by the meltingpot

The shift to military option and how it might unfold.

2012-01-26T15:26:00.004+05:30

I believe that Indian State has shifted to military option(The stories of other options are told in my last several posts).

I also strongly believe that India will attempt surgical strikes on Manipuri rebel camps inside Burmese territories.I'll come on this later in this post.

The strongest indicator for this shift came from distant Washington.Barrack Obama,in an epochal shift in US military doctrine,announced that they are scaling back in Europe and focusing in Asia to show that they are a Pacific power.Later on,we also saw the demurred acceptance of China for 'constructive' US presence in Asia.

In my mind,this epochal shift in US policy is mostly the result of intense Indian lobbying(though ackwoledging that US has its own strong interst in keeping the status quo in Asia,particularly South Asia).

The doctrine behind Indian lobbying is mostly likely to be this:Against the looming US military presence,China might cease to be active in the Grand Coaltion Against Casteist Imperialism(last update of my last post) resulting in maintaining the status quo in South Asia.

But India cannot bring about this epochal US shift solely by the above doctrine alone--it must also bring somethng on the table.It's mostly likely that,on its part,India would inflct a back-breaking military blow to Manipuri rebels(who are the active members of the Grand Coalition).

It's dizzying for me to note in real time that the Indian miltary assets(for the break-breaking blow) are being put in place under the guise of the large scale security movements of elections scheduled for 28th Jan 2012.I've neither the wherewithal nor the time to track military movements.But 2 things strongly point towards the military movements as I write this.

1)The sudden arrival of Direcdtor General of Military Operations in Imphal ostensibly for election security arrangements.

2)The unprecedented official Indian request to Burma seeking its help for the smooth conduct of Manipur elections on the 28th.This strongly points to the likley incursion of Indian military inside Burma.

I think that Indian military action is coming.

The blockades in 'animated suspensions' :the inside story and the next 2 years.

2011-11-30T21:00:00.027+05:30

At the outset,we need to take note of the timings of putting the blockades in 'animated suspensions'.The first one,by the Kukis was suspended just as Mr Chidambaram,the Union Home Minister,descended in Imphal on an official visit.The second one was suspended on the run-up to the official visit of Mr Manmohan Singh,the Prime Minister and Mrs Sonia Gandhi,the president,Indian National Congress on the 3rd of December 2011.

These timings clearly show from where the strings of the blockades were pulled(and,are going to be pulled in future).

Why should New Delhi wants to pull the strings,hiding behind the Kukis and the Nagas?There are several posts in this blog trying to answer this question.But the fact that the blockades are now in 'animated suspension'dictates us to re-state the answer.

The Casteist constituent within the Indian society is the driving force behind it.This Castiest constituent successfully outwaited both Jainism and Budhism(and,also the Dravidian movement in South India and yes,Mohandas K.Gandhi as well).For some time now,it has been on a grand design to outwait the Chinese Communist Party.That's why they have been keeping the Tibetan issue just 'alive'under the cloak of religion.As and when they sense that the Chinese Communist Party begins losing touch with the Chinese people(which may happen after several centuries--the Casteists have been patient all along--see the cases of Jainism and Budhism) they would revive the Tibetan issue and make it secede from China.(It's worth noting that the varied 'micro-outwaiting'games currently underway in the guise of peace talks hardly warrant a mention here).

This slow but incessant pace of the spectacularly successful 'outwaiting game' of the Casteist is being queered by none other than the Manipuri rebels.

Keeping this background in focus,we may now come to the inside story of the blockades.

The inside story in a nutshell--To be able to return to the comfortable and spectacularly successful path of 'outwaiting'its foes,the Casteist have just embarked on a one final effort to isolate and immobilized the Manipuri rebel group(responsible for the queering of the 'outwaiting game')and,in result,the constituent within the Manipuri society forming its bulwork.That's why they have crafted a 3-months-long blockade.Then,they leaked out the details of the 'supra state body' just in the run-up to the 47th anniversary of the oldest rebel group of Manipur.

If the Castiests fail in this final foray,they have no choice but to encounter a clear faceoff with china--which is the direct opposite of their 'outwaiting game'.(In my mind,Ms Hillary Clinton's Burma visit is less to do with Burma itself than to size up the 'Manipuri component'of this developing faceoff).

But the modus operandi of this final foray?

Basically,they simulated(by not repairing the National Highway 53 and simultaneosly
sponsoring a 3-months-long blockades on the highways and then,leaking to the media the blueprint of accedding the 'Greater Nagaland' in the form of 'supra state body' narrative) a situation whereby the oldest rebel group of Manipur would think it's the 'time' to publicly and officially announce its relationship with China.If that happens,it would go full throttle to try to isolate this rebel group(and,ultimately,the constituent forming its bulwork) and brand them as the henchmen of China(a rebel group instigated by China).Some kind of all too familiar 'foreign hand'narrative.(It also seems that the rebel group anticipated this move--that's why China accused India of 'instigating'smaller nations against it--that too,on the 24th of Nov,the birthday of the rebel group--see my last post)

But the rebel group,in its lengthy message on its 47th anniversary(the 24th of Nov),refused to bite the bait.This makes the purpose of the 3-months-long blockade redundant and,so,New Delhi instructed the Naga blockaders to lift the blockade(the 28th of Nov) .

Now,coming to Manipuri society,its Casteist constituent,unlike its counterpart in the mainland Indian society,is not,at present,the driving force behind it.But,by placing itself in tandem with its counterpart in the mainland Indian society and with the economic and political powers flowing out of New Delhi,it,nevertheless,exerts disproportionately strong influnce on the functioning of Manipuri society.By just sitting tight,it effectively drags down Manipuri society to a confusing inertia.In other words,it can outwait the progress of Manipuri society.If it can continue to do so for 2-3 decades,Manipuri society would be in a complete inertia,thus effectively checkmating the movements of the constituent forming the bulwok of the oldest rebel group.

So,the lines of the constant probings to isolate and immobilize the rebel group(and the Constituent forming its bulwork) and the'outwaiting game'of the the Casteist constituent of Manipuri society might intersect in some futre date.

But,this is a tremendously significant 'but',the Manipuri society, which is in the midst of a tightly-joined battle,is likely to encounter a faceoff with an unpredictable but potentially destabilizing factor:the age of our leader from Somdal.Our leader from Somdal,Mr Thuingalen Muivah,is now around 85 years of age but,when he reaches 88,he must be 'almost 90'.At an age which is 'almost 90',he cannot be an effective leader.So,he has got just 2 years to press forward with all his might for 'Greater Nagaland',which is another name for the gameplan of snatching away hills and mountains of Manipur.

In a scenario in which there is possibility of the hills and mountains of Manipur got snantched away,the Casteists agenda of just sitting tight,'outwaiting' any progress in Manipuri society might become untenable,which would set off a chain reaction giving leeway to the Constituent(forming the bulwork of the oldest rebel group) to move forward,which,in turn,would likely to decide whether the Casteists Constituent in the Mainland Indian Society can continue its decades old endeavour to 'outwait' the Chinese Communist Party.

The next 2/3 might as well prove to be a gamechanging ones for Manipuri Society.

UPDATE-1
4th Dec

The Prime Minister speaking at Kangla on the 3rd of Dec was very categorical about 'Supra-states body'--he said the issue was not under Central Government's consideration.

This only tells us that Mr Thuingalen Muivah and the ruling class in New Delhi are now embarking on a 'sophisticated' blockading.

I've already a post describing this.

UPDATE-2
5th Dec

As I have no cable connection(yes,I've already cut the cord!),I got no chance to see the live coverages of the speeches of the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister.I got to hear the edited version of the speeches on radio this afternoon only.

As I was listening to the speech of the Chief Minister,Mr Okram Ibobi,I could easily detect the changed tone and tenor,especially when he addressed the Central leadership sitting right there at the same platform.

Mr Okram Ibobi has changed.

Judging by one of his public speeches on one Khongjom Day celebration,he was acutely aware of the changing geo-political situation in our vicinity.

And this changing geo-political situation has also brought about an equally startling change to the Chief Minsiter.

As he has grown up politically amidst the Indian National Congress cultural milleue(ie,extreme case real politic),he seems to be acutely aware of the new power equation brought about by this changing geo-political situation.He seems to think that he can bluff his way(in,like demanding ever expanding economic packages) thorough the Delhi ruling class.

I think it's the first tangible change seen on the body of the Indian polity which has been brought about by the changing geo-political situation in our vicinity.I also think that more changes are coming.

If he carries on like this,he would have significant impact on the direction on which Manipur society would likely to take,implying that he would have signicant impact on the making of the 'Manipuri component'of the still developing faceoff between India and China.

Today is my birthday and I'm actually proud to be able to detect such a momentous change on this day.

UPDATE-3
22nd Dec

The oldest rebel group responded.

On the 20th of Dec the Indian State executed a tactical retreat.

And,on the 20th Dec itself the oldest rebel group attacked several military outposts near Burma border.

In my mind,it seems to be the classic case Mao Ze Dong dictum in action.I cannot recollect the dictum clearly but it goes on something like this:

When the enemy advances,we retreat.When the enemy retreats,we advance.

We should recollect that it was widely reported that the Kukis would again impose the blockade from 2oth Dec onward but the Indian State used the Supreme Court to announce publicly that any blockade on the highways would be cleared within 24 hours.

That made the Kukis retreat,meaning, the Indian state made a tactical retreat on the 20th of Dec.

UPDATE-4
1st Jan 2012

I would like to start the new year with a fresh re-look at myself.

In this particular post and several recent posts,I tended to veer towards the view that the still developing 'India-China faceoff' had been giving my personal and my society's day to day businesses a warlike impact(like the unavailabilty of petrol and cooking gas--I've been burning woods for my meals).

If it's only a normal and simple faceoff between two countries,my society should not have suffered this warlike impact.

So?

The only plausible reason I can think of is that Manipuri rebels have joined a grand coalition against Casteist Imperialism.

China may be an outsize,but still an equal,member of the grand coaltion.

India have been trying to break up this grand coaltion.That's why Manipuri society sufferred 120-days crippling economic blockades.That's why we cannot buy petrol and cooking gas,except in astronomical price markup.

On a personal level,I firmly beleive that every progressive citizen of this globe have the legitimate right to strike deep inside the birthplace of Casteist Imperialism.Casteist Imperialism is the new challenge faced by the whole world in this 21st Century.

The ongoing blockade:Encirclement,China and the 24th of November.

2011-11-24T22:14:00.002+05:30

What's the differnece between encirclement and blockading?

What about India encircled by China just like Imphal valley already 'encircled' by Naga blockaders sponsored by New Delhi?

Intersting thought,isn't it?

But it's more than just a thought.In a just posted commentary on Xinhua website,China actually mentioned the words 'encirclement of India,though it said that 'India is living under delusion that China was out to encircle it'.

Here is the link.

To my knowledge,it's the first time China has ever used the words 'encirclement of India' in an official commentary.

And,China is doing this on the 24th of November.

The ongoing blockade:New Delhi's Plan B and the uncharted territory

2011-11-07T16:16:00.011+05:30

The Union Home Minsiter of India descended(a few days back for a one-night stay)in Imphal with a well-prepared Plan B.

That he(as a representative of the rulers in New Delhi) did have a Plan B means that his visit in Imphal marked the beginning of the rolling out of New Delhi's big gamble of entering an uncharted territory.

As any move in New Delhi have direct impact in Manipur,its people are,unwittingly,dragged into a journey towards an uncharted territoty as well.

THE PLAN B.

First,why the Plan B?

Because the rulers in New Delhi are conscious that they are betting on a big gamble.Anything can happen.So,they want a safety valve,an escaped route firmly in place as they begin their Devilish journey towards the uncharted territoty.

The existence of the Plan B is revealed by the presence of Mr Prakash Karat,the leader of CPI(M),in Imphal on the same days Mr Chidambaram,the Home Minister in Delhi,stayed here in Imphal.

As it happened,Mr Chidambaram steadfastly avoided the media while Mr Karat was too eager to cozy up with it.

Mr Chidambaram,the Home Minsiter did nothing to lift the more than 3 months ecenomic
blockades on the highways which is choking off the flow of essential commodities all over the State,particularly the valley area.His inaction,calculated or therwise,have the unfortunate and indirect impact of encouraging and supporting the blockaders.

Encouraging and supporting the blockadeers by none other than the Union Home Minsister?

Well,Mr Karat was right there in front of the media implying exactly that when he spelled out how Chidambaram was doing nothing and was,in fact,neglecting and turning a blind eye towards the plight of the citizens as they struggle with the astronomical price rise because of the economic blockade.

This is where the need of a Plan B comes in.If things go out of control,Mr Karat(and the rest of the ruling class in New Delhi and the rest of India) would say it was because of an individual named Chidamabaram(and of one party called the Indian National Congress)--they are the culprits--their fault--but the rest of India is still a friend of Manipur.

Mr Chidabaram and Mr Karat were acting on a fully thought out script.

(As it turned out,it's sad to note that Comrade Karat was not there as a CPI-M leader but as a fellow conspirator of Mr Chidambaram,the Home Minister.And it's also sad to note that Comrade Karat was selectd by New Delhi exactly because the citizenry of Manipur,more or less,have some trust in the integrity of the leaders of the CPI-M.Obviously,Comrade Karat have to forego his party and his own personal integrity because he was on an overinding 'national security mission' in Manipur.Sad.Sad.)

THE UNCHARTED TERRITORY.

Giving a fresh lease of life to an already 3-months running economic blockade is certainly a clear case of stepping into an uncharted territory.

That's exactly what Mr Chidambaram's Imphal visit had achieved.

The blockadeers,who recieve direct intructions from the Naga rebel group,NSCN-M,which is currently on a 10-years running peace talk with New Delhi,have,in the last few days,been reinforced with newer signals that they have Mr Chidambaram (and the rulers in New Delhi) on their side.

But why should New Delhi support the 3-months running ecenomic blockade?

It's because New Delhi is fully convinced that the direction-shifting battle in the fight with China lies in Imphal Valley,which is currently blockaded continously for 99 days now.This point is fully discussed here here and here.

How the ongoing blockade would give New Delhi its much needed strategic win?

New Delhi is deploying all political and diplomatic skills in its armoury to hide behind the Naga blockaders so that the ire of the citizenry would be directed towards the Nagas.That would certainly result in an ethnic war.New Delhi is zeroing in to that ethnic war.Because in that scenario,the rebels of Manipurs,who have evidently a good working relations with Beijing, would have their hands so full managing the crisis that they would no time for relations with Beijing.

I believe that,in the advent of an ethnic war,the Manipur society would be in a complete disarray and thus, would be completely paralysed.

New Delhi,by hiding behind the Naga blokadeers,are aiming for no less than the complete paralysis of Manipuri society.

But New Delhi is missing on one very crucial point.

The present ground reality is the Naga blockaders have a complete sway on one National Highway,called NH 37.To be really effective,the blockaders have to have a complete control over another National Highway,called the NH 53,through which the Govt of Manipur in bringing in essential commodities at great cost(now the queues in the retailing outlets for petrol are 4 kms long--imagine consumers in 4 kms long queues!).I know it would evoke total disbelief when I say this:the Prime Minister of the largest democracy of the world came to the rescue of the blockadeers.But it is fully detailed here.

The upkeep and maintenance of the National Highway 53 is being looked after by the Border Roads Organisation(BRO),which is directly under Ministry of Defence,Union of India.Repeated attempts by the Govt of Manipur to transfer the job to it Public Works Deptt were vetoed by the Defence Ministry.The BRO made a lot of noise and is still keeping the highway in a terrible condition.As it stands now,a few weeks of rain would render the highway unfit for light traffic,leave aside heavy trucks.

On one highway,New Delhi is sponsoring a total blockade via the Nagas and on the other,an organisation under it direct control is making the road unfit for traffic.

A lot has happened regarding this National Highway 53.The Govt of Manipur and a number Civil Society Organisations has petitioned the Prime Minister and many other power players but nothing has materialized.

So much so that the general citizenry has already begun to suspect that soemthing
'extraordinary' is undergoing in NH53.As of now,in my mind,they are refusing to believe that any responsible power centre,be it Imphal or New Delhi or for that,anywhere in the world,would stoop so low as to refuse to repair the highway facilitating the success of an economic blockade,trapping 2 million people inside a tiny valley.They are in denial mode.

Yes,the general citizenry of Manipur is in denial mode--they remain silent beacuse of this but not beacuse they are being intimidated by the Devilish design by New Delhi.I think New Delhi misses on this subtle but crucial point.

As we start entering the unchartered territory,the newly experienced sgnals,impulses and the general ambience might evoke a series of responses within the general citizenry to enable itself to lift the veil of denial and to reveal to itself the true nature what New Delhi actually is.(It is exactly at this point of time that New Delhi hopes to let the Plan B kicked in,presenting Mr Chidambaram and the Indian National Congress as the scapegoats).

I even don't like to mention the only other possible scenario as we start entering the unchartered territory--the ethnic war.I truly hope that we won't come down to that lowly level.

But,as was mentioned earlier,anything can happen because we are being forced into an
unchartered territoy.

Ongoing blockade---Instructions from New Delhi.

2011-09-21T20:00:00.007+05:30

This may sound a bit dramatic but let me say it---

How is Manipuri society's destiny got so tangled up with the ongoing blockade?

We are talking about our destiny because the hardships heaped on us, and the profound questions thrown up, by this ongoing blockade may help us open up our eyes to the true personality of the Indian State in action.Once the majority of our populace reach that point,we may come face to face with our destiny.

On the 51st day of the ongoing economic blockade, let me make a list of the intructions sent down by New Delhi to the blockade sponsors.

In other words,the list portrays the dirty war being waged by the Indian State against the helpless and innocent people of Manipur.

1)The first is not exactly the intruction sent down to the blockade sponsors but nontheless an instruction.

I can't the remember the date but it was in the early days of the ongoing blocakde when Assam Rifles sepoys beat up blockade supporters on the highway 39.There was a huge commotion in the Sardar hills in protest against the AR sepoys.

New Delhi instructed the AR to show the way to the Manipuri society by its example:BEAT UP THE BLOCKADE SUPPORTERS AND OPEN UP THE BLOCKADE.

2)The second episode is also similar to the first one but this time Assam Rifles convoys promised safe passage to some Manipuri truckers by letting them mingle with the AR trucks on the NH39.But they somehow let the blockade supporters burn down 4 trucks.

Then, they again beat up some blockade supporters.

This time--more passionate case of leading by example:BEAT UP THE BLOCKADE SUPPORTERS AND OPEN UP THE BLOCKADE.

3)This was 3rd September 2011.And it was in Keithelmanbi.

As a positive response to the appeal made personally in a public meeting held in Sardar hills by the president of a prominent civil Society organization,the last of the series of public meeting called by the Sardar Hills district Demand Committee in Keithelmanbi announced the suspension of the econonmic blockade.Even as it was being announced,suddenly there arose a fracas within the meeting.And,the announcement was kept in abeyance so that it could be confirmed by the following day.

It was a clear case of an intruction to scuttle the announcement by New Delhi to the
underground outfits currently engaged in Suspension of operation with it.

