply more than the worst gods in hell. On one hand, the government’s tyranny is perpetrated through the imposition of AFSPA and other archaic plus atrocious laws. Despite the deep longing, anarchism remains a personal goal. That idealistic thing. On the other hand, the last three decades saw the birth of so many thugs — who appreciate critically that our chief minister still sniffs around New Delhi’s ass and so unfortunate it is in the state — that they are spreading a mindless violence spree. These goons have also redefined the meaning of organized crime. We usually see the big bad boys when we talk about breaking the laws big time but in Manipur, they merely exist to be the pain in the ass for everyone from a peon to the directors in government offices. Nungaibada yaorakpa machasing. We hope we are not going back to the state of nature. We hope we can see the change if we are the change we want to see in the world.

Let’s take some case study kinds of illustration. Academics would go to the extent of saying the power of state institutions is directly proportional to the order and efficiency of a society. The indisposed authority of our time, for that matter, is more unfit than the elastic-less underwear on sale at the Monday Sarojini Nagar second-hand Market. It is also true that the lack of government mechanism is directly proportional to the level of crime and corruption. “Criminals of the land, unite—you have nothing to lose but your crimes” seems to be the scream of the day. Turning a deaf ear to these calls are people like you and me: clueless about the brouhaha, running helter-skelter for safe hiding places, spending the dawn-less nights and paying off, selling off ourselves like the whores on GB Road. There can be a buyback, as a silver lining on the personal level, as in the metaphysical resistance against the contemporary mores. As these social conditions are what make us and as they are what breed the worms that eat into our brains, we can reject them. That would offer us some promise for the dawn. Otherwise, we can also join the bandwagon, go to Kunming, buy some guns and become an active player on this killing field. The choice is ours, folks. Deep inside us, though, we know we wish that only the better sense must prevail... that every little thing will be alright. Let there be light!