Ring in the new, boot out the old Make the New Year meaningful
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Throw out the old and year 2023, 2024 and 2025 definitely belong to the old and so boot them out and bring in the new. This should be the call of Manipur even as it joins the rest of the world in stepping into a New Year. And it is up to the people to make the understanding of 2026 as the coming of a New Year meaningful. The word new, accompanied by the word year, should be something much more than just the start of a new 365 days, but should mean something much more sacred. For Manipur to truly transition into something new with the coming of the New Year, it is important to look back, study and see what can and should be discarded. It should obviously be on top of the agenda of Manipur, but apart from resolving the issue which has dragged on since May of 2023, it is important for Manipur to sincerely study what needs to be done to make it a better place for everyone and where everyone can avail the opportunity to move ahead in life. Apart from normalcy, the normalcy that everyone understand before the violence erupted on May 3, 2023, what is it that can take Manipur ahead ? For one, the people have to say unequivocally that no one should hijack their lives and dictate how they should think and lead their lives. No room should be created for anyone to try and influence the thought process of the people. No one in Manipur should be told to stay indoors for a period of time all under the name of a general strike or a total shutdown or a bandh or cease work for the day ! In short let Manipur be bandh free. No student should be herded out of their classrooms to participate in a protest march or a dharna on issues which should be dealt by the adults of society. No shops should feel compelled to shut down due to what they claim are unbearable monetary demands. These are but some points which have dogged Manipur for ages and sincere thoughts ought to be given on why such a situation has come about that people are today ‘told to think and behave in a certain way’---a train of thought which are verbalised and put into action by elements who are placed on the public pedestals and deemed to be heroes and heroines. Manipur can certainly live without these and the coming of the New Year should give the right opportunity to everyone to seriously think why such a climate has come about. Lack of critical thinking, the penchant of those in positions of power and influence to promote the culture of sycophancy, the mindset of the common people to be always in the ‘good books’ of those in positions of power and influence and the race to get ‘close to them’, all these and more have combined to make the deadly cocktail that has left the great Manipuri society in a state of intoxication for decades.
And all these factors are inter-related, with one influencing the other. As Manipur steps into 2026, the first and foremost task should be to study how to break these factors that have kept the people chained for decades. To go about this, it is important to break the chain and for this Manipur would need to do some serious homework and look at the matter from the top to the bottom and go in for a total overhaul. Throw out the old and ring in the new should be the mantra for everyone and the last three years, 2023, 2024 and 2025 should be enough for Manipur to look back, take a leaf out from the days of violence and mistrust and see how to go about taking steps into the future. Democracy, the right to dissent and have differing opinion and stand should be understood in its entirety and seen not only as the right to dissent against the policies and programmes of the Government. And Manipur offers the best example for different viewpoints and opinions to emerge but the question of greater importance is whether a conducive atmosphere has been created for the people to freely voice their opinion and stand on any matter. The past should give an indication on where the place and the people stand on this. Create the right atmosphere, a condition wherein people are not coerced or brow beaten into toeing a certain line of thought. It is only when people are free to air their opinion and stand on pressing matters that the true essence of democracy emerges. Rights under democracy cannot be selective and it is for the rights of the people that Manipur has seen so many protests, but when these very protests are at times seen as stifling the dissenting voice, then a serious relook at the understanding of democracy is called for.
And all these factors are inter-related, with one influencing the other. As Manipur steps into 2026, the first and foremost task should be to study how to break these factors that have kept the people chained for decades. To go about this, it is important to break the chain and for this Manipur would need to do some serious homework and look at the matter from the top to the bottom and go in for a total overhaul. Throw out the old and ring in the new should be the mantra for everyone and the last three years, 2023, 2024 and 2025 should be enough for Manipur to look back, take a leaf out from the days of violence and mistrust and see how to go about taking steps into the future. Democracy, the right to dissent and have differing opinion and stand should be understood in its entirety and seen not only as the right to dissent against the policies and programmes of the Government. And Manipur offers the best example for different viewpoints and opinions to emerge but the question of greater importance is whether a conducive atmosphere has been created for the people to freely voice their opinion and stand on any matter. The past should give an indication on where the place and the people stand on this. Create the right atmosphere, a condition wherein people are not coerced or brow beaten into toeing a certain line of thought. It is only when people are free to air their opinion and stand on pressing matters that the true essence of democracy emerges. Rights under democracy cannot be selective and it is for the rights of the people that Manipur has seen so many protests, but when these very protests are at times seen as stifling the dissenting voice, then a serious relook at the understanding of democracy is called for.