It is to be noted here that from the beginning of the series of public meetings in four different places(the last being Keithelmanbi),there was a very positive vibe that the economic blockade might be suspended.So, the Indian STate had got a plenty of time to prepare the instruction to scuttle the announcement in Keithelmanbi.

4)12th September 2011.

The Sardar Hills District Demand Committee announced that the existing Sardar Hills
boundary should be kept in tact--no redrawing,no tweaking.

This is huge change in the stance of the Committee.

Previously,in all the public meetings(in even one held in Imphal)they wanted district first--boundary question could be discussed later on.

Now,it's not the question of districthood---but the question of "Kuki land".

On another instruction from New Delhi,the functioning of the Committee was hijacked by the underground elements and the demand for a districthood morphed into an ethnic issue.

5)15th September 2011.

Mr P Chidambaram,the Home Minister,Union Of India,daintily came out to the floor of the conference of top cops in New Delhi and heartily announced that his Union has just now begun to face the newest problem--BLOCKADE ON THE HIGHWAYS.

It took the very presence of the honorable Home Minister himself to give blessings to their henchsmen on the highways of Manipur!Come on,New Delhi!!

6)20th September 2011.

As if to celebrate the 50th day of the blockade,Mr Wungnaoshang Keishing,the Phungyar MLA,began running front page ads in major Imphal dailies.

We have to remember here(as my last post had discussed in detail) that the ongoing blockade aka the newest dirty war by the Indian State,was enunciated by an instruction given to Mr Keishing.Now, we have just seen Mr Keishing recieving the second instruction.

So,what might be the second instruction by New Delhi to Mr Keishing?

Provocations on the highways won't do. Now,bring the provocations to the heart of Imphal Valley--Konung Lampak(Palace compound).

So,Mr Keishing dutifully announced in his ads a political conference of Phungyar
constituency at Konung Lampak on the 5th of October 2011!He is inviting 'headsmen,pastors,leaders of the students union and women union,social workers and well wishers of the Phungyar constituency'.

The ads continue their second day run on the front pages of today's major dailies.

Amidst the dramatic price rises,so much uncertainties and so much pent-up feelings,a lone ranger might throw a rock towards the conference.Then,a minor scuffle.Then,a bigger one.Then,somebody might get hurt and then,God forbid it,somebody might get killed.Then,we have the spark of an ethnic clash.

Clearly,Mr Keishing is instructed to aim for that spark in Konung Lampak--the spark so far proving illusive despite such intensive and prolonged provocations on the highways.

New Delhi is becoming desperate for a spark of an ethnic war in Manipur.

The ongoing blockades--the Chanakya-esque ploy to drive a wedge between Manipuri society and China

2011-08-21T11:38:00.004+05:30

We have now twin blockades--enforced on all highways both by the Nagas and the Kukis.

We are facing the prospect of the tightest blockade ever witnessed in recent times by this tiny valley of ours.

But we also notice 2 crucial differnetiating characteristics in the present blockades:

1.Both are carefully crafted in New Delhi.

2.Both the blockades can be called off in a short notice because they are concerned with the relatively small matter of creation of a district.

New Delhi is testing if the tightest ever blockade of Imphal Valley result in another Gilgit Batistan.

If there materializes another Gilgit Batistan,New Delhi would instruct the Kukis to
immediately call off the blockade(because New Delhi can act swiftly in a matter as simple as creation of a district).

In the above scenario,the Chinese would land themselves in a situation which will look foolish to the rest of the amused world.

But New Delhi is not interested in painting the Chinese as foolish.There is more subtle goal.

If the Chinese land themselves in the above situation,it would be solely because of the wrong inputs from the Imphal Valley.Then the chinese would have no option but to
recalibrate the Manipuri society--the inputs from Manipuri society is at best unreliable and the Manipuri society itself is at best kept in a distance.

Thus,New Delhi would succeed in driving a wedge between the Chinese and the Manipuri
society.

I can come this far because I 'jumped' to the conclusion that the ongoing blocakes are 'carefully crafted in New Delhi'.There is every likelyhood of any people thinking that I did actually 'jump to the conclusion'if we remember that the demand for a district in Sardar Hills is a 40 years old demand,which even the Chief Minister had publicly announced as being 'justified'.

To clarify this point,we need to revisit the chronology of the events of the last few weeks:

1)On the 23rd July 2011,Mr Pranab Mukherjee announced 1 trillion USD investment in NE,which can be inferred to as a round about way of giving notice to China by India that India together with US can outspend China in every field including military spending.(My last post).

2)On the 30th July 2011,a Chinese military patrol in Arunachal Pradesh pulled down 200m long wall erected by the Indian military.This demolition of the wall prompted a formal lodging of a protest by the Indian milatry to the Chinese military.And, this is important,the Indian military immediately built up the 200m wall all over again.

In demolishing the wall,the Chinese are responding to Mr Pranab Mukherjee's notice--they are not responding in empty words but in concrete action.

3)On the 1st August 2011,the blockade by the Kukis started.

4)This is the game changing episode in our chronology.On the 18th of August the military headquarters in New Delhi broke the news of the demolition of the wall by the Chinese patrol.(This PTI news was carried on the 19th August issue of Poknapham--it's on page 2)

Why 18th of August?

It's because the Kuki leaders spearheading the blockade were in New Delhi meeting the President of India and the Home Minsiter,P.Chidambaram.Why so much readiness in lending ears to the group of people demanding a mere district admimistration by none other than the President of India herself?In contrast, the Chief Minister was made to cool his heals for several days in trying to meet the Home Minister.

All these things do not add up.

Unless,we try to see it as another round about way of sending another notice--you responded by demolishing the wall--now,we respond by blockading your darling Imphal Valley.

5)On the 21st August 2011,another blockade by the Nagas started.

Ironicaly,this 5th and the last episode makes us to see the begiining.

It turns out that Mr Wungnaoso Keishing, the Phungyar MLA worked closely with the Naga Lim people.They worked together with a carefully crafted plan in hand.

First,Mr Keishing was made to plead the Chief Minister for establishing a district
administration in Phungyar.It came out publicly that the chief Minsiter was ready to hand out the district to Mr Keishing.

Then,the Naga Lim people made a public show of not liking the idea.They even ambushed Mr Keishing,ever careful not to hurt Mr Keishing himself.They killed 6 people in the ambush,all non-Nagas except one.Careful planning,isn't it?

Then, feelers were made to be sent to the Kukis in Sardar Hills by using the Kuki groups engaged in Suspension of Operation with the Indian Military--the Chief Minister is ready to create new districts--so, why not longstanding Sardar Hills district?

All these careful crafting of the grand plan is not possible without the direct involvement of New Delhi.

Here comes the definitive battleline of the 21st Century.

2011-07-24T23:08:00.011+05:30

1 trillion USD,by any count,is huge.
(If I start spending 1 million USD,roughly Rs 4.4 crores,everyday for the next 2000 years,I would be able to spend only three quarters of a trillion dollar!On the macro level,we have already seen that the US,which has almost half a billion population and the world's largest economy,needed only about 1 trillion dollar infusion,in the shape of TARP, to check the downward spiral of its economy).

Now, Mr Pranab Mukherjee,the Indian Finance Minister,has just announced that the Central Government in New Delhi would invest 1 trillion dollars in the NE India's infrastructure,mainly roads and communications!

And,Mr Mukherjee chose 23rd of July,which is a hugely momentous day for Manipur, to make the announcement!!He did it on purpose to send out the message that this 1 trillion dollar is the direct response to Gilgit Batistan.

If one puts 1 trillion dollars justaposed to NE India,everybody would be initially assailed by the sense of disbelief and then,finally,blown away by a shock wave.To prevent this,Mr Pranab Mukherjee visited Washington 3 weeks ago and publicly announced the Indian Government's invitation for 1 trillion USD investment for India's infrastructure.Even then,when 1 trillion USD was put justaposed to the infrastructure of the whole of India,there was that sense of disbelief.Who would bring in that kind of money for India's infrastructure?

Three weeks later Secretary of State,Ms Hillary Clinton came to India and after some days of her departure,Mr Pranab Mukherjee announced that that 1 trillion dollars is meant for only NE India and half of that money(ie,500 billion dollars) would come from private sector.If this 'private sector'do not mean US Government-fronted US companies,asking 500 billion dollars as private funding for NE India from anywhere in the globe would only invite smirks and ridicules.So, is this the case of Secretary Clinton giving the go ahead to Minister Mukherjee?

Let's move back in one week's time.There we would find that US sudenly suspending US aids to Pakistan.Then,came the arrest of Mr Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai by FBI.These two events make us stand up and ask:Is US ditching Pakistan as a strategic ally?More pertinently,can US make both Pakistan and India as strategic allies?

To answer this question,we have to go back to the time when the Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka was inflicted a crushing military defeat.Amidst the dust and din of that short war there stood out one significant news:Pakistan supplied military hardware to the Lankan military for the war and there were senior Pakistani military officer 'advising' its Lankan counterpart on the ground.Pakistani strategic thinkers were then betting on a very significant scenario:if they helped the Sri Lankan military in bringing about a crushing military to the LTTE,then the Tamil separatists would have no other options but to shift their base to Tamil Nadu state of India.If one can add Tamil Nadu to the same league as that NE and Kashmir,we would have a vastly altered strategic scenario in the IOndian sub-continent.

In other words,there are very active strategic thinkers in the vicinity of the Indian nation who are betting on the implosion of the Indian nation.

(Did Secretary Clinton get the intel that the shift of base LTTE had already happened?Is this reason why she ditched Bangalore and Mumbai and landed in Chennai to talk pluralism and Sri Lanka?Is this the message she wanted to send out--'Tamils of the world,don't go for the implosion of India'?)

Now,we return to our question:Can US make both Pakistan and India as her strategic allies?The answer is no because Pakistan is going full steam for the implosion of India.US may not much care for the implosion of India per se but it desperately need (a non-imploded)India as a solid counterweight to china.

With US putting 500 billion dollars on the table and with Al Qaeda being pushed into a corner and with the still deeloping Arab Spring in hand,it is now certain that US has just made a historic change in its foreign policy priority--Islamic terrorism comes down to the second place with the containment of China moving up the no 1 slot(with the ripple effect of ditching Pakistan as a strategic ally).

India and US has just committed to jointly and equally spent 1 trillion USD in our homeground to start the containment of China(or,in other words,to start the prevention of implosion of India).We are being sucked into the world of multi-faceted American and Indian strategy of containment of china.

Having come this far,it's now easy to conclude:for both India and US it's worth more than a trillion dollar to contain China.

Now,in our home ground,we have at hand a poignant scenario:on one the hand,there are Indian operatives moving so unobtrusively(so succesful in preventing shock waves to all concerned) and,on the other hand,there is one aging leader fron Somdal,who is so thick skinned not to sense all these world shaking changes taking place around him.

Unknown to our leader from Somdal and lay citizenry of Nagaland,'Nagalim'is a sure recipe for the spark for the implosion of the Indian nation.(My old posts on the home page of this blog).

Now,it's my turn to admit this:it makes me suddenly weary to say this--the definitive battleline of the 21st century is being drawn right under our own nose.

And,it runs directly in the middle of this tiny valley of ours.

UPDATE-1
28-07-11

By now,it's clear that there is something fishy about Mr Pranab Mukherjee and the 1 trillion USD.

I think I need to elaborate on the context in which I wrote the original post.

I was nursing a cold on the 24th.From early morning onwards,I simply switched on the radio and tried to get some rest(staring at the computer screen gave me headache).

During the discussion on the headlines of Imphal dailies on 7.30 am news bulletin on AIR imphal,1 trillion USD was laready mentioned along with the 200 million USD as road development project from ADB.

I was stunned at the mention of the 1 trillion USD.

On the FM channel of AIR Imphal,1 trillion USD was mentioned all throughout the news headlines of the day.

Now,cut to night.

I was preparing supper with the radio still playing.There came Samachar Sandhya and it mentioned the 1 trillion USD.Then, the News at Nine--1 trillion USD was still there.

By now,I was totally intrigued.

But,as I was stunned by the magnitude of the money involved,I had in mind to check the veracity of the news on the Web the next morning.

As I was thinking like this,there came Spotlight.They featured a discussion on the 1 trillion USD investment in NE.The discussants were Mr Vir Bhadra Singh,the former Governor and one Sharma,a senior journalist.

After hearing out the discussion,I could not wait for next morning.I quickly ate my supper and wrote the original post.

I was excited at the idea of beating the establishe media,which I throughly expected,would be all splattered by the news next morning.

UPDATE-2
29-07-11

Now,how come the news was blanked out in all news channels?

we are presented with two scenarios here:

1)The wise men and women of the editorial offices of media house across India were quick to see through the 1 trillion dollar crap(pun intended) of Mr Pranab Mukherjee.

OK.It's fine.

But if they were quick to come that position,why didn't they expose the crap fo the number two man in UPA2,who is virtually the deputy prime minister?

Besides the normal duty of exposing such craps,I think there are sizable body within the media fraternity who would be in glee to get the golden chance of going after Mr Mukherjee for his faux pas and demanding axing him from the government.

That did not happen.

2)The second scenario is that the ruling class in New Delhi quitely sounded out the 'heads' of the media houses(through back channel)not to publish the news."Our NATIONAL INTEREST is at stake",they might might have said in persuading the media houses not to publish the news(so as to make it a Manipur-only news--Manipuri dailies did publish it).

This may seem to be an extreme viewpoint.

But we have to remember two things here:

---when confronted with the matters of NATIONAL INTERST(like NE) there is no Indian journalist,no Indian politician,no Inidan businessman,no Indian diplomat,no Indian intellectual--they are just a monolithic Bharatya bloc.

---All thses are possible because India is a young nation-only 66 years old.

The Indian politicians can still harness the energies(is it patriotism?) spewed out at the formative moment of the nation.

Personally,I'll put my money on the second scenario.

If we are to accept the second scenario and we re-read this update together with the original post,it would be crystal clear that the sole objective of '1 trillion USD' is to send out threats to Manipuri society.They are saying--if Manipuri society dares to bank on China for its course of action,we will rope in US and together,we would be more than a match for China.They are saying--beware,we are willing to sink as much as 1 trillion USD.

The ruling class in New Delhi is threatening the Manipuri society.

UPDATE--3
31-o7-ii

Coming as an update,this might seem to be an afterthought.But it is not.I thought of incorporating this in my original post but I decided that it would make the post too long and make to lose its focus.

Let's make a list:
Iran,Germany,Egypt,France,India.

I always think that there is some underlying bond amongst these countries.They seem to send out one common identifying characteristic.

What might be that characteristic?

I've been trying to find that answer for so many years.Do all of these countries exhibit the 'middle kingdom' syndrome?Is it the identifying characteristic of these countires?

Even if we have to accept it as true,still a question remains to be settled--"what about the original 'middle kingdomness' and Mandarinate"?

I think the differntiating factor here is the Great Helmsman,Mao Ze Dong(whom even the skeptical Henry Kissinger was forced to ackwoledged as a 'philosopher'!).Mao Ze Dong administerd a crucial shock therapy to the Chinese society.And the Chinese changed(and still is changing).

Thus 'shock therapied' and changing China is more likely to gel with USA(than with Iran,France or India).The reason is that USA is basically a country steeped in Anglo-Saxon tradition which is getting the succour from the timeless Magna Carta.

US and China would have immense compettion betweenthe two of them but still be complementary to each other.Their competition would be characterized by resource and goodwill hunting in Africa and Latin America,cutting-edge cyber wars and the race to space(like the mining of the Moon).But at the end of the day,they would still be complementary to each other.

In contrast,India is a country which is actively exporting casteism all throughout the globe.It is fashionable for every Indian to denounce the Caste System but when they come back to their homes they would gleefully experience casteism in action in the interactions with their 'naukars'.There is 180 degrees differnce between what are known as domestic helps,maids,nannies or baby sitters and what the Indian call the naukars.The relation between the naukars and their Indian master is still acutely medieval and racist.

Unknown to the educated,forward-looking and modern Indians,casteim is firmly etched in their sub-conscious--unconsciously,they are practising casteim in all small things of their daily chores.

Two countries,one so steeped in Casteism and the other,enlightened by the tiemless Magan Carta,have zero common ground to work together.Incidence of the moment,like the containment of China,would be a too fleeting factor to bring any long term comraderie between the two.

In this contexr,it is quite safe to say that USA will desert India at the crucial juncture,when India is beginning to face the make or break moment as the rebellions in its rims start getting critical mass.

UPDATE--4
02-08-11

This is better be the last update of this post.
(How come so many updates keep popping up in my head!!)

I should be brief.

Would the combined stregth of the ruling classes of New Delhi and Washington dare to spend 1 trillion USD here?Would they dare?

In the eventuality when they start looking beyond cooking up empty threats and looking to walk the talk,they would trample upon a subtle subtext.

The SUBTEXT:If New Delhi and co actually start spending such huge money here,it would send out a loud and clear message to all concerned:"The centripetal force in New Delhi is getting nervous and becoming shaky"

So,the above 'all concerned' would most likely to think like this--"As the centripetal force is becoming shaky,we should better be ready for our own footings,our own futures".

Would they dare to spend 1 trillion USD here?
(One prominent civil society organisation called for the reliving of 4th of August rally marking the protest of extension of ceasefire inside Manipur and then,here is a bomb blast all of a sudden,killing 5 innocent people.It's the direct result of letting assault rifles carrying men and women take the law into their hands and of drilling into the Naga minds that Manipuri society is the cause of the failure of the decade old peace talk.This is the direct result of the rule of casteist and racist minds.The rest of the world,especially the US,would be getting to know all such sordid scheme of things hatched by the casteist and racist Indian minds and India would be a pariah in due course of time).

Personally,I can't wait to see if they dare to spend 1 trillion USD here.

The 10th of June and China

2011-06-13T14:49:00.002+05:30

The Poknapham daily of Imphal, quoting PTI,ran an innocuos looking two-lines news on its 11th June 2011 issue.The news,on its page no 2,headlines as 'China does not support India's Maoist'.My translation for the 2 lines--

"Expressing its disapproval of the Left Wing Extremist,who are trying to overthrow the (Indian) State,Communist Party of China today stated that China has no lines of communications with the Maoists.

In one of the rare press briefings for the foreign media in Beijing,Vice Minsiter,Ai Ping,who is also a top official of CPC,said- 'CPC does not communicate with unlawful and violent Extremists'."

As they are 2 lines only,I would quote verbatim the Poknapham's story in Manipuri as well--

" Sarkar uthainaba haiduna Left Wing Extremists groupssingna khutlai paiduna ihou houba amadi hingsa touba asi yaningde,Indiada khutlai paiduna lan houriba Maoistsingga Chinaga e-pao phaonaba leite haina ngasi sarkar pairiba Communist Party of China(CPC)na phondok-khre/

Beijingda foreign mediagidamak sinkhiba yamna tangna thokpa briefing amada CPCgi top officialsu oiriba Chinagi Vice Minister,Ai Pingna 'CPCdi ainna yadaba,hingsagi thabak touba Extremistsingga pao phaonade' haina phongdok-khre/"

As we have to read Poknapham's stories as PDF files I don't like going there and hence,no links here.But they have their site at www.poknapham.in.The particular story was on the issue dated 11th June 2011 and it was on page no 2.

The sine quo non of this post is the 10th of June. In my mind,the Commumist Party of China is trying to send profound messages when they held 'one of the rare press briefings for foreign media' on the 10th of June to talk specifically about the Maoists of India.There is need for figuring out what the 10th of June is.

Meanwhile,I'll proceed further.

Any discerning reader of Imphal dailies can vouchsafe for this--all the actors in Manipur's social and political space agree that there is no other practical steps as the response to the impending blockades of Imphal Valley(my last post) except for taking steps to make the international community to speak out,and if possible,to take actions,against it.

Yes,as my last post have dealt with in depth,the Chinese soldiers in Gilgit Batistan is one of the actions taken by international community,may be,by a part of the International community.As I said in that post,it's the early days for the competing interest groups comprising the Meetei society to have,or,in many cases,trying to have,any 'communications'with the international community.Yes,Gilgit Batistan bears testinomy to the fact that one, or the formations, of the interst groups,have succeeded in establishing that 'communications'with the international community.Now,its natural that other competing interest groups should scramble to have such 'comunications'with the international community.

Again,any discerning reader of Imphal dailies can vouchsafe for this--many inetrest groups are trying to establish the 'communications'with the international community by lobbying the Maoists who are labelled as Left Wing Extremists by the Indian State.

As in all other societies,the Meetei society is not homogenous--it's the equilibrium of the networks of competing interest groups.Mainly because of the political journey of the last 50-60 years,some of the interest groups are more comfortable with things,norms and ideas of our immediate Western neighbourhood.That's why they are lobbying the Maoists for that crucial 'communications'with the international community.

These interest groups are travelling in direct opposite to the way propounded by the Puyas since several centuries--'The Eastern Gate should be opened',in other words,all the roads(including the steps to establish 'communications'with the international community) should lead towards the East.

Now, the rebuff for those interest groups comes directly from Beijing.Beijing now categorically states that they have no 'communications'with the Maoist of India.

Ah!the Puyas!!

I stand amazed at the farsighted musings of the Puyas.

Now,it's out in the open:the Prime Minister is the prime mover in plans to blockade Imphal valley

2011-06-05T13:10:00.006+05:30

It has taken the whole weight of the high prestige of the office of the prime Ministership itself and the high-voltage charade of review of the 'incomplete projects of Manipur'to push down the yet another deadline of repairing the the National Highway 53 or Jiri Lambi to 2013.

With the personal supervision of its own Prime Minsiter,the Indian State,on the sly,awarded itself with another two and half years to engineer a ethnic war between the Meeteis and the Nagas(my last post).

The Prime Minster of the largest democracy of the world has just stooped so low to personally supervise the clubbing of the repairing the Jiri Lambi with the larger 'projects' of Manipur so that they can NOW say that some components of the 'projects',by dints of their size(total budget,Rs3500 crores),like the building of State Assembly,make headways while some others,like the repairing of the Jiri Lambi,lag behind.

If we re-read the following old posts of this blog,it would be quite cleat that the Meetei society has just started reasserting its rightful geo-political role,however niche it might be,in the context of the whole Asian scene.Their first few steps brought thousands of Chinese soldiers very near to the borders of the Indian State in the Gilgit Batistan region of Kashmir.This presents us the prognosis:the re-assertion the rightful geo-political role by the Meetei society is likely to bring forward,as Mao Ze Dong was wont to say,"world -shaking events".

Now, the Indian State is putting its all out efforts to nip this re-assertion of the Meetei society in the bud. The surest(and the most cost effective) way to achieve this is to force the Meetei society to get bogged down in a debilitating ethnic war with the Nagas,courtesy of the personal agenda of the Naga leader called Mr Thuingalen Muivah.The key components of this evil plan lies in the health of the two National Highways--NH 39 And NH 53.The Nagas have the complete control over NH 39 and the Indian State is going to complete the circle by not making the other Highway,NH 53,motorable.

The degree of nervousness of the Indian state can be gauged by the presence of so many senior cabinet ministers in the high-voltage charade termed the 'review meeting' chaired by the Prime Minsiter himself at his Race Course Road official residence.

But for the poor common people of this tiny valley,it does not matter much how and why the highest political officer of the Indian state was stagemanaging a charade or by the numbers of the grey heads of the cabinet ministers in the charade or by the meaningless number like 2013.All the same, they would be held prisoners in their households by the ever-tightening blockades in the two highways by the Nagas,with the constant blessings from the Indian state.

When that crunch come,the common people of the tiny valley might start making the first step in re-looking the ever-present entity called the Indian State.

Is it the largest democracy in the world espousing the ideals of unversal franchise and federalism?

Is it the inheritor of a civilization which constantly reminds us with its dispassionate search of the atman?

Is it the inheritor of the evil itself which condon the scheming to blocade a tiny valley by its highest political executive in,as Tehelka would have put it,in plain sight?!

If they come this far,they might even deign to remember their long forgotten but rightful geo-political role in Asia, giving a new life to this question--

Is it the right time to use this rightful geo-political tool to exorcise the evil called the Indian state,which at the moment is scheming to blockade a tiny valley called Imphal in ..er..well..well..let's say it,PLAIN SIGHT?!!

It was in New Delhi(somewhere in Race Course Road!) and it was in PLAIN SIGHT!!

The Indian State is venturing into blockading Imphal Valley

2010-09-07T16:19:00.000+05:30

It might sound totally surreal to the normal citizen of the world but the Indian State is actually planning to blockade the Imphal valley.

True,the dirty and visible blockading would still be undertaken by the Nagas. But the Indian State would try to magnify the impact of the blockade by not properly maintaining the other National highway,namely,the National Highway 53.

The still unfolding drama tells us that the Indain State would give a lot of lip services to the repair works of the National Highway no 53 but would do nothing concrete.As and when the Nagas calls for a blockade in the National Highway no 39,the decibel of the lip services would grow leaps and bound--there might be a lot of photo-ops of some patchy repair works currently taken up at the time,that too,by the lenses of specially invited media men.Simultaneously,there would be headline-grabbing announcements of how the Indian State is providing 'security' to the truck convoys in the highways to break the blockade by the Nagas.

But,they would do nothing to make the National Highway 53 to be reasonably motorable.

The Indian state's ultimate objective is to widen what the Prime Minister termed the 'Meitei-Naga divide'.

If we shed aside politics for a moment,then it would be crystal clear that the Indian State is venturing into something that's completely immoral.

This time the immorality of the Indian State would have had direct and visible impact on the bottomline of every household of the Imphal valley and the surrounding hills and mountains.This time the immorality of the Indian State would seriously test the ability of the every household to keep its hearth burning. One hint--a cooking gas cylinder which normally sells for around Rs 300/- is still selling at around Rs 1500/-.

I'm using the words 'This time..'because the other immoral acts of the Indian State like the draconian law,AFSPA and the resultant 9-years long fast by Irom Sharmila have had its impact on the newspaper headlines and the elitist discussions.They have had no impact on the bottomline of the common households.

The line of the shrinking bottomline of the common households of the Imphal valley and the surrounding hills and mountains and the another line of the immorality of the Indian State would likley to intersect on the dusty and windy National Highway 53,which is commonly known as Jiri Lambi.

That point of intersection would likely to be a flashpoint.

We have already have some hints on the scale of the coming flashpoint.

If we travel back two weeks from now,we would remember that some transporters' union gave the deadline of August 31 for the State government to spell out some clear policy on National Highway 53.

Just around 31st August,the news started to trickling in that the chinese had deployed more than 10,000 soldier in gilgit region of the Indian State calls the 'Pakistan occupied Kashmir'.The news was broken by none other than New York Times,which said that the Chinses deployment is to oversee the construction of highway there.

Concidence? Is it??

At the extreme East of the Indian sub-continent the Indian State is trying to use a highway to feed the widening of the 'Meitei-Naga divide'---at another extreme North-West point,the Chinese are deploying thousands of soldiers to build a highway.

India vs China:Manipur's rebels in spotlight

2010-07-08T19:43:00.002+05:30

Three US nuclear submarines,retrofitted to carry nearly 200 cruiise missiles each,surfaces,near simultaneously,in the waters,very close to China. The US naval commander said that the near simultaneous three way acts were executed to send home the message that the US is wholeheartedly into the business of playing the role of 'balancer' in the region.

Here is the TIME's full story detailing the three naval shows by the US.

A week after this US naval episode which took place in the last week of June,a very unusual story emanated from New Delhi.Mr Shiv Shankar Menon, the National Security Advisor,would be going to China as a special envoy of the Prime Minister of India! Something's happening,isn't it?

REading together,it's quite clear that New Delhi is trying to emphatically send the message to China that there is a very determined 'balancer'in the strongest nation of the world,the US and so, china should not do anything to disturb the 'balance'in South Asia,more specifically,in the NE Region of India.

Now,the million dollar question: Did China recently do anything to disturb the 'balance'in South Asia?

The answer: China did nothing except the ZHAN LUE ARTICLE.

Here is a link to my take on ZHAN LUE ARTICLE.

Reading together with my last post,it is quite clear that script for the naval showmanship of the US and Mr MEnon as the special envoy of the Prime Minsiter of India was written during the recent Indo-US strategic talk(my last post).

So,what should we deduct from all these?

The answer: Behind all the media glare,Manipur's rebels have quitely jumped into the spotlights of the current and active dossiers of the strategic operatives and thinkers of all the national capitals of the world.

Mass uprising amidst the shift of Asia's strategic equilibrium?

2010-06-03T17:33:00.001+05:30

We have in front of our eyes the dramatic shift of Asia's strategic equilibrium.

China raised the issue of Tibet,which the Indian state perceived to be breach in protocol and a clear snub to diplomatic overtures.

The Indian state was quick to up in its feet and despatch its Foreign Mionister to Washington,without even waiting for its President to return to its Capital.

India-US strategic is now underway in Washington,mostly in closed-door sessions.

The Indain State went all out to to hide the festering wounds in NE Region immediately aftermath the Zhan Lue article,which specifically mentioned that China could give helps to rebels of Assam and Nagaland.They tried to to do by arresting all but one leaders of the Assamese rebels,all from locations in a foreign country.That accomplished they turned towards Nagaland,feelng jittery by the moves of China and a little bit impatient to wrap up the longest running peace talk with the Naga rebels.The Naga rebel leaders together with the who's who of Naga political and social leaders are quick to get winds that the Indain state is jittery and impatient to wrap up the peace talk.Their immediate reaction:the fianl and all-out push to include at least some parts of the mountains of Ukhrul in the coming peace agreement.

All these developments result in a profound and totally unexpected possibility:the POSSIBILITY of mass uprising in the Imphal valley,as was witnessed in 18th June 2001,which waw the spontaneous reaction to include the hills and mountains surrounding the valley in the Indo-Naga peace talk.

Part of the Indian state's effort to hide the festering wounds is to achieved the task of isolating the rebels of Manipur and then,their containment.

Now,there is a very real possibility of mass uprising in the same state which the Indian sets out to isolate and then,contain it.

At the risk of being repititive I would say that all developments are the direct results of July 23rd killings by the police commandos in Khwairamband Keithel.

Now,the trend is quite discernible.

2010-04-13T23:18:00.002+05:30

11th April 2010:The headlines of this day of most of the papers here was the story of yet another killing of a youth from near Tera Bazar in a fake encounter.This time there was no involvement of Manipur Police Commandos;the culprits this time are the troopers of the 28th Assam Rifles.

12th April 2010:The Hindu carried a news report,quoting the China Daily,which in short,told us that Chinese Government still viewed the border problem with India as one of the 'gnawing issues'.

Here is the link to the full Hindu report.

If we read this together with my last post, we can now safely infer that the trend is now quite discernible---

NOW,WE CAN NO LONGER BE PUT INSIDE THE BOX BY NEW DELHI.

Whenever they treat us like the prisoners inside the box,manifested in extra judicial killings-the fake encounters-many countries,like China are going to speak out.

End of the hiatus?

2010-03-18T10:26:00.000+05:30

The Manipur Police Commandos has done it again. They cooly arrested a young man from the house of his brother in law and shot him death in cold blood.

It happened in Thoubal district 2 days back.

If my memory serves, it's the first time the Manipur Police Commandos has reverted into its lawless mould since the suspension of the 5 months long class boycott. Here, in my blog, it need not be reminded that the 5 months long class boycott was initiatred in protest against another of such shooting down of an arrested person in the middle of Khwairamband Bazar in broad daylight.

Outwardly, it may seem to be just another ghastly case of those 'policemem going trigger happy' or another of those 'fake encounters'.

But it is not.

In my mind, it is a well-planned act of cold-blooded murder with a sinister intent of sending out a devilish political message.

Here's how it is.

I think we can believe the murdered man's family when they said that he was a former cadre of a rebel group but he discontinued working for it for sometime now. Actually, he was a tiller of the land to eke out a living for his family.

The rebel group to which he belonged is widely believed to have the so-called 'Meetei revivalism' in its agenda.

And, it's very crucial, 'Sajibu Nongma Panba Cheiraoba' is in the top spot in the work in progress program of the so-called Meetei revivalists.

So, it's clear that some sophisticated but evil minds in the upper power echelon of the State Government decided that the front pages of the newspapers of the day of 'Sajibu Nongma Panba Cheiraoba' should be splashed with the news of a slaying of a 'Meetei revivalist'.

Seen in this light, the intent of this murder goes beyond the boundaries of the usual narratives of the Rebels vs the Police or the Rebels vs the State--it's a well-thought out plan to redraw the present society of Manipur with a casteist and divisive brush and hence, to pit one section against the another.

But,does this episode ends here now?

The answer is a big NO.

Another 2 days later , suddenly China again started talking about the boundary with India, though,outwardly,in a positive tone. They are saying they are willing to work with India to solve the boundary issue.

Again, if my memory serves me, it's again the first time since the suspension of the 5 months long class boycott when China started talking about the boundary issue with INdia.

It would be foolish to brush aside it as some some kind freaky coincidence. It's following a pattern.

Here's how it does.

Immediately after the first case of documented murder of an arrested person by the Manipur Police Commandos in Khwairamband Bazar, China raised a hue and cry over the boundary dispute with India. They even raised objection to the official visit of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh to Arunachal Pradesh. They openly said that Arunachal Pradesh is actually Western Tibet and so, a de-facto part of China.

After the suspension of the 5 months long class boycott, China kept mum.

I had already said that this suspension of 5 months long class boycott is only a hiatus in the long drawn out political stalemate.(My next last post).

During this hiatus, the ruling class in Delhi had already announced the raisning of brand new 26 batalians of Assam Rifles, wich,for all practical purpose (leaving aside the legaistic smokescreen) is an active part of India's military.

They have also looking for suitable land for a brand new Air Force base here in Manipur.

And, most importantly, they are still letting the Manipur Police Commandos to kill innocent and arrested persons, as seen in the murder of an arrested person in Thoubal district 4 days back.

Then, China suddenly started talking about boundary dispute with India.

Isn't it the case of a clear pattern?

Then, the Manipur Police Commandos might have initiated the chain of events that would mark the end of the ongoing hiatus.

More than 30 days of non-event

2010-02-16T19:26:00.003+05:30

It was more than 30 days of non-events here in my blog. For one thing, it's becoming harder to find time but I'm trying.

Still, I managed to time for visiting a theatre!

I was (and,still is) impressed by the movie, Nobap.

After I returned from the theatre, I sat down and wrote a review of the moviw.

It was published by the Imphal Free Press on the 24th of January 2010.

As all of the Imphal daily papers do not (yet) have dependable online edition, I can't find a link of the review.

After several weeks later, I again submitted the same review to Epao(www.e-pao.net). I told them that it was already published by the Imphal Free Press but I still wanted them to publish as Epao has a distinct set of readership.

(It took me several weeks to submit the review to Epao because of peronal problem which prevented me from going online for several weeks at a stretch!).

Here is the link to the review.

Dramatic turns of events

2010-01-15T11:03:00.000+05:30

It's now clear that a division bench of the Guwahati High court considering a prayer through a PIL(Is it by the mother of Sanjit?) ruled that the case of the killing of the killings of July 23 be investigated by the premier agency,CBI.

The State government acted quickly. The State Cabinet noted the High Court ruling and quickly transferred the case to CBI.

These two developments robbed the agitators's right to continue the ongoing class boycott as it would go against Judicial and Constitutional conventions.

In my mind, the Court,wittingly or unwittingly, provided simply provided a hiatus to the prolonged political stalemate.

My point: the stalemate is here and very alive.

These dramatic turns of events catapulted the issues of July 23 killings to a newer ground whereby it would acquire a brand new player--New Delhi.

For the last 5/6 months the issues are between the agitators and the State Government of Manipur. Now, that the killings are to be investigated by CBI, New Delhi is already dragged into the matter as CBI is directly under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

My point: now, New Delhi can bring justice to the July 23 killings and booked the killers. Or, it can go the Sopore way.

In my mind,the recent track record of CBI in investigating the rape and killings of twp Kashmiri girls by the personnel of the Indian military is patently POLITICAL.

If new Delhi decides to go the Sopore way, the future players in the July 23 struggle would be New Delhi and the motley group agitators here in Manipur.

The July 23 killings is poised to have a far greater impact on the political scenario in South Asia and beyond.

Is it the countdown to war?

2010-01-04T10:57:00.001+05:30

The PTI on a news datelined 2nd Jan 2010 informed us that the Defence Secretaty of India together with a high ranking military officers from the Eastern Command may visit China on the 6th.

We have to note the qualifying words 'may visit' in the above sentence.

6th of January is not even a week to go but they are still using the qualifying words.

Is it normal not to confirm a State visit by such a high ranking officials of a sovereign country when the it is only 4 days to go?

Does it even keep up the essential minimum protocol between two sovereign countries?

And, the date 6th of January is astonishing because the last date for filling up of exam forms for 10th and 12th standard students here in Manipur ends on the 7th.

We have remind ourselves that 5 months long class boycott is continuing.

In such a scenario, the government is forcing the exams by fixing the last date for from fill ups on the 7th of this month.

Naturally, the showdown between the government and the agitationists should come around the time the forced exam commences. I've heard that last date for form fill up is 7th but I've no idea when the actual exams commences.

So, the question:

Is the Defence Secretary's visit to China startegically timed to coincide with the coming showdown?

It may sound silly trying to link the State visit of such a high ranking official with the ongoiong class boycott by students here. But we should not forget the unheralded State visit by the Vice President of China to Burma some weeks back. And, inside Burma there are formidable fighting forces of the motley of insurgent groups. These groups may well launch a definitive attack on the Indian forces to coincide with the forced exams.

Was the visit of the Vice President of China to Burma aimed at facilitating such a definitvie attack?

If the answer is 'yes', we may well understand that the count down to war is just round the corner.

The July 23rd killings and the looming war

2009-12-10T21:59:00.002+05:30

We are witnessingg several momentous events.

First,the Chinese general,who is some sort(their official designation
is little confusing) of deputy Chief of Staff of the People's
Liberation Army of PRC visited New Delhi.

Second, the Chinese general who is headquartered in Llasa and who is
managing the soldiers directly facing the Indian soldiers along
Sikkim-Arunachal sector is currently on a visit to the Eastern Command
in Fort Williams in Kolkatta.

These two seems perfectly routine if we don't consider a press release
by the PRO of the Indian Army.It was carried by PTI dated 5th DEcember.

It said the Indian Army was given a very short time by the political
leaderships to get prepare for war. It went on to say that within that
time constraints it was now ready for the war.

It's true--Indian military is gearing up for a war with China.

So,they are not just routine visits by the Chinese generals.They are
meant to be the face-to-face sizing up of an opposing compabant with
whom a fight would soon to be joined.RIGHT?

Now, I'm coming to the most crucial part:

IF my last post is TRUE,then we must return to the events in Imphal to
understand why there should a war at all.

We must remember that New Delhi specifically instructed the Chief
Minister to hold talks with the agitationists to end the current
political turmoil.

As intsructed, a ministerial team began talking with the agitationist
in right earnest.

After the first meeting, the agitationists dropped a bombshell when
they withdrew their demand--the removal of the Chief
Minister--and,instead,settled for 'very doable' demands like suspension
of some more policemen and the expansion of the current judicial
inquiry to a 3 member one.

Reading the headlines that day, everybody was elated in thinking that
the end of the current impasse was in sight. It's because everybody
thinks that the removal of Chief Minister is 'less doable' and that one
demand was responsible for a such long impasse.

But most surprisingly,it was followed by a deafening silence on the
Chief Mibnsiter's side.

After several days,we heard the news the Chief Minsiter himself chaired
a twin meetings in a single day discussing the 'doable demands'.

Reading the news that we got the implicit message from the Chief
Minister that he was waiting for some signals from the agitationists to
start talking again.The implicit message was publicly stated by the
Chief Minister in a public meeting held during the coming bye election
Yaiskul Assembly Constituency.

REALLY?

What had happened to the already working mechanism to get in touch with
the agitationsits(which enabled several rounds of talks)?

Why the volte face?

The only plausible explanation is the New Delhi now instructed the
Chief Minster to go slow with the talk.

Why the surprising volte face by New Delhi?

The only plausible answer is that New Delhi is testing China's
resolve.They are testing if China can risk going to a war(for which New
Delhi is already ready) for its support to the Manipur's political
developments in the aftermath of the July 23rd killings by the State
policemen,which in my humble opinion,should be supported not only by
China but also by all peace-loving and justice-seeking nations of the
world.

When we come this far,it's now profitable to look back and say with
some confidence that my last post is increasingly proving to be TRUE.

It's the July 23rd killings

2009-11-27T16:01:00.001+05:30

I'll start with a lot of questions.

Is it a mere coincidence that MHA summoned the Manipur Chief Minister around the 20th of this month and made him stay there until around 24th?

Is it also another coincidence that the Prime Minister was in Washington around the 24th of this month to announce publicly his perplexity at the recent 'assertiveness' by China?

24th of this month is the birthday of Manipur's oldest rebel group.

I still have this feeling that everybody expected that China would formalize its 'interference' in India's 'internal security' by giving its support to the rebel group on its 45th birthday.

But that didn't happen.

That it didn't happen leaves us with only one stream of reasoning to make sense of the recent 'assertiveness' by China.

In my mind, the July 23rd Khwairamband Keithel killing is the provocation that lead to the 'assertiveness' by China which was mostly likley facilitated by inputs from the rebels here in Manipur.

We can see how I arrive at the above conclusion from 2 perspectives.

1) New Delhi itself is making a tactical retreat when it asked the Chief Minister to talk with the agitationists. They not only demanded the talk with the agitaionists but also struck down the NSA detentions of 10 leaders.

It's a tactical retreat in the sense that they are not now aiming for crushing of the ongoing agitation here.

They are now not aiming to crush the ongoing agitation, which New Delhi perceives to be 'engineered'by the rebels,who are again perceived to be in the periphery of the society--raoming around in remote mountains which are more or less all no man's lands. Now the rebels, by 'engineering'the agitaion,landed right at the centrestage, which is until now, is absolutely not acceptable to New Delhi.

Now, they are accepting the 'unacceptable' meaning that they are sensing that the July 23rd killing is everything to do with the recent 'assertiveness'by China.

2)The rebel group itself, in its birhtday message which was widely published ina ll the papers stated that the July 23rd killings acknowledged all over the world and international support would be forthcoming in due course.

It also mentioned in a very authoritative tone that the Zhan Lue article propounding the breaking up of 'Great Indian Federation'is a true official thinking of the Chinese state.

All these factors make me think that the July 23rd killings is the real cause of the recent 'assertiveness' by China, which was, of course, facilitated by the rebels here.

New Delhi strikes back-II

2009-11-20T21:40:00.001+05:30

The ruling class is currently sitting on the process of reviewing/amending the Armed Forces(Special Powers)Act,1959. If anybody starts making noises about the draconian nature of the Act,they would answer that it is being 'in the process'of under active review. But they would keep sitting on the 'process'and make loud noises at appropriate times.This is totally Chanakyan!

I've written down my thought in the post entitled 'New Delhi Strikes Back'.

Just now,they have started yet 'sitting on the process'episode.They now say that they would remove the Chief Minister of Manipur at around 2nd week of December and in the meantime, a 5 member All India Congress Committee would look into it.

Ever heard of an AICC committee looking into the matters of removing a chief minister?

Something sure is afoot.

In the post entitled 'New Delhi Strikes Back',I've already written down that they are deliberately sitting on the 'process'of reviewing the Armed Forces(Special Powers)Act,1959 because they anticipate that China might start expressing concern at the draconian nature of the Act.

As they now start a new episode, it's reasonable to deduct that they start anticipating that China might start expressing concern at the incident that warrants this starting of the new episode.

The incident--the July 23rd police killing and the consequent demand for the removal of the Chief Minsiter.

Would China do that?

This a world-shaking question.

THE RIGHT QUESTION-then and now

2009-11-09T12:38:00.002+05:30

Actually,I planned a post to appear on the 1st of this month so that the organizers of the meeting at BOAT on the 2nd by one of the powerful student body might read it and then,cancel the meeting the meeting altogether!But the power supply was shut down most of the daytime fo that day.

In my head,I even gave a name to the planned post:THE RIGHT QUESTION.

The gist of the post would be to say that that student organization failed to ask the right question as dictacted by the 'conntext'we are living with. If they don't start with the right question,there is no possibility to come to the right answer.

So, waht's the right question?

WOULD THE STOPPING OF THE ONGOING CLASS BOYCOTT EFFECTIVELY KILL THE LARGER AGITATION FOR GIVING PUNISHMENT TO THE GUILTY POLICE COMMANDOS AND THE REMOVAL OF THE CHIEF MINISTER?

The uncomfortable answer is YES.

CAN WE AFFORD TO KILL THE PRESENT AGITATION?

The answer is a big NO.

The reason why we cannot afford to discontinue the present agitation is that the July 23 police killing is not handiwork of some wayward policemen.On the contrary,it's the well-rehearsed and well thought-out plan by the Indian State to snub out our spirit to stand on the edge,our spirit to probe the uncertain,our spirit to rebel.

Once that spirit is killed off, we are finsihed as a people,as a society.

In trying to defend the attempted murder of that spirit if we were to lose a full academic year,it's not even a worthy trade off.

Then, the next question crop up.

WHY DON'T WE CONTINUE WITH OTHER FORMS OF AGITATION WHILE STILL KEEPING THE STUDENTS IN THEIR CLASS ROOMS?

In answering this question, we need to study the 'context' we are living with.

1) THE POLITICAL CLASS.

The political classes both in New Delhi and here, in Imphal are betting on the idea that the agitators,in particular and the general populace,in general,would tire down after 30-40 days of active agitation.

They are determined to shield the Police Commandos.

2) WE ARE BOTTLED UP

The Indian State has so assiduosly bottled us up that we are effectively living outside the normal gamut of humanitarian, social and political relations with other societies of the globe. That sinsiter effort has been actively continuing for the last half century.

If we read this with my (1) point,it's becoming quite clear that 'tiring down' popular agitations is an extremely potent tool in the hands of both the ruling classes.

If we consider a hypothetical scenario whereby MK Gandhi himself descended right here and take up the mantle of the agitation, he cannot sustain it for than 30-40 days. We are in such a dire strait.

3) THE INDIAN STATE IS PSYCHOTIC.

The Indian State is psychotic in the sense it not only refuse to ackwoledge the 'histories' of the other smaller societies but also actively strives to 'homogenise' them with the 'mainstream' one as derived from the Vedas and Puranas.

It is blind to the reality of the 'histories' of other smaller societies,just like ours. It's the main reason why the Indain State always sees the hands of the rebels in all the popular agitations here.

The psychosis of the Indian State has so dragged it down to such a low level that the present scenario is like this:

-if the rebels say 'punish the police commandos' we will shield them at any cost.

-if the rebles say 'the CM should resign' we will put him in the chief Minsiterial chair at any cost.

If we consider the above 'context'.it's quite clear that the ongoing class boycott is not only legitimate but also appropriate.

China has opened a new front.

2009-11-05T11:05:00.005+05:30

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman accused the Dalai Lama of being wilfully working to hurt the Sino-Indian relationship.

Although the accusation is hardly surprising,it marked the subtle change in tactical approach by the Chinese to the already heated up Sino-Indian relationship.

But what's truly remarkable came the next breath when the same spokesman accused India of wilfully blocking movements of Chinese employees of Chinese corporate entities operating in India.

In my mind,it marks the begining of Chinese efforts to open new fronts in engaging India.

And, what's another front which is accurately anticipated by New Delhi? It's,of course,the Arm Forces(Special Powers)Act,1959(my last post). New Delhi anticipates that china may start expressing concern at the draconain nature of the Act, which is being selectively enforced in NE and JK only.

If that scenario becomes a reality,who is one person who will come to intense international spotlight?

Irom Chnau Sharmila, who is on fast for 9 years now to protest the said Act.

Then, is it only a mere coincidence that one new Civil Society Organization,named Sharmila Kanba Lup sprang up from nowhere and started relay hunger strike for the last 280-290 days?(I can't remeber the exact number of days--but it must be in the region of 300 days).

In trying to answer that question, it becomes quite clear that some very sophisticated group of people here in Imphal have been trying to project Sharmila in anticipation of the Chinese move.

UPDATE

I forgot to mention in the post about what transpired in the national meeting of sleuths in Shillongs some days back.

2 unusual voices came out of the meeting:

1) some top brass of some intelligence agencies expressed their views that Armed Forces(Special Powers)Act,1959 sort of outlived its purpose in Manipur. ( This should be read together with my post titled 'New Delhi Strikes Back')

2)The insurgency in Manipur has become a theatre for foreign interference.

4pm 7th Nov

New Delhi strikes back

2009-10-28T14:07:00.000+05:30

We can see the first few signs that signal that New Delhi has started the diplomatic strike back.

First,some Tibetan official in Dharmasala, who demanded anonynity,told the news agency,AFP, that the Dalai Lama would statrt his Arunachal Pradesh visit from the 7th of November.

What's the neccesity of remaining anonymous in announcing the date of the proposed visit?

That answer came only a few days back when the newly elected Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister announced that MEA was yet to clear the Dalai Lama visit.

Someone was leaking the date and another one was telling that it had no official sanction--this is the fine arts of keeping things ambigous.

What would China do in such a situation? Is it proper to protest a visit based on news leaked to a news agency by someone who demanded anonimity? Again, would it be foolish to sit back and not to protest when some provincial official told the media that it had yet to be cleared by MEA?

Then came the more significant move.It came as an absolutely uninteresting news yesterday. To be honest, I had found it as the headline in a single Imphal-based daily(Naharolgi Thoudang). I read most of the papers yesterday but no other papers did not even see it to fit as a minor news item. Was it because it was so uninteresting?

The news was that the Group pf Mimisters reviewing the Armed Forces(special Powers) Act 1959 had submiitted its recommendation to the Prime Minsiter for the final decision.

Is it a diplomatic move by the Governemnt of India?

I think it is.

To understand this, we have to move back a few months in time. Then, Union Minister, Pallam Raju was addresing a CII leaders meet in New Delhi. During that address he told the audience that if China started to interfere in internal security of India, India would retaliate.

In plain language,he was telling China that their initial moves were noted with grave concern and they should desist from continueing further moves.

If any foreign country start moves that are seen by Indian as interferences in its internal security, the moves sould be initiated by the conditions in either the North East Region or Jammu and Kashmir.

In both the places, India can say the followings to deflect any foriegn country's consern:

1) In both the places there was full fledged democracies.

2)Even if there are cases of human rights violations or State terrorism, they are the responsibilties of the provincial leaders, who are agian elected by the local populace in free and fair elections.

So, what is the one single element which is indefensible in both the places?

Naturally, it's the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act,1959.

Now, Union of India can announce to the world that the Act is under review by none other than the Prime Minsiter of the country.

Isn't it a good move?

No 3G for Manipur:BSNL

2009-10-26T12:05:00.000+05:30

The news was datelined Kohima.

The General Manager, BSNL,North East Circle II,Mr Arjun Singh was inaugurating the 3G services in Kohima on the 24th of this month.

Speaking during the function he specifically was quoted as telling that there was no plan to offer the service in Manipur.

The reason?

Because, he was quoted as telling the gathering, Manipur is so full of rebel activities!

BSNL is playing the big brother part so naively!!

It is a fact that BSNL officials won't go that lenght without explicit instruction from the bosses in Ministry of Telecom.

So, the big questions is:

Are all the Minsitries in Delhi start withdrawing the 'carrots' for Manipur and the Manipuris?

If the answer is yes, then,it is reasonable to guess that the 'sticks' are probably right around the corner.

Beware, everybody!

I'm sure proud of our Ni-ngol Cha-kouba

2009-10-21T16:17:00.002+05:30

Ni-ngol cha-kouba is a real show stopper. Everything has to wait for
its grand and smooth passage. I mean everything, be it the Ibobi
govt,the protest against the ghastly acts of psychotic Indian State or
the world-shaking strategic rethinking by the Chinese towards the
peoples of South Asia.

I know it would raise a lot of eyebrows if I start putting beautiful
adjectives in front of my own culture. But can anybody think of any
festival which have no nationalist or religious ingredients in it? We
can make a checklist of global peoples,be a huge one like Indian or
Chinese or the tiny ones numbering a few millions and try to pinpoint a
festival which has no nationalist or religious ingredients in it. I bet
it would be a pretty difficult task to pinpoint a single such festival.
And, we learn from history that nationalism and religion are the two
most dreaded human artifacts which lead to conflicts and wars. We can
make a huge lists for the necessity for nationalism and religion but if
we come towrds the likely causes of conflicts and wars,they are the
real culprits.

And, I'm sure proud that our Ni-ngol Cha-kouba is one of the rarest
human artifacts which have no nationalist or religious ingredients in
it.

For my part, I started to make preparations exactly three days ahead to
receive Ni-ngol Cha-kouba. I dusted off every conceivables articles in
my house. I cleaned my yards spotless!

On the grand day, I jumped out of my bed well before 4 in the morning
and rushed in evrything to make the paste to make the chicken for at
least one hour. For every chicken or meat dish I cook I had found out
that I could not find that crucial one hour to marinate the meat. And,
I was determined to find that one hour on the grand.

Inspite of jumping out of my bed well before 4 in the morning, I barely
made it. When I finshed making the paste, cutting the meat and savoring
the moment when I started the actual marination, it was already 9.30
am!

Gosh, it took such time to cook according to prescribed protocol!

But I was rewarded. Everybody seems to agree that it was best chicken dish cooked in the family--I mean, so far!!

Joseph Hmar and the psychotic Indian State

2009-10-17T13:26:00.001+05:30

The People's Daily, the mouthpiece of Communist Party of China, made it a point to comment on the 'hegemonistic' designs of India towards the peoples in South Asia. It must be in its edition dated either 14th or 15th Ocotber because the Hindu could report it as its headline on the 15th.(My last post). It must be remembered here that the Hindu is one of the very few papers who has a permanent correspondent in Beijing.

Within the next 48 or 72 hours, Joseph Hmar came out openly against the present agitation for giving punishment to the police officers involved in the July 23 Khwairamband Keithel killings of 2 innocents in broad daylight.

Everybody knows that Joseph Hmar is very close to Indian Military establishments.

Here it must be emphsized that the same tactics of giving license to murders to police to suppress insurgency was successfully tested in Punjab by the Indian State.The same psychotic Indian State is letting its provincial government officials in Manipur to repeat the experimnet here.

In the case of Punjab, no neighbouring countries, be it Pakistan, China or Sri Lanka came to its rescue and as a result, there was free run of police brutality. In case of Manipur now, some neighbouring countries are starting to take note of the ghastly prctices of the psychotic Indian State.

What's the response of the psychotic India State?

Their response is the desparate act of showcasing a character like Joseph Hmar and try to engineer divisions within the ranks of the activists who are spearheading the present agitation.

Now, a very important question: SHOULD THE CASE OF LAWLESS POLICEMEN WHICH RESULTS IN JULY 23 MURDERS BE VIEWED AS INDIA'S INTERNAL AFFAIRS PER SE?

I don't think so.

Every neighbouring countries has the legitmate rights to be concerned about such murders licensed by the psychotic Indian State.

Hegemony,India and China

2009-10-15T14:40:00.002+05:30

The rebels here call a general strike to protest the 'hegemonistic' merger of Manipur by the Indian Union back in 1949 on the 15th of October.

Now, the official mouthpiece of Communist Party of China says India has 'hegemonistic' designs in South Asia.

What's most significant is the timing of the editorial in the People's daily.

The Hindu has a detailed coverages.

Back in August, during the Tehelka episode,I wrote a post titled 'Is this also a part of the masterstroke'. Now, I think it's appropriate to reproduce the whole post here:

"The news is about china wanting to break up "Great Indian Federation".

I google the 3 words and this link comes up first in the search result list.

The article was written by Zhan Lue and published in the iiss.cn on the 8th August 09.

What's striking is that it was published on the 8th.

The photos of murder of an arrested person was published by Tehelka datelined 9th of August.It's usual for online edition to appear before the dateline.

In my mind,there seems to be a plan in bringing out the two publications almost simutaneously.

Is the same player producing the masterstroke of a strategic execution(my last post) also the inspiration behind the publication of the chinese viewpoint?

I cannot help asking this question."

At that time, I could not go beyond mere speculation. But this time it seems to be established that Manipur's rebels has some sort of support from the ruling communist party of China.

Still in the midst

2009-10-15T14:26:00.000+05:30

I'm still in the midst of adjusting myself to my new schedule.

It's not as simple as making myself go to bed at 10 pm and waking up the next morning at 6.

Every tiny and mundane things in my daily life needs to be adjusted to the new schedule as well.

It's pretty challenging job!

But I'm going slow and steady.

And I'm keeping the one basic thing very simple--DON'T GO NEAR THE COMPUTER AT NIGHT!

To a new schedule.

2009-09-21T10:01:00.002+05:30

I've been trying to shift to a new schedule. I'm trying to go to sleep by 10.30pm and wake up the following morning at around 6 am.

As I've been habituated to staying up late at night, it's really tough to get myself used to the new schedule.

It has been a lot of efforts so far--but I'm trying.

Surfing the Net!

2009-09-14T22:05:00.002+05:30

I've been trying to install Microsoft Office.But I had to cancel the installation on every attempt because of error 1305.

I was totally flummoxed because installing and uninstalling Office is always a routine task.

And I could not go online to visit help centers and forums to get an idea what error no 1305 was because there was total outage of BSNL networks.

I've just visited a forum and got a step by step intructions to get around the error.

I'll doing the actual installation tommorow.

Tonight I'm surfing the Net!

Of India China border affairs

2009-09-08T20:53:00.002+05:30

Temperature on the Inida China border is rising day by day. The GOC of Northern Command is visiting Leh to personally take stock of the Chinese army's movement there.

Indian Express has a news report here.

What's most intersting is the comments of the readers on the news report.

An extremely timely and illuminating write up

2009-09-07T20:55:00.005+05:30

I've just read an extremely and illuminating write up in Foreign Policy magazine.The piece is titled "The Revenge of Geography" by Robert D.Kaplan.Below are 2 excerpts dealing with India specific conditions:

"The Indian subcontinent is one such shatter zone. It is defined on its landward sides by the hard geographic borders of the Himalayas to the north, the Burmese jungle to the east, and the somewhat softer border of the Indus River to the west. Indeed, the border going westward comes in three stages: the Indus; the unruly crags and canyons that push upward to the shaved wastes of Central Asia, home to the Pashtun tribes; and, finally, the granite, snow-mantled massifs of the Hindu Kush, transecting Afghanistan itself. Because these geographic impediments are not contiguous with legal borders, and because barely any of India’s neighbors are functional states, the current political organization of the subcontinent should not be taken for granted. You see this acutely as you walk up to and around any of these land borders, the weakest of which, in my experience, are the official ones—a mere collection of tables where cranky bureaucrats inspect your luggage. Especially in the west, the only border that lives up to the name is the Hindu Kush, making me think that in our own lifetimes the whole semblance of order in Pakistan and southeastern Afghanistan could unravel, and return, in effect, to vague elements of greater India."

....

"The Taliban constitute merely the latest incarnation of Pashtun nationalism. Indeed, much of the fighting in Afghanistan today occurs in Pashtunistan: southern and eastern Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan. The north of Afghanistan, beyond the Hindu Kush, has seen less fighting and is in the midst of reconstruction and the forging of closer links to the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, inhabited by the same ethnic groups that populate northern Afghanistan. Here is the ultimate world of Mackinder, of mountains and men, where the facts of geography are asserted daily, to the chagrin of U.S.-led forces—and of India, whose own destiny and borders are hostage to what plays out in the vicinity of the 20,000-foot wall of the Hindu Kush."

The link for the whole write up is given in the left bar titled 'Now Reading'.

Changed times and the time-changers!

2009-09-03T23:03:00.001+05:30

How time has changed!

Catching the seasonal flu virus was such a routine part of every day life--so mundane.

But in the times of swine flu,it's such a big deal. It makes me extremely uneasy when I caught the seasonal flu virus a week or so back.

I've been resting since then. I think I'm out of the virus cycle now.But I'm taking no chances. I'll be resting for yet another 2 days.

When I say 'rest' I'm still into my daily chores. And I came to realize during the last few days that shopping is one of most energy sapping chores. There are always so many things to buy.

When I went shopping this evening,I saw a Reva car. It was so tiny! Even if it's a 2 seater,it looks so good on the samll roads of Manipur.

Electric cars,like Reva should be the future. I like it. New products like Reva should be time-changers!

The problem of blank monitor solved

2009-09-01T20:53:00.000+05:30

That I had so many days without internet made me tinker with my desktop.

My first attention was drawn to the problem of the monitor. The problem is it remain blank,showing nothing even if the computer booted up perfectly normal.

I even took the monitor to the computer hardware store on two ocassion. They billed me for the suposed repair they made on it and the monitor remained blank after 2 or 3 days after I brought it back home.

The key idea is here that it worked for 2 or 3 days immediately after I brought it from the hardware shop. Then, it returned to its noraml state--remained blank.

So, shifting the location of the monitor made it work?

Is it something to do with place where I put my desktop on?

Finally, I came to think that it must be the magnetic field that interfered with the cathode ray.

The woofer which I placed next to the monitor housed a considerably-sized magnet. Then, the cfl bulb which I placed just above the monitor has also a in-built surge controller, which again means a magnet. Finally, the power supply of the router of the dsl has also an in-built surge controller.

Did the 3 among themselves built up an over arching magnetic field that disturbed the cathode ray of the crt monitor?

I removed all 3 of them and now, the monitor is working.

My only regret is the cfl bulb. If you placed a cfl just above a crt monitor, you get an extremely good glare killer.

It's not a good sign

2009-08-30T18:06:00.000+05:30

Between my last post and tonight, there was nil connectivity on the BSNL network.

If we start counting from the last Sunday, we have only 3 days with internet--that is, 3 days out of total 8.

My hunch is that BSNL is field testing their 3G roll out. When we had no internet for several days continuosly I saw a lot of activities around the neighbourhood BSNL mobile tower.

Around that time, Tata Indicom also ran advertisement on newsparers featuring their Photon,which they claim to be 20 times faster than the current wireless tech.

All these things point to one thing only--imminent roll out of BSNL 3G.

But why should they switch off their DSL service to field test the coming 3G?

I think it's not a good sign.

Some kind of a record

2009-08-27T21:23:00.001+05:30

It's a some kind of a record.

I could not log on into the BSNL network from the night of the Saturday last and it became ok only last night.

How many days?!

BTW, I'm getting the flu virus. It's a bit uneasy when we are in the midst of the swine flu pandemic.

Yesterday I was getting better. But in the afternoon, I went for nearly an hour of sun bathing.

Now, it's getting worse.

I'll be resting for some days.

Ah! The administrative route again!!

2009-08-21T21:29:00.000+05:30

So many important beaurocrats started descending here from Delhi that it is a quite a spectacle here.They have the task of incorporating the common people in developmental process. That's what the Prime Minister said in Delhi some days is the most compelling task here in Manipur.

It's a welcome move from Delhi. We should have an active and ongoing dialogoue about incorporating common people in the developmental process.

We should start from where we stand right now.

Where do we stand now?

The ground we stand now is mostly identified as the one where there is rampant fear of the State.Nobody feels secure.Anybody can be intimidated or even killed by the State security forces on the fabricated allegation that he/she is a member of any rebel group.

If the common people is fearful of the State, how the State expect them to come forward and begin participating in the developmental initiated by it?

It is in the domain of common sense to understand that this fear of the State should be erased from the common people's mind before any meaningful initiative be planned.

This task is cut out for the political leadership both of Imphal and New Delhi. It's not the task of beaurocrats who would deploy only administrative tools to achieve the goal of incorporating the common people in the developmental process.

First, the political leadership should admit that the very apparatus of the State,the policemen, are trampling the rule of law.

Unless they do so, there cannot be any beginning of anything here.

No to twilight zone

2009-08-20T22:08:00.000+05:30

When there was a police medal awarded to a Manipuri who works as a SP in CBI,New Delhi, the news got disproportionately large space in all newspapers here. To be fair, he was among the select 19 who got the presitgious police medals, awarded to them by the President of India.

The news came amidst the turmoil we are in, in the aftermath of the murder of an arrested person by the Manipur police commandos.

Then,came the selection of Ratan Thiyam as the VC of Sangeet Natak Akademi,New Delhi.

Did someone in New Delhi try to send a message to the general populace of Manipur?

The message--'We care'.

If this is the case, we have a lot of problem at hand. If New Delhi want to send any message,it should be within the established Constitutional norms like asking the State government what steps have been taken up to prevent police excesses or dismissing the State government itself for failure to upheld the Constitutional provisions etc.

If they choose administrative route(like awarding of police medal or appointment to an important post) to send the message,then we get another unintended yet profound message--'the general populace here should try to live with police or military exceeses as long as there is rebellion--there would neither be rule of law nor enforcement of Constitutional provisions here as long as there is rebellion here'.

We should say a firm 'no' if New Delhi try to push us inside a twilight zone where there would neither be rule of law nor the enforcement of Constitutional provisions.

BJP parliamentary team vist is a pure PR exercise.Period.

2009-08-19T21:04:00.002+05:30

The visit of BJP's parliamentary team here is purely a PR exercise. It's laughable to hear them saying that 'they support the people's movement'.Talking of 'people's movement' is a sure sign that they are abdicating their own duties.

It's also another way of expressing their desire at their subconscious level they will wait out the present turmoil here.

Sure, they may be tagged as the BJP MPs but the words and body languages are of the ruling class of New Delhi.

The picture is very clear--it's now border provinces vs the mainland India.

That's the only reason why all the MPs cutting across party lines have been doing their bits to snub out the issue of murdering of an arrested person by the Manipur Police Commandos from the floor of the Parliament.

If that's the reason, why didn't the BJP MPs bring up the issue on the floor of the Parliament and grill the ruling party on why they did not take actions?

They are abdicating their duties.

To cover up this abdication,they planned a visit here purely as PR exercise.

It's disgusting.

Military planes

2009-08-19T21:04:00.001+05:30

I heard it again.

At around 11.30 am, there was a roar of jet engine which was deeper and more reverberating than the normal sounds produced by commercial jetliners.

I could not see a thing.

Most tellingly, it was there for roughly 5 minutes and then it was gone. If it was a commercial jetliner, the roar would be there for some considerable time.

Then, at around 3 pm a military turboprop appeared in the skyline. It took a detour of the mountain range of what appeared to be Ukhrul area and then it cut the Imphal valley diagonally, flying towards Churachandpur side.

I watched it returning again and again. Then, I went inside for my lunch.

IMPERIAL DELHI

2009-08-18T17:48:00.000+05:30

People stay back at homes(because of the continuing 36 hours long general strike) and read the news first in the morning.

What's the gist of the news today?

MANIPUR NEEDS MORE POLICEMEN!

People read this first in the morning told to them by none other than the Prime Minister. They are observing a 36 hrs long general strike to protest policemen murdering an arrested man and they are being told that they need more policemen. This is the height of insensivity on the part of power that be.

It's quite clear that the ruling class in New Delhi has not the DNA to connect with the people of Manipur.

I visualize that majority of the people would have thrown away the morning papers disgusted with the headline.They immersed themselves to the usual daily chores culminated in the grand partaking lunch. That is, leisurely partaking of lunch because they had so much time at hand today!

Well, then, they realized that they had lot of time at hand and no particular work to accomplished. At that point of time, they returned to their morning papers again.

Further and deeper reading of the papers revealed yet another announcement from Delhi.

DELHI WOULD GIVE MORE MONEY!

Without trying to connect with the people at the grassroot level, what would money accomplish?

EMPIRE?

In my mind, people are going through this tumult right now, not in a vacuum but instead undergoing a learning process. History teaches us that such tumults remove the smokescreen created by great imperial powers and help people see who's who.

People is learning what New Delhi is.

IMPERIAL DELHI.

We are ready military option also:India

2009-08-17T20:45:00.003+05:30

It's increasingly becoming clear that the killing of 2 NSCN(IM) cadres at Phungyar by the Indian military was an act of unprovoked assault. There was no provocation from NSCN(IM)'s side.

There was an unprovoked assault on the cadres of a rebel group with which the Government of India is being closeted for pease talk because they wanted to send a message.

They are sending a loud and clear message to all concerend(that includes China) that they are ready for military option.

Why did they choose the cadres of NSCN(IM)?

It's because they want the message as complete as possible--'for the time being we are practising military restraint by talking, and giving much leeway, to rebel groups like NSCN(IM) but if necessary we are also ready for hard military option'.

That there needs to be messages sent to China means the complexion of insurgency in NE India has already undergone a sea change.

By the way, here is another link that reveal another facet of India-China.

Ridiculous practice

2009-08-17T20:45:00.001+05:30

I have always suspectd that it has been BSNL's practice of resting

their DSL servers on most Saturdays and Sundays.

Even if it's a Saturday, they should not had shut their network on the

15th of August.

But I found out that they shut their networks during the entire day and

night of 15th of August. Then, whole day of the following day. I tried

to log on at around 6 in the evening but no there was no internet. I

had no moods to go near my desktop during the night.

I thnk it's a ridiculous practice.

Is this also a part of the masterstroke?

2009-08-14T23:17:00.002+05:30

I got the news from Poknapham dated 13th of August.

The news is about china wanting to break up "Great Indian Federation".

I google the 3 words and this link comes up first in the search result list.

The article was written by Zhan Lue and published in the iiss.cn on the 8th August 09.

What's striking is that it was published on the 8th.

The photos of murder of an arrested person was published by Tehelka datelined 9th of August.It's usual for online edition to appear before the dateline.

In my mind,there seems to be a plan in bringing out the two publications almost simutaneously.

Is the same player producing the masterstroke of a strategic execution(my last post) also the inspiration behind the publication of the chinese viewpoint?

I cannot help asking this question.

Tiger in plain sight(with an apology to Tehelka)

2009-08-13T19:32:00.003+05:30

We grew up amidst the heady cocktail of oral history or myths or
futurology or name it what you like it to be.

Consider this one story:

'In some futures to come, there will be one big day when a tiger, in
broad daylight and in the middle of the Keithel, will devour a pregnant
woman and then,such and such scenario would follow'.

In our childhood,we were mostly mesmerized by the stark imageries
thrown up by the story. In broad daylight! A tiger devouring a pregnant
woman!!

We did not give particular attention to the description of the scenario
that would follow the event. Normally,such stories describe the coming
event and the other half, the scenario that would follow the event.

Now, I cannot recollect the other part of the story describing the
scenario.

The edition of Poknapham dated 12th of August had a letter to the
editor mentioning the above story. Without reading the Pokanpham
letter, I might not have find another trigger to remember the story as
we had in our childhood.

As we have come this far,it's natural to be extremely curious about the
other part--the scenario thing. The Pokanpham letter mentioned the
scenario as:'the authentic clues would come up' and 'the true picture
would emerge.

I'm not sure if this is the scenario that we had heard in our
childhood.

But the line-'the true picture would emerge'-is extremely intriguing.

Of course, I have a theory!!

It's a foregone conclusion that Tehelka has neither the will nor the
resouce to get the phtographas and accompanying story by itself. So?
Well,let's put in a negative sense. If it were not something to do with
the rebel groups,there would already be claims staking laurels for
facilitating the Tehelka group to carry the story and the photos.

So the facilitator comes from the eco-system of the rebels.Let's call
the rebel group throwing up the facilitator as 'x'.

Now, there was a tumult here following the publishing of the
photographs. It's not hard to imagine all of the active cadres of the
bountiful rebel groups were all participants as the agitators in the
streets.

Here, one extremely significant development comes up. All of the cadres
who are not of the group 'x'would have participated in the agitations
with the deep feelings in their hearts that their groups' leaders were
not capable of producing the Tehelka feat. 'X' group is giving the lead
and they are following--they would have surely conscious of this fact.

Now, consider the public's likely impression. Around 23rd of July, the
group 'x' got hold of the photos and they managed to plug any leak of
the existence of them,even when the State Assembly was in session.
Now, the photos reached Delhi and the Parliament was also in session.
Here again, they managed to persuade Tehelka to carry the story and the
photos,still plugging any leak. Delhi's ruling would be very hungry for
such a leak!

Manipur State Assembly's session ended with the end of July. Still no
leaks. The Chief Minister was to lead the state delegation to meet the
officials of the Planning commission on the 2nd August. The news of the
photos was carried by the cable news in the evening of 1st of August,
thus giving the Chief Minister only the night of 1st August to react to
the development. Only when he reahed Delhi did he relaized the gravity
of the situation.

It's the masterstroke of a strategic execution.

The public is impressed by this masterstroke. And, the rebel cadres
have to admit to themselves that they are following group 'x'.

Then,isn't it the case the group 'x' getting the mandate from the
public?

So, the scenario line should run like this--'the true picture(of the
public giving the mandate to the group 'x' and all the other groups
following the lead the group 'x') would emerge'.

This theory of mine is amazing. Isn't it?

The flicker of hope

2009-08-12T18:01:00.000+05:30

It must be surely more 100 men and women there. May be, touching 150 mark. They were lining up to use the lone SBI ATM in Paona Bazar!

Passing them by, I said to myself--'If so paople start thronging up a lone ATM,they are murderng the essence of an ATM--convenience!'.

But...but, that number paled into insignificance when you had a glimpse what's going at the SBI branch at Paona Bazar.

The branch was not yet open for business. But the queue spilled out from Paona Bazar itself and emptying out itself on to the street beside the flyover.

It was the longest queue I have ever seen in my life!

Is everybody after cash? Or, what? I'm still confused.

But when you reached Khoyathing police point, it was literally what you call the case of 'all hell breaking loose'. The area was so packed with men,women,cars,motorbikes,cycles,cyclerickshaws that you could not find a space to put one 0f your feet a little forward.

It was madness.

I felt pity for the 2 dozen or so traffic police and MR troopers whe were trying to manage the madness.

I freed myself from the mad rush and walked into the Thangal Bazar street. There I found the cars bumper to bumper right upto Sani mandir. I again escaped from there towards Nagamapal Road, thinking that it might be better there.

But there also,there were cars bumper to bumper going in a snail pace all throughout the lenght of the road.

I was walking along the foothpath and I found out that it was a rare chance of seeing all the faces of drivers and riders of so many cars in such a short stretch of a street.

All the faces seemed to be very patient.

No cussing and hollering--usual in a such a traffic snarl.

Suddenly, a thought struck me. Were not the faces inside the cars the faces of men and women determined to play by rules?

Manipur Police commandos are so unruly that the rest of the population start seeing the neccssity of playing by some rules!

Is this the case?

See, we have several days of widespread agitations throughout the State. This time around,all the agitators also seemed to be playing by some minimum rules. No torching of Govt vehicles and offices.

Is this the nature such tumult we are living in right now to lift the population up a higher level of moral standard?

I'll be elated if this is the case.

Now,it's the Manipur Police Commandos's turn to lift themselves up to higher level of moral values and to start practising finer police duties.

But what about the Chief Minster?

Dear Chief Misnister, the first step in lifting yourself up to higher moral ground is to act on what you had said in front of media men of the country--the Judicial Inquiry.

Please cancel the Magisterial inquiry and take immediate steps to institute the Judicail inquiry.

This may yet be your last chance to save yourself from the widespread condemnation you would like be faced in futures to come.

Manipur Police Commandos in TIME magazine

2009-08-11T17:03:00.002+05:30

I've just read a Time magazine report featuring Manipur Police Commandos. It was datelined 1oth August and I"ve read it as feed in my iGoogle.

Here is the link.

It was quite a scene.

2009-08-11T12:18:00.002+05:30

I had to quickly meet a friend.

This morning,with the curfew knocking at the door from 9 am, I did indeed quickly learn that you cannot do a 'meet- a- friend- quickly' job quickly enough! There are so many a little things involved meeting up with a friend. And with the curfew there I came to learn that they took a lot of time.

It was nearly 8.30 when I managed to reach Khwairamband.Already,everybody was starting to pack up and stores to pull down shutters. I even notices Manipur Police commandos were walking randomly among the elderly women vendors, muttering quitely but with a lot of menace--'Pack up, pack up, before we are forced to snatch away your merchandise'(loisilloko, eikhoina cheikhairaktri-ngeida, loisilloko).

I needed to buy some leafy green ones!

But I was there standing with only the bunch of banana in my hands, mesmerized by the crowd behaviour.'Crisis'is the keyword and it was written largely on everybody's face.

I returned home along the Paona Bazar Road. Just then,Commando Gypsy, with their siren blaring annoyingly loudly, started coming,driving extremely slowly, down the road from the wrong direction. They were breaking the one-way traffic there with smirk faces. They were impeding the movements of people hurrying back home.

It was quite a scene.

And, I have to go without any vegetable today. That's because I am here amidst a 'crisis'.

Wishful thinking

2009-08-10T15:35:00.001+05:30

Seeing yeterday's edition of 'Sa-ngai Express' gave me the nasty feeling that it desperately wants to wish away the murder of a citizen by Manipur Police commandos. The whole body language of the paper oozes out the message--'Let all the agitations on the streets come to an end and the developmental works start'.

I wanted to post my impressions yesterday itself but BSNL seemed to have more urgent task than giving internet to its customers all through out yesterday!

To add spice to this nasty feeling, I found a featured aricle, titled 'Are we following appropriate procedures?' by Kenilworth Yambem. This is the first time I ever read a write up by him.

I'll quote some portion of the 2nd para:

"Yes,it is common knowledge that the Ibobi adminsitration is at the morally wrong end of the equation for supposed disinformation to the public and the State legislature,but that dose not authorised the public to take the law into its own hands. That is likely to bring the public towards the morally wrong end too. Constitutional provision of peaceful demonstarations do not include abject hooliganism. The Government would then conveniently use public disorder as a premise to follow a series of repressions. Furthermore, Article 355 of the Constitution gives the Centre the right to intervene in case of internal disturbance in a State. One must keep in mind that the Government's loss of public moral support does not immediately imply its loss of legitimacy. ... "

I'm still confused by the last line above.

Towards the end of 3rd para, there is one line which needs to be quoted:

"As of now, a President's Rule declaration is not in the cards as the Constitutional machinery has not failed."

Manipur Police Commandos murdered an arrested person. The murder was documented by vivid photographs.It's to be noted here that the case is the culmination of a series of killings which were widely percieved by the public to be the handiworks of Manipur Police commandos. There was even a newspaper reporter among those who were killed. There is clearly a trend of events in which the Manipur Poloce commandos are widly percieved to be active agents in trampling of rule of law. In other words,they are widely believed to be the agents of saboteur of Constitutional machinery. All these are allowed to happen with the enouragement of the Chief Minister, who being also the home minister have the hands on knowledge of the working of the police department. Even when the photographs came out, he refused to suspend the guilty personnel. The suspension came only after the widespread protest. If it's not a failure of Constitutional machinery, what is it?

The writer seems to think that widespread anarchy as a only scenario which warrants the tagging of 'failure of Constitutional machinery'.

He concludes with this paragraph, which is quoted in full:

"To conclude with, the development of collective hysteria and it sintensity manifests the collective temperament of the public in times of crisis. At this day and age,we do not need brave swordsmen and warriors carrying meaningless sacrifice as their trump card.Rather,what we need is collective struggle with a rational constraint so that feasible demands are met with".

This is the last paragraph.

Why doesn't he elaborate a little on the anatomy of the 'collective struggle with a rational constraint'.

New thingies

2009-08-08T16:21:00.000+05:30

Khwairamband Keithel was flush with fresh vegetable this morning.

It's a bit ironic, isn't it?

That we have been under curfew for days now should have heralded a scarcity in evrything,especially, the perishables, like, vegetables.

But I should not fail to note that there is blanket increases in prices. There is steep increase in the prices of grains and cereal also.

I bought a lot of leafy green vegetable this morning. There seemed to be a lot of those stuff there but, still,the sellers got good prices. That must be because of the fact there was limited time to purchase stuff. Everybody seemed to be in hurry.

And,another new trend is that majority of the people seem to choose to stay home out of their own volition.

When there were curfews before,they were more like extended holidays!

Everybody can see vividly what the State can do to a citizen, courtesy of the photos of Tehelka. So, they stay home and try to figure out what has just come to them.

All Delhi's men

2009-08-07T14:47:00.000+05:30

It's increasingly becoming self evident.

The Chief Minister acted on the instructions given to him by the ruling class of Delhi while he was in New Delhi itself.

The intructions:

1. Pay lip service to judicial inquiry and buy time.

2. Suspend some Manipur police commando pesonnel.

3. After some days(when there is no agitations in the streets) say there would be judicial inquiry only after the completion of the magisterial inquiry,now underway.

If the ruling class of Delhi stoops so low,it's our legitimate right to put intoplay this conjecture:

They quitely kept in touch with the Opposition leader in Parliament and then, with all other leaders of the smaller smaller political parties.

Their main thrust: Let the Tehelka photos of the murder of an arrested man by Manipur police comandos be kept off limit from the floor of the Parliament,in session right at the moment.

Their premises: INDIA'S NATIONAL INTEREST.

The above can only explain why the Tehelka photos do not(so far)come up for discussions on the floor of the Parliament.

In case, the ruling class of Delhi dares to stoop so low, it's the sad day for India's democracy.

And here, in a box called Manipur, we are increasingly becoming the sacrificial lambs for the INDIAN NATIONAL SECURITY matters.

But what about history?

That Rome, the infallible Rome, declined and fell flat on the ground because of the moral depravity of its ruling class.

Delh's ruling class is despearately in need of some quick lessons in history.

AN ANECDOTE
----------

I was hurrying back home. I was in a state that can be best described as half walking-half running!

It was nearing 9 am when the curfew re-starts.

I was just past Friend Talkies,when I saw kids skittering into several gullys, with fear writ large on their faces.

Just then the drama began.

It must be 7-8 motorbikes. Those riding pillions had their AK rifles hung carelessly from their left shoulders while their right hands hold longist and menacing sticks.

The motor bikes rode in tandem covering the whole breadth of the street, all the while their riders hollering and swinging their sticks.

That's Manipur police commnados ways of announcing that the curfew relaxation time was over. And,it was not even 9 am when the curfew re-starts.

They swept past by me, coming from the opposite side of my walking direction.

When I reached the Paona International Market,they were coming back riding in the same fashion.

I was walking furiously on the footpath,as farthest as psooible from the edge of the street.

From behind me, someone was calling:

"Oh, dear! one of those pineapples have fallen away".

Yes! I was carrying some pineapples!! Remembering this, I turned back suddenly to pick up the fallen one.

But instead of seeing the (not)fallen pineapple, I saw the fuzzy faces of the Manipur police commandos, speeding up.

These are the voices I heard from the motor bike riding nearest to me:

"Ha, ha"

"Hee. hee".

They were making fun of me.

MORAL OF THE STORY
-----------------

Moral depravity zips down from the top to the bottom of the pyramid with a terrifying speed.

Last night

2009-08-07T14:45:00.002+05:30

Last night I was so eager to post the day's happenings around here.

But BSNL's network was down and I waited till 11 pm to find out if there was resumption of service then.

Dreadful counting

2009-08-05T21:48:00.002+05:30

World is so full of people who condone and support lawlessness. I thought Delhi, being an emerging player of coming global polarity, would be appalled by the Tehelka photos.

And the Chief Minister was in uncharacteristic self when he stormed out of meeting in Planning Commission office. Was it a stage-managed drama so as to enable him to stay a bit longer in New Delhi?

I've this dreadful feeling when I have to start counting so many people who are spporters of lawlessness, not less in fancied New Delhi.

Right, at the moment, I'm hearing so many sounds of explosion of mock bombs used to disperse the 'meira paibis' who are palnning a torch rally.

I've this uneasy feeling that brute force of the State would crush such agitations of the aggrieved people.

POSTSCRIPT:
Just read that the CM had instituted a judicial probe--that's in Google News. Was it the case of Delhi people forcing his hand?

Most wanted man(as the newspaper puts it).

2009-08-04T21:17:00.002+05:30

------------------------------
CM most wanted in Delhi
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, August 03 2009: Chief Minister O Ibobi, who is presently in Delhi, is said to be swarmed up by national media paparazzis following the report and photos in Tehelka Magazine on the Khwairamband Bazar incident of July 23 .

Sources in Delhi said packs of journalists have thronged the Manipur Bhavan in Delhi in large numbers today seeking interview with the CM.

The journalists were said to have waited for the CM till late in the evening.

It was, however, a disappointment for the journalists as the CM did not grant audience with them.

Sources said he is likely to address the media Tuesday evening.
----------------------------------

It's sometimes appropriate to do a cut and paste job. The above is from a Hueiyen Lanpao report.

Reading it, I get the following impressions:

1. As far as I can remember, the Chief Minister has previuosly scheduled meetings with Planning Commission officials to chalk out the plan outlay of the State. It seems he did not attend to his duties of going there.

2. All the important people there in the Congress party headquarters in New Delhi seemed eager to get the Chief Minister confined to Manipur Bhavan. It's also likely that he was politely instructed not to meet the media.

I get this distinct feeling that the Congress party leadership in Delhi is busy checking out if the Tehelka photographs are fakes or not.

As in the previous day, I was greeted with silence from the street front(my last post). When noon came I began to hear the sounds of explosion of mock bombs used by the police to chase away crowds in the streets. It was, and still is, what the newspapers love to call sporadic sounds of explosions.

As I'm typing this out,I can hear explosions. They come mainly from Singjamei Yumnam Leikai side. Let's say, from Yaiskul side.

As I went out in the evening, the first thing I noticed was that besides the usual posse of Manipur police in duty in the street there were Assam Rifles troopers as well.

As I was going through the street of Paona Bazar, I fancied that I could notice subtle change in the faces of the people. They seemed to feel something important was in the offing.

I bought an eveninger and returned home.

The paper mainly focussed on the pitched battle in the streets of Khurai area between the bandh supporters and the policemen.

Just now, I heard police are using public address systems announcing something. Most probably, they are imposing curfew.

As the Chief Minister has already forfeited his moral right to govern, we have already come face to face a power vacuum here.

All quiet on every front!

2009-08-03T21:22:00.001+05:30

It was late when I tumbled out of bed this morning--around 8. Dutifully, I went straight to my morning chores--toiletting, breakfasting, morning papers,showering. But amidst all thses tasks, I trained my ears towards picking up noticeable sounds from the street, which is hardly 30 feet away. Street sounds are sure barometer of how a bandh is faring. This morning I was trying to pick up one sound--that of 1000cc diesel autorickshaws. They are bandh killers. If noticeable sounds of them were picked up, the particular bandh is a failure.

This morning's decision: All quiet on the street front.

Sure enough, when I ventured out into the street in the evening, I immediately sensed it is one of those rare bandhs in which people in general responded.

When I started walking along the Paona Bazar road, I bumped into several cricket matches! That's not normal. In most bandhs, you would find cricket matches along the governor road or masjid road; but not along the Paona Bazar street itself.

But one thing made my breathing easier--there was no ploice commandos in sight. I said to myself--'Good'.

But when I reached the Uripok police point under the overbridge, I found numerous police commando personnel sitting right there, on mostly, red chairs. They parked their motor bikes right in the middle of the street.

I said to myself--' They sure descended into this world with thicker than average skin'.

I can't imagine why they don't have qualm in showing off their faces in public places at this juncture. There must be serious flaw in what they perceive to be the moral values of mankind.

They sure can have commando units in the police. But every aspiring commando should be packed off to a reputable police academy outside the State for gruel training lasting not several months but sevral years. There they should be inculcated with the idea of what constitute the rule of law, public morality, human rights, duties of protecting public property and life.

I quickly bought an eveninger and headed home.

The paper have a detailed report of how the police had the hard times in controlling bandh supporters,especially in Khurai and Lamsang. But there was not a single report on how the dissident MLAs were planning. Neither the political manouvering in Delhi.

It seems there is a deafening silence on the political front as well.

For a small man like me who have no privileged information, today is the case of "All quiet on every front".

Poor man!

The big, bad guy of Manipur

2009-08-02T22:13:00.001+05:30

The Tehelka photos are the class in itself showing how policemen shot and killed an arrested person in cold blood. The link for the photos are here.

When I walked down the street of Paona Bazar in the evening, all of the Manipur Police Commando officers were nowhere to be seen. As I have to walk up and down this particular street several times a day, most of them are very familiar faces to me.

Today, I could see only few police commandos,all of them seemed to be new recruits. Seeing their face, I said to myself--'They seem to be blissfully ignorant of what have just hit them'.

Reaching the overbridge, I searched for an eveninger. There I found that the Chief Minsiter had just instituted a magisterail inquiry into the killing of the arrested person by the police commandos.

Reading the paper by the side of the street, I agian said to myself--'Even the Chief Minsiter himself is blissfully unaware of what have just hit him'.

In case the Chief Minister had instituted a judicial inquiry, he might have a remote chance of saving his political career.

But, now the die has already been cast. There is no turning back now.

The Chief Minsiter will always be remembered as the big, bag guy of Manipur who condoned and supported lawnlessness while still occupying the office of chief ministership.

Postscript:

I should put the following obsevation of mine in black and white.

In the morning, I went out to buy a copy of Huieiyen Lanpao. It was hardly 9 in the morning. But all the copies of the morning papers were sold out. I tried all the places I know where you can buy morning papers. Not a single copy of any newspapers was there--all sold out.Normally, you can buy newspapers even until noon.

In most evenings the usual scene under the overbridge is the gang of several newspaper hawkers standing there and trying to sell the papers to the passerbys.This evening, not a single hawker there. When I bought the paper, I had to look out for a hawker in sevral streets. Apparently, all the eveningers were also sold out.

So, the people are devouring the news.

Is 'Balochistan' the strategic shift?

2009-08-01T20:18:00.000+05:30

I think we can say with a tone of certainty that the ruling class in New Delhi is not that naive to agree to bring Balochistan to the table without some carefully charted out gameplan.

So, what might be the gameplan?

We can look to 3 recent reports from the Eastern front:

1. The latest Sukhois are to be deployed in Tezpur airbase. Before its announcement the then outgoing Air Chief minced no words in saying that China is the enemy no 1.

2. The former Army Chief, now the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, told mediamen that there would be fresh deployment of 2 more divisions along the borders with China. I think putting in another 2 division along the border(for that matter, any border) is a big decision.

3. India's main battle tank, T72s, has just been deployed along the borders with China in the Sikkim sector. This is a huge decision. India has such a urgency in deploying the tanks that the Border Road Organization(BRO) had had to put in 'a monumental work'to make the mountainous Sikkim roads tanks-ready. For such a service one personnel of the BRO has been awarded with the highest militaty galantry!

So, India is definitely building up military capabilities in the Eastern front.

Viewed from this angle, we can say that agreeing to bring Balochistan to the table definitely sends the clear message to the Pakistanis that, from now on, there would be more cordial talks in the Western front while there would more urgent military build ups along the Eastern front.

It's also likely that there is also a message for the general populace of Pakistan: now, the lay Pakistanis have the rooms to see that if 'big brother' India insists on talking about Kashmir, they are also ready to talk about Balochistan as well. It's likely to make a soothing effect on the people to people relation of the two countries.

So, Balochistan means 'talks' in the Western front while there would be urgent military build ups in the Eastern front.

A definite strategic shift.

Drought related?

2009-07-28T21:39:00.000+05:30

I thought it was it's the fallout of normal grid maintenance.

I'm talking about day-long power cuts.

It started at around 6 in the morning and lasted all day long. The power supply resumed at around 6 in the evening.

When we got it in the evening it was in such a low voltage that we had had not the heart to fire up my desktop.

It has been continuing for some days now.

This makes me think that it's somehow connected with the drought we are in.

Most of the big power plants in the NE Region are hydro based. When we have drought there is no enough water to continue producing power. So, all the power plants started cutting down on the production.

Is this the right scenario?

The Chief Minister has opened a new chapter

2009-07-25T21:11:00.000+05:30

The Chief Minster had just said it.

It's always true that the unspoken outlooks of the political establishment towards the rebels here is--'Kill them all'.

But it was never publicly spelled out.

Their public posture seen in the rhetoric like--'let's talk','rebels are our beloved brothers-but mislaid' etc etc are just rhetoric. Nothing more , nothing less.

Now, the CM had publicly spelled out in the floor of the State Legislative Assembly that there was no alternative but to kill them all.

Two other points also came out.

1. The rebels are only after money. They have no any other agenda.

2. Talks with them would follow the 'Mizoram example'. The CM himself quoted the number--20,000 of Mizo rebels killed by Indian military. Only after this the rebels are forced into talks.

It's becoming clearer by the day that the rebels are way too keen of easy money. Regarding this point the CM is expressing what's in the mind of the majority of the populace.

But the second point is scary. He seems to be welcoming of the making of another killing field here. Who likes a re-enactment of another killing field of Cambodia? NOBODY.

The CM, by publicly spelling out the political establishment wish list, has opened, wittingly or unwittingly, a new chapter in the history of insurgency here.

Heavy showers and the blue sky.

2009-07-25T21:00:00.000+05:30

At around noon, there was a heavy showers. It was just like a good old rainy days of July.

But,by 2 pm, we were again greeted by blue sky. There were only a scatterings of cloud.

It was again quite sunny.

By now, it is quite unmistakable that we are in the midst of a drought.

The cases of vanishing fruits

2009-07-23T20:53:00.000+05:30

It's not good to be an alarmist to count little changes in my immediate environment as results of climate Change.

But changes do happen.

Let's take up the cases of vanishing fruits!

In my experience, succulent plums from Mao normally start out at around Rs 30/- a kg. As its season matures the qunatity of the plums available in the market increases. Thus, price tend to climb down to around Rs 10/- a kg.

This time around when it first started its appearance in the market,it takes its normal course when it cost Rs 30/- a kg. I decided to wait for the time when the price would come down to around Rs 10-15 while I continued buying cheaper(at that point of time) fruits like papaya.

But the prices of the plum never did come down from Rs 30/-.

What's alarming is that the plums vanished from the market quickly at that price point.

The same thing happened in case of blueberries. Normally, we can buy blueberries in the market for at least a month(that's because we have no cold chains).

But this time around,it's hardly 1 week when we could buy it in the market.

And, I suspect the trend is discernible in passion fruit right at the moment!

We can only hope that all these changes do occur because of reduced rainfall which can be counted to be normal if we apply the metrics of a drought once a decade.

Socio-political impact of 1000cc autorickshaws

2009-07-21T21:17:00.000+05:30

Will there ever be a more or less spontaneous bandh?

While reading the book, 'The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian', there was a little episode which caught my attention.

In that episode, the author was chased down the streets of Calcutta by bandh supporters.

The bandh was called against the British Government. It was called by none other than Mohandas Gandhi.

Then, I asked myself---'Bandh supporters chasing people around in streets even during a bandh called by Gandhi?'

In Manipur's case 'bandh supporters chasing around people' constitutes half the picture. Add to this another important half--'reluctance of bus owners to take the risk of doing business on bandh days'.

These two factors mostly present a semblance of a succesful bandh.

Bus owners appear so meek because of the fact buses are, and will always be, sitting ducks when confronted by bandh supporters or arsonists.

Now, enter the 1000cc diesel autorickshaws. They can carry more 10 people and at the same, can be driven almost like motorbikes. Their owners are not so meek as the bus owners because they can flee when confronted or given chase by bandh supporters. They can flit through the little used lanes and by-lanes avoiding the bandh supporters.When not carrying 10 people they can haul some women vendors with all their merchandise.

So, we have bandh killer in hand. This was widely evident in the just concluded mega bandh(see my post'mega bandh').

In this sense, 1000cc diesel autorickshaws would have their impact in the socio-political framwork of the society.

Woolen cloth in Tamil Nadu-no rain in Manipur!

2009-07-19T21:10:00.000+05:30

Another of my chirpy niece phoned me from Coimbatore--'Mamo, it's so cold here-we are pulling out woolen cloths from the closet'.

My heart sank.

People start wearing woolen cloth in mid July,that too in a town in Tamil Nadu. Climate change,isn't it?!

Here, I'm a bit edgy because of the way too wayward monsoon. To make matters worse, now I'm hearing that people start wearing cloth in mid July in Tamil Nadu!

Did I miss something? I've always equate Tamil Nadu with sweltering heat even during winters.

She continued--'Mamo, people here say it's the first time in recent memories when it's so cold in July'. She is new there,just getting her admission.

My heart sank furhter. First time in recent memories? That signifies the onset of the long-predicted climate change!

I hope I was totally wrong in saying all these things.

The 3rd day the truncated mega bandh

2009-07-18T23:30:00.000+05:30

I even stepped out of my house this morning! That's after more than 70 hrs of continuous holing inside my house!!

I went out to buy some meat. My regular butcher was in his usual self--bandh or no bandh.

Most of the bigger stores pulled their shutters down. But street vendors were in their businesses.

Even after getting the news that 5 of diesel auto rickshaws were burnt by bandh supporters, many were seen plying in the streets.

The way of making the announcement of forming of a faction of a rebel group(it was done in a press conference on the 14th to appear on the frontpages of the 15th, on which the mega bandh had begun) and the way the bandh was truncated on the day the faction was announced on the frontpages mean that one party was making a retreat. It might be a tactical retreat, though.

It's to be noted that the news of the formation of the faction did not appear on the 15th might mean that the parent rebel group exerted pressures on the media houses not to publish it. On the 16th all paperes failed to hit the newstand presumably because of the wrangle of the two parties.

This round goes to the conspirators.

Will there be another round?

We had heard phrases like quality education, academic atmosphere, wilful targeting of memeber of a minority community etc etc in the aftermath of the assasination of Prof Islamuddin; but this morning's papers cleared all the smokescreens--Prof Islamuddin just happened to a sacrificial lamb.

The poor professor.

2 days into the mega bandh

2009-07-17T22:52:00.000+05:30

If you the have the eye for it, you won't have a chance to miss it--Imphal is in the throes of a nail-biting political thriller!

It's most likely that the conspirators(my last post) are not from within the estblishment of Government of Manipur. But they have taken side to toe the line of the conspirators. After initial dismay at the ghastly killing of Prof Islamuddin,the actors of State Government machineries quickly grasped the possibilities thrown up by it to malign the rebel groups operating here.This must be one of the reasons why the chief Minister told the State Legislative Assembly that the time had not yet arrived for disclosing the charges levelled against the students. It must be noted that the students have now been arrested for nearly 60 days and the lone guy who really pulled the trigger in shooting down the Prof was also in the police custody. If they have got 60 days for investigation they should at least tell the State Assembly the charges levelled against the students.

For the ruling class in New Delhi, the conspirators are like the proverbial Manna from the sky.

Manipur has too many rebel groups and too much vigorous competitions amongst them. This fact gives the ruling class in New Delhi the opportunities to capitalize on the potent competiotions and to sow discord amongst the rebel ranks.

Now, the moves to capitalize on the potent competitions have moved on to an impressively subtle level and it turns out that most of the recent such moves are beyond some of the rebel leaders.

Today's ongoing mega bandh is the direct result of such moves and response from the rebel leaders who seem not able to fully grasp the subtelity of the move in the first place.

Viewing from another perspective, the ongoing bandh can also signify the start of a churn within the rebel ranks. This churn may, as the ruling class New Delhi has calculated, either result in the wholesale sinking of all the rebel ranks or, prove to be the proverbial test by fire for some of the more able rebel leaders.

From my personal life, it's a bit scary to come to terms with the fact I had not stepped out of my house for nearly 60 hours now! 50 hours!!

As I gathered from house which is only few feet from a street, life seems to be paralysed for the second straight day. I can do it from the sounds of the street!

At around 1 pm a military turboprop was encircling the Imphal valley. And it continued to do so fro nearly one hour. I could see it from my windows!

Mega bandh

2009-07-16T21:33:00.002+05:30

We are facing with a mammoth bandh--120 hrs to be exact!

It all started with the killing of Prof Islamuddin inside the campus of MU itself.

It's TECHNICALLY right for the student body which called this mega bandh to claim that they have nothing to do with the killing and so, their cadres, arrested in connection with the killing, should be released.

But, in politics(or, in students politics) TECHNICALITY does not count.

It's all about LEADERSHIP and MANDATE.

To get an idea how TECHNICALITY does not count, lets' consider the following scenarios:

1. I'm not saying that this particular student body has links with the rebel group which openly claimed to have undertaken the killing of the professor; but, let's club together all the rebel groups with all the 'active' student bodies to label them as the seekers of mandate for 'change'.

Looking from this perspective, they are all 'fellow comrades'.

Most importantly, the 'poor,ignrant mass' understands that they are all 'fellow comrades' and that must be one reasons why the 'demcratic struggles'(for which the mega bandh is supposed to be the grand finale) to demand the release of the students dose not elicit any response from the 'poor, ignorant mass'.

In fact, the students are in jail because of the 'bad decisions' by some of their 'fellow comrades'.

2. On the opposite side, let's club together the State Government, the Government of India and the Gang to label them as the seekers of mandate for the status quo.

The Gang,which is behind the rampant killings of migrant labors,is fast becoming a favorite tool for the Government of India in its counter insurgency operation here.

Would the seekers of the mandate for 'change' have the remote chances of getting it?

The answer---absolutely NO CHANCE, as was demonstrated by the level of leadership thrown up when faced with the crisis leading to the killing of the professor.

In my mind, it's absolutely right when the rebel group,which killed the professor,claimed that it was a conspiracy which egged on the prof to openly defy it.

What they did not spell out is that the conspirators, in egging on the Prof, was actually egging on the particular rebel group to take the extreme step of shooting the Prof in broad day light inside the university campus.

In effect, the conspirators were testing the level of leadership of the particular rebel group when cornered with a conspiracy.

So, what's that level of leadership?

EXTREMELY POOR LEADERSHIP QUALITY.

We can use whatever term we like--be it, the mass, the people etc--but one thing is certain--they are not dumb and WOULD NOT hand over any mandate to that LEVEL of leadership.

So, what shall we say about this mega bandh?

The fact that we are facing with this mega bandh tells us the seekers for the mandate for 'change'are in fact beating about the bush when they should have a collective soul searching regarding that extremely poor leadership quality.

To put it more succinctly, if the current crisis started out with a conspiracy, they need to sit back, start using their brain and devise a game plan to check mate the conspirators.

To be blunt, it's fairly easy to comprehend that calling a '120 hrs bandh' would not constitute any part in the making of such a game plan.

I have a working computer, now!

2009-07-14T21:21:00.002+05:30

Two weeks back, I hauled my computer to neighbourhood computer repair shop. My intention was to install a new windows.

But I found out that my hard disk was a complete wreck.

For the last 2 weeks, they were searching for a used 40 gb harddisk.

My old computer does not even support a 80 gb one!

They could get hold one this evening.

Now, I've a working computer!

Millet, millet!

2009-06-25T20:48:00.001+05:30

I bet it would be a little irritating for the 'novice'to hear the lectures by my sis and her husband about the virtue of meditation.But if you are a little into wellness, like me,you would be able to understand their enthuasiasm.

It's heartening to find out that they are starting to question the traditional kitchen and they are actually acting on some newer ideas of how we eat.

But all my remaining three sisters in Imphal are firmly moored onto the traditional kitchen.

In my mind, we need to start questioning the traditional kitchen. Traditional kitchen is desperately in need of newer ideas.

We talked a lot about the practice of wellness and of breaking away from the traditional kitchen.

On one such occassion, I just mentioned in passing that millet is the best staple food but it's not availbale here in Imphal.

After several days, my sister was there at my house with the millet!

She asked around and found a shop selling millet.

I tried making porridge of millet and found out that it's okay.

I'm going in for corn and millet as soon as my stock of peas exhausted itself in a few days time!

My sis and Ima Keithel

2009-06-24T21:13:00.000+05:30

My sis returned to Delhi today.

I'm not sure of her but her kids considered Delhi their home. They were born and raised up in Delhi. So, this is natural for the kids to feel Delhi their home.

Several years ago, the whole family came down here. The two kids stared at us and said aloud, like calling out a name-- 'Manipur'. There was something about it that was funny but at the same time thought provoking.

Did the word 'Manipur' a challenge to their to their notion of 'rootedness'in Delhi?

This time the kids are busy in their school and college. Inspite their absence, my sis seemed to devour every minute of her stay here.

She made a point to visit every family member--both from our paternal and maternal side.

My house served as a strategic launching pad to spin out in every direction for visting the family members! One day she returned to the 'pad'visibly excited. She sat down and started her story.

I was there with two of other sisters.

She told us that she had just returned from visting an aunt. This aunt happened to be the one to whom our grandma gifted the one 'shop space'( Is this the correct term?) in Ima Keithel. She told her that she would take that 'shop space' to start her business when she returned from Delhi.

This made me laud out aloud. It's a little hard for me to imagine my sis among the womenfolk in Ima Keithel tending her small business!

But, my other two sisters got animated about hearing it. RIGHT! WE SHOULD TAKE BACK THAT 'SHOP SPACE'.

Isn't it an eyeopener?

All the dazzles of Delhi seem incapable of snapping the primordial ties of Manipouri women with Ima Keithel.

Military activities in the afternoon sky

2009-06-22T21:39:00.000+05:30

During afternoon, there was a lot of military activities in the sky.

Choppers were flying around. And real,snub-nosed military turbo-props were also seen flying.

As I saw them, they were flying towards Churachandpur and coming back again.

I have no idea if the activities were something to do with the reported rebellion within the ranks of a major rebel group operating.

The scene of the rebellion is reported to be along the Burmese border.

It's now official:DROUGHT

2009-06-21T21:15:00.000+05:30

It's now more or less official now.

We are in midst of an emerging drought.

But we may have still hope for July.

Come rain--July is waiting for you!

Two stories

2009-06-21T21:13:00.000+05:30

I went to a marriage yesterday. When I received the invitation card, there was no mention of 'Heijingpot'. I thougth there must be some disagreements with the bride's side and all the rituals and ceremonies would be a groom's side affair.

When I went there it surprised me to find out we were going to bride's place.

Marriage without 'heijingpot'.

I think it's a good sign that people start accepting such practice. If some people want marriage with 'heijingpot' it is also ok. But if some poor people want their marriage with less pomp like the 'heijingpot' it should also be acceptable to the society.

I mean if some members of society want to go with the bare basic of marriage ceremony it should be broadly acceptable.

In related matter, my soster told this story.

In Delhi, recently, one of her relatives decided that going to Imphal for would unnecessarily burn a lot a cash. Like maony spent on painting and decorating both the houses of the bride and groom. So, they decided to ask their parents to come to Delhi instead.

Now that Delhi has a sizable Manipuri population also helps. There are people for attendance in the ceremony and so, only the parents are needed!

The moral of the story is that they save a lot of money!!

Which class?

2009-06-18T22:45:00.001+05:30

Is June 18 AMUCO's legacy?

Again, is June 18 UCM's legacy?

The answer to both question is an empathic NO.

June 18 is one of our Society's brightest legacies.

Nearly 10 years after the historic event, our society's mandate, at the moment, to any NGO, be it AMUCO,UCM etc, is to guard this bright legacy.

Here, we need to go a little further back in time when AMUCO decided to break away from UCM, which at the time was an umbrella body of around 10 NGOs. In the sense AMUCO represents the interest of a particular class (as do other NGOs represent their respective interest of various classes in our society), it is quite understandable for AMUCO to start working for this particular class, once the historic necessity for the continued existence of UCM lapsed. But(THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT) AMUCO should rise above its class interest to guard this bright legacy of our society.

This is AMUCO's historic responsibility.

Why guarding this legacy?

Becasue we need still to learn extremely important lessons from June 18.

Lesson like understanding the particular interplay historic currents that propelled the formation of UCM,which, though briefly, truly represented the united will of Manipuri society.

Lesson like coming to grip with our capability to again letting the united will of the Manipuri society flower to a full blooom according to the demand of our time.

But at the moment we find ourselves in the midst of hectic deployment of precious time and money to consciously entrap the populace in AMUCO vs UCM meme. This means we are actually starting to take steps in the opposite direction of 'guarding this bright legacy of ours'.

That said, it's not the time for finger pointing.

We need keep our cool heads and try to emperically answer this big question:

Which class of society is proving unequal to the task of guarding 'the bright legacy of ours'?

Relief today!

2009-06-17T20:38:00.001+05:30

For several days, my sister from Delhi have been telling us that today she would have a must-attend schedule.

Today at around 9.30 in the morning, she would be going to the place in Senapati district where Dr Kishan together with his two subordinate staff were murdered.

From what she had been tellng us we gathered that it was planned for a private function for family members for Kishan to erect a memorial stone at the spot.

Yesterday, she told me to expect her late in the afternoon.

But she didn't turn up.

I suspect their plan had gone awry. They planned it as puely private function. But then they found out that everybody wanted to attend with probably full attendance of State's media.

So, it might turn out to be an elaborate function.

That she didn't turn meant other sisters also didn't come. That means I was relieved of palying host to her sisters today!

But for the coming days it would be my must-attend duty to play host to my sisters late in the afternoon. Until she returns to Delhi on month end!

My little niece and the dress code

2009-06-16T21:26:00.000+05:30

When the little daughter of one of my sisters first saw her eldest aunt just coming down from Delhi,she quitely went to mom's ear and whispered-- 'Would you ask this 'che che' to bring a pointed shoe for her?'

She thought her eldest aunt was a 'che che' because my eldest sister was in a salwar Kameez.

She was properly imprinted with the idea that all the married women should be either in a phanek or a sari(half-sari,isn't it?).

The scene with me little niece was hillarious but it made me think about the state of dress code for married women in our society.

What's the use of this code?

Do people expect the woemnfolk here to bring out an aura of 'class' when they strictly adhere to their dress code?

This is the only reasonable ground for the dress code,if one is forced to think out one.

Otherwise, the dress code only serves to supress womenfolk by male-hierarchic society. Suppression. Period.

Dr Kishan and my family

2009-06-14T21:23:00.000+05:30

I came to know of it only yesterday--Dr Kishan was a very close relative of my sister(last post) from her husband's side.

In fact, Dr Kishan started his education in DU from the small rented room of my sister. At that time my sister was saving up to buy her current apartment.

My sister was telling us the story as if Dr Kishan was just a small boy, who also insisted on helping her in the kitchen. I suspect it was because Kishan was a little childlike.

At that time, my sister was so heavy into saving that they were eating PDS rice! On most days, when she returned from her work, she would found Kishan wafted clean the heavily adulterated PDS rice, cooked it with a hot and steaming 'chamthong' to go with it. But that made my sister mad because she wanted him to turn his undivided attention to his study.

When Kishan planned to quit his teaching job in Delhi to appear for Civil Services exam in Manipur, my sister and her husband were the first to steadfastly oppose it.(You know, I don't like this part of the story--why should everybody be so passionate of 'don't go Manipur' meme---even though Kishan's case is extremely tragic).

Yesterday, my sister still looked genuinely disturbed that Kishan refused to listen to them.

Sweet chit chats

2009-06-13T21:20:00.000+05:30

I got a phone call at 8 in the morning today.

I said 'hello' and, to my surprise, my eldest sister was at the other saying she was at my gate.

At my gate?

She is my sister who is residing in Delhi!

After her, all other sisters started arriving.

This is a rare when all four sisters and the lone brother meet together.So, all lot of chit chats went on well late into the evening.

That's a good and sweet experience but all my normal routine went haywire.

But I still all those chit chats!

An anecdote by Mr Niketu Iralu

2009-06-12T21:12:00.000+05:30

When I entered the auditorium, a lady was just finishing her question to Mr Niketu Iralu. There were apparently several questions raised by other persons before the lady's turn.

Mr Iralu tried to present a single answer to all the questions.

As a way of presenting that, he told this ancedote to the gathering.

He was from Khonoma village near Kohima. Khonoma is made famous because it's the birthplace of AZ Phizo.

About 4/5 years ago, forest in and around Khonoma was depleting. The main cause was the logging by local youths to make timbers for sale in Dimapur market.

Village elders gathered and passed a resolution that logging should be stopped.

But the youths from the village just laughed at the resolution and just continue the logging.

That was a completely new thing to the village and, more particularly, to the village elders.

Because in the Naga tradition and customs, elders and their resolutions are never laughed at.

So, something was terribly wrong.

Another meeting was called, this time Mr Iralu included. They wanted to find out what went wrong with the youths and the valued Naga tradition.

The meeting came up with suggestion that it might be due to the intra-Naga killings in the village in the height of Naga Rebellion. Then, they pin pointed 21 killings in the village by their very brethren in the same village. They created small groups which copuld sensitively approached the families where the feuds situated.

After time consuming approaches, they facilitated asking for forgiveness by the family members of those perpetuated the killings(the actual killers were long dead) and the smooth granting of forgiveness by the family menbers of the sufferers.

After this acts of asking for forgiveness and being forgiven, Mr Iralu said, the village is now normal course of Naga tradition.

Slowly, youths began to obey the elders' resolution of stopping logging.

Now, Khonoma has one of the best forest reserves in Nagaland.

I think it should be an eye opener for us living Imphal valley as well.

New Delhi's decision

2009-06-12T21:05:00.000+05:30

The Central Buereau of Investigation had got the go ahead from the highest court to produce the killer of Dr Kishan before a Delhi court. In normal process of law he should be produced before a court in Ukhrul where the FIR had been lodged.

The attorney of the CBI, in submitting his prayer to the supreme court, painted a picture that depicted that there was already a communal flare up between the Meetie and the Tangkhul in the aftermath of the murder.

But there was no such a flareup.

The attorney sounded like the communal flareup between the two communities was his most cherished wish list!

Another very significant aspect is that there was appaently a deal between the NSCN(IM) and the Home Ministry in Delhi that the killer should never be produced in a Manipur court.

If he is produced before a court in Manipur there is just a possibility that all the behind the scene activities of the murder might come out.

I'm pretty sure that Hopson Ningshen did not act alone. There was a very active partner in Imphal valley.

Home Ministry in Delhi has already decided that the active partner in Imphal valley should be all cost.

Now crisis, and then, deadend?

2009-06-12T21:00:00.000+05:30

If we are in crisis(my last two posts) because of our tiny population, are we in a deadend?

Do we have not a hope for the future?

To my mind, the tiny-sized population like us should look forward to the ubiquitous connectivity that's coming up in the next few decades.

In that environment, there might be just and rightful working spaces for small communities like us.

We must try to be optimists and see no deadend for us.

Is this our common crisis?

2009-06-11T21:16:00.000+05:30

Our common criis? (See my last post).

Let's take up an easily verifiable example--the world of cinema.

Normally, people want their cine stars to be little distant, may be, even a little mysterious. But when our society produces its cine stars everybody quickly grasps up the who's who--from which leikai, whose son or daughter etc.

It's because out society is so tiny.

But, to satisfy their yearning(ie, the aura of distance or mysterious of cine stars) people start looking to Korea! They love Korean stars!!

The very fact that our society is so tiny makes people feel it normal to search for cine stars outside of our own society. In many societies, its the exception to have some overseas stars--I mean, it's an exception not the rule.

So, our society is facing a crisis in that its people is reluctant to accept the cine stars produced homeground.

We can expand this example in almost all other fields.

In politics, any political leader worth its salt should be in New Delhi. Every politicians starts looking to New Delhi for political leadership.

In religious mmatters, people start looking Vrindaban, Mathura or Chaityana's birthplace for the 'light'.

Actually, we are facing crises in every spheres of our society.

I'll repeat again---the very fact that our society is so tiny makes its people feel it normal to look for cine stars, political leadership or religious delverance outside of our own society.

In my mind,it's the common crisis facing the similarly sized society like those of Nagas, Mozos or Manipuris.

To a lecture

2009-06-10T21:48:00.001+05:30

I went to the 4th Arambam Somorendra Memorial lecture at JN Dance Academy.

This year's lecture was delvred by Mr Niketu Iralu, Tustee, Centre for Policy Research and Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation. Though himself a Naga and a close of AZ Phizo, he is based in Shillong and considered to be an expert in reconciliatio.

As usual when I reached there the lecture was over and the question and answer seesion was in progress.

But I got a copy of the printed lecture.

Titled "Our common Crisis:What are we do?", it's a rather small lecture containing only 11 pages.

His main theme is in the line--'If the individual Naga is not good, Naga society would not be good', which is useless from a sociological point of view.

The Arambam Somorendra Trust, in its brief introduction, puts it more succinctly--'Given the decay in moral fibre in contemporary societies/polities like ours, the attempt to marry ethics to an essentailly political enterprise like social restructuring is arrestingly piquant'.

But Mr Iralu is searching. He qouted form several books, even from Israely and Arab writers. Like Iralu, we also find people here searching by reading up Mao thought, political struggles in Vietnam etc. But we form a rather unique in that we are so small in number. We are not normal viewed from this context. We should not hope get answers from the writings of other 'normal' societies.

By asking the question---'What factors made us run throughout the course of our history with so a puny population?'---would answer a lot of questions regarding oor ills.

If we come to grips with the reality of 'abnormally' small size of our population, then a fundamental question arises--'Do institutions themselves, which would produce 'good individual Nagas(or Meeteis or Mizos) got corrupted from the influences of the bigger and 'normal'societies surrounding us?'

This is a fundamental question because, being so small and foisted to live in an environment of huge societies, our chances of getting unwanted influences naturally get magnified manyfold.

I'm asking myself--'Is this our comon crisis?'

The 10 minute show

2009-06-09T20:42:00.000+05:30

While I was readying to go to bed at around 10 pm last night, we got a proper downpour. Just like the good old June rainfall!

But it barely lasted for 10 minutes.

10 minutes or so later, it lost its steam. Together with it,the temperature also lsot its steam in going upwards.

When I went to bed I even made use of the ligthweight Chinese duvet. It was more like one of those nights just on the onset of winter. It was actually very pleasant. And, I inevitably slept like a log!

Early in the morning, I found out that it was bright and sunny. Like it was already spring.

By 10 in the morning, we were greeted with clear, blue sky. Not even a speck of clouds.

C'mon, we are talking about a June morning.

Within the duration of around 12 hours, we had experienced such drastic changes in the moods of weather god. What's happening?

I'm beginning to think such drastic changes are not good signs at all.

TOTALLY DISTURBING

2009-06-08T19:56:00.001+05:30

Today's headlines makes me immensely disturbed.

Phungyar, in Ukhrul district which is hardly 100 kms away from here, is confronting a crisis.There SEEDS REFUSED TO GERMINATE!

Most likely reason is the lack of soil moisture,which must be surely due to lack of reainfall.

So, here we are, most likely in the throes of the first symptom of the climate change, which most of us thought to appear in most distant future.

As the headlines went, this is the straight second season when grains refused to germinate. Most of the people there have no choice but to start cucumbur and rhyzomes. Had it not been for the unlikely advent of the Federally funded rural job guarantee schemes most of the people there would have been starving long ago.

Those people are appealing to the State government helps through the media,as several appeals to the district administration have brought no results so far.

If the rainfall is decreasing(my last post) here, it is logically to see the upper regions in the mountains to have the initial impacts.

This is disturbing--TOTALLY DISTURBING.

Troubles ahead

2009-06-07T20:10:00.000+05:30

Are we already in trouble?

There was a story in the Times of India,NE edition dated 6th June telling us that the rainfall in NE has been decreasing at the rate of 10mm per decade.

Is the general trend all over the globe?

I got it from the story that the trend is specific to the NE.

The story further told us that decreasing rainfall in the rest of the Ne would be accompanied with increasing cases of floods in Arunachal Pradesh. This is because of the melting of snows in the Tibetan plateau.

The story stated that the surface temperature of the NE States has been increaing steadily as a direct effect of the decreasing rainfall.

Today also there were only spurts of rainfall. Somethng is definitely lacking that's clearly discernible in ordinary June rainfall. I wish I was wrong in saying this.

I read the story in library on saturday. I'm not in a mood to find the links in their online edition.

C'mon, politicians

2009-06-06T21:48:00.000+05:30

The State Director General of Police actually told some 'select' mediamen that 'the people of Manipur know who are behind the students organizations'.

I'm confused. It's unmistakably 'politics speak'.

Why should a police chief speak like that?

Ideally, he should have told the media that the State Executive felt that some 'roughies' are instigating the students organiations and the police is invesgating.

It's the police job to investigate, collect evidences and punish the culprits according the laws. If police starts acting like politicians, we are serious trouble.

Why should he make it 'select' mediamen?

I read the prominently front-paged story 2 days back. I read most of the papers that day and I could find it only on a single paper. I tried to find if other papers carried a day later. Not a single paper did so.

I bet that some politicians are instructing the police chief to spread out the words that rebel groups are intigating the students organizations. But why should not they themselves do it?

The military deployment in Manipur is on a much larger scale than that is currently deployed by the Western world in Afghanistan. And, as another part of the twin strategy, crores of Rupees are pouring in as 'development projects'.

Still, the politicians are working from a terribly consticted space.

Why is that so?

But where is the rain?

2009-06-05T21:40:00.000+05:30

When I went out shopping last evening I saw people hurrying back to their homes expecting a heavy downpour. There were even several thunderclaps.

I also hurried back. On the way back home, I even noticed some rain drops falling on face. I doubled up my pace.

But when I woke up early in the morning today, there was not a single trace of rainfall.

And the temperature is steadily rising.

But where is the rain?

All these things makes me think about the much talked-about climate! It might sound silly but there is something actually unnerving about all these things.

It's so sudden

2009-06-04T21:17:00.000+05:30

The temperature has jumped up.

It's not growing up gradually. The sudden jump was so pronounced yesterday.

Last evening, it was a terrible feeling to come to face to face with the moment when I suspected that the Windows was about to crash. Several times the Windows could not boot up fully. After several attempts, I had to boot it up in safe mode and then, shut down again. Then, I tried booting up normally.

I've been asking myself why it failed to boot up fully so suddenly and without any apparent reason.

Was it due to the sudden rise in temperature?

I also thought that with so heat there there would be a heavy downpour yeterday. But nothing did come down.

Right now, it's so warm.

It seems a bit unusual for place in a high altitude like Imphal.

What's life without some struggles?

2009-06-03T21:55:00.001+05:30

I'm again struggling with my fooding regiment.

It turns out that the foods we eat determines the pH profile of our body. To be healthy, we need to keep the profile slightly alkaline, around 6-7 on the scale of 0-10.

I learnt that both wheat and rice are acid forming foods. If we eat two big portions of either rice or wheat based foods, there is no way we can keep our body's pH profile alkaline.

Generally, fruits and vegetables are alkaline producing foods. Only millet, taken to form part of wheat or rice in the sense of staple foods, is alkaline producing.

I've no idea if millet is grown here at all. Corn is controversial--some say it's acid forming while others say it's alkaline forming. Peas are slightly alkailne forming.

I'm depending on this site for looking up which is alkaline or acid forming.

Another important thing is that we should not eat acid and alkaline forming at a time. We need to space out the two foods. If our stomach produce 'acid' and 'alkali'at the same time, we have the problem of bad digestion.

So, I've been struggling to space out the two foods. Breafast is lot of fruits and vegetables. How do we eat vegetables for breakfast? Once I read that best way(most nutritious) of cooking vegetable is to pour bioiling water over it. I've been wondering if it would properly cook the vegetables. Past weeks saw me experimenting with it! And I've learnt that it actually cooks!

After a spcae of some hours, I'm eating eggs and walnuts and cashew nuts, all of them surprisingly acid forming.

Then, corn break bread for lunch.

In the evening, I just microwave some portions of cucumbur.

For supper?

Right now, I'm cooking peas. Peas are delicious!

The right diagnosis!

2009-06-02T21:45:00.000+05:30

I've dusted off the innards of my computer.The dust and the cowebs!! I should have done this on regular basis.

I've also removed all the expansion cards.

The memory cards has been removed,cleaned and again,placed back to their places.

I've also replaced the cmos battery with a new one.

Now, it's clear that the problem lies with the monitor. I've also been been able to diagnise it properly.

Now, I've learnt that if I turn on the computer and find that the monitor is blank, then I let the computer stay turned on for some 10 minutes. Then, I turn off the monior and immediately turn it on again.

If I follow this procedure, I've have found out the monitor is just fine!

Problem with my computer

2009-05-07T22:29:00.000+05:30

I thought it was a monitor problem.

But it may be a problem with my computer. Is my computer dying?

For posting this, I got the monitor showing the stuffs on the third try.

I've already visited different forums. The most probable cause might be a faulty pci card or the memory card itself. This is general viewpoint in all the forums.

I'm also come around to suspect that my lan card or one of the memory card might be culprit.

But,first, I will check the video cord. Then, try cleaning the memory cards. Finally, I would unplug the lan card.

If all these steps don't work, I've got no option but to visit a computer store yet again.

Good job, Mr Government!

2009-05-05T23:17:00.000+05:30

Election came and went,at least in this part of the country.

But electricity stays back--I mean, the regular supply of electricity.

I thought that regular supply of electricity was something to do with the election--may be, as a means of making a good ompression on the voters on the election eve.

But, even today, we are getting almost uniterrupted power supply. I must hasten to add that it's what's happening at least at my locality. I have no idea what's the position of elctricity supply in other parts of Imphal.

I think it's a good job by the present government.

Grow up, Romi!

2009-05-04T22:05:00.001+05:30

When I saw the huge billboard being being put up at Keisampat junction, my first reaction was--'When he did he begin to foray into music/song/concert?'.

I'm talking about the Romi Meitei concert named 'Thoibi'.

Then, another billboard came up at Nityapat Chuthek. Still, I was little confused. Romi is a well known film director. What form it would take to be billed as 'Romi Meitei Concert'?

Then, it came up in the announcement section of Epao.net. There I got the details. It's going to feature top singers rendering the lyrics of Romi into live songs. Apparently, he is also going to honour several film personalities.

Going further down the announcement page, it transpired that the announcement was sent to the site by Romi himself--not by his sponsors.

That realization set me thinking and asking questions.

Is the coming consert a public announcement that Romi is going to start clinging to his past glories?

As I see it, Manipuri,at the moment,is beginning to shed off its innocence and is in the throes of the inevitable and painful growing up process.

As a very active and creative actor in the film scene, Romi himself position himself as one of the many change leaders and take Manipuri cinema upto the next higher level.

In case, Romi refuses to grow up and, instead, starts to cling to his past glories, it would be sad day for Manipuri cinema.

Software is the differentiator

2009-05-03T21:50:00.000+05:30

What do I like?

Somethng small and pocketable which will always be with me performing several functions for me, like keeping me always connected and, like enabling me to connect back to the rest of the world etc.

I now think that iPhone is inching towards becoming that ultimate device.

But some of the devices which have larger screens like the 4.8" Viliv claim to be backpocketable ie, they can be easily fitted into the back pockets of even a tight jean. In Korea,where the device is manufatured, there is even phone function built into it. Then, why such larger screened devices pose a challenge to iPhone?

Recently, I read a review of 4.8" Viliv. The reviewer said everything is fine with the device except in one area--the touch experience. It's way far behind the touch experience of an iPod touch or an iPhone.

So, the competition boils down to one crucial area--the operating system.

Can anybody give a semblance of competition to Apple's OS X?

I'm sold!

2009-05-02T20:35:00.001+05:30

I'm absolutely sold if they come out with a good video capturing contraption in the coming version of iPhone.

I said 'contraption' because there is a handheld device (about the size of iPhone?) called 'The Flip'which is really smoothsailing in capturing capturing videos.

If we add the functionality of 'The Flip'to the famed ease of web browsing and of playing songs to the new iPhone, I think it would be a very versatile device.

Everybody is talking of video capturing and editing in HD mode! Can they do it in such small pocketable device?

If they can pull it off, I think iPhone is inching towards the much-talked about ultimate mobile device.

But is it the greed?

2009-04-29T21:29:00.000+05:30

The single word 'greed' is most unlikely to explain the present financial crisis in the US.(please see the comment on my post 'passion is the key).

I'm not an expert but as a small man, I'm terribly anxious t get to know how the present crisis cmoes about. So, I kept on reading and I found two most likely explanations:

One, despite the huge demonization of the Wall St whiz kids, they prove to be extremely inoovative types. They devised the innovative instruments like derivatives, credit swap, securitization etc. And such innovative instruments of the financial world have just begun to seep into the workings of the financial sectors of the other parts of the globe. One school of thought speculates that we have come face to face with the present crisis some of those inoovative instruments failed to work.

Secondly, I'm veering towards accepting this explanation now. The mostly widely accepted mathematical model underlying all these innovative instruments proved to be,well,just a mathematical model. This is the clear case of the futility of mathematics trying to explain away the complex decision making of homo sapiens.

The author of this mathematical model is Mr Davis X. Li. He is a Chinese national.

Giving fertile ground for conspiracy theorist, Mr Li now lives in, and works from, Beijing. And he refused to talk about his mathematical model or the present crisis.

I'm still asking myself--why don't he talk about his work so that the rest of the world get more enlightened?

Small people like me don't get the news as yet but I bet all the whiz kids of the finacial world are pooling in all their resources in dizzying speed to explain what went wrong and devised ways to work around the problem.

But I love one of the fall outs of all these hated innovative instruments!

Consider this real life scenario in American finacial sector enterprises:

When a bank gives out a loan to a business or a household, it immediately securitize the debt. By giving out a loan it automatically creates a debt in its balance sheet.

Now it securitize the debt and sell the securities to the American public. BEfore the preent crisis, the American public was happy to buy such securities.

So, the banks morph into some form middlemen and the American public actually make the funding for the businesses and households.

I think it's beautiful?

Now, how about the single word 'greed'? I've got no idea of the inner working of Wall st or the fiancial sector enterprises. To me, it seems that there is a lot of truth in saying that 'greed' propels most of the innovative instruments of the Wall St whiz kids. And 'greed' widens the gap between the have and the have nots.

But leaving the moeny matters,were it for these inequalities and for the purpose of empowering the small mena nd women that Messiahs regularly descended into this world?

To be sure, Messiahs regualrly got executed for their jobs!

So, as the full time Messiah job is tricky, can we ask the corporate leaders to play Messiah for a little bit of their time?

If you at Google, you would agree with me that I'm not overly asking for more.

Isn't Google's mission statement like 'don't be evil' or 'organizing the world's information'impregnated with some Messiahnic streaks?

May be, someday management gurus would start arriving in the scene propounding that for the corporate leaders to play the Messiah a bit is good for the Corporations, good for the business, good for the economy, good for the country and above all, good for the whole globe!!

Past few days

2009-04-28T20:52:00.001+05:30

For the last few days, there has been a lot of activities in the Imphal sky.

From early morning till dusk, there has been near constant buzz of high flying planes. Besides the sounds of UAV, there were also sounds of assortment of turbo-prop planes.

We are all accustomed to sounds of commercial jetliners. For Imphal's case, the number of such jetliners coming into, and going out of, Imphal is very small. We cannot imagine any plausible business for any planes coming over Imphal skyline if they are not on military mission.

So, what's so many military planes doing here for the few days?

The good part is that it has subsided today.

There has been only few random sounds of planes, besdies the commercial jetliners.

I'm glad they had gone away.

Passion is the key

2009-04-26T20:20:00.000+05:30

Talking of empowering small men and women(my last post), Barrack Obama seems to be a passionate believer in the idea. We are observers from a distance but I get the clear impression that he passioantely believes in empowering small men and women.

How did I get this impression of the first Black President of US? I've got no idea.

One established fact is that his campaign funds mostly came in small amounts, less than 100 dollars per contribution. It's clear vast numbers of small men and women donated for his election campaign.

And, internet enabled vast numbers of small men and women to connect to his campaign and pooling of small contributions from such men and women.

Nearer home, do we anyone with such passion?

Sonia and Rahul look like a well meaning aristocrat or oligarch. As such, they have already lost the crucial rapport with the small men and women.

Well, Mayawati seems to have that rapport with the vast small men and women. But I've got this lingering fear that she would think and act like a feudal lord.

Coming at other sectors aside politics, when I look at Steve Jobs or the guys at Google, they all seem to be passionate about corporate missions.

But when I look Ambani brothers, I get this clear impression that they are essentailly banians in the garb of corporate niceties.

What's there in American society which enables it to throw up men an Obama or a Jobs?

Th.Tarunkumar lecture and my viewpoints

2009-04-24T21:31:00.001+05:30

The lecture is named 'The Lost Decades'.

From the 1950s onwards, the most noticeable characteric of the political process in Manipur is the abscence of any effort towards the empowerment of the small men and women. In that sense, many decades, for us, are as good as lost.

That's the undelying theme of the lecture.

What strikes me most is when Mr Th.Tarunkumar mentioned at the very outset of his lecture that Manipur's very brush with the Union of India started with the dumbing down of the small men and women.He gave an example: The Union of India scraped the already working constitution of Manipur during 1947-48. He said the idea behind this is that ruling class in Delhi decided that Manipur's people was not ready for the constitution.

I think he got a point here: that's definitely dumbing down the common people. If they were for the empowerment of the common people,they should have said- 'Hey, this constitution is not good enough; let's bring in a better one'. Instead, they scraped the contitution together with the popularly elected legislature and imposed direct rule from Delhi, which was, by any name, totally undemocratic.

But, what about now? The following is my viewpoint which is stimulated by the lecture.

Let's look at the two most annoying elements in our society right now--the 'thikadars'and police commandos. However annoying they are, they are sure signs that there is now a process of empowering the common people underway in our society.

If the 'thikadars' want to go places with their favorite construction business,they have only to put into places the needed corporate framewok and culture,instead of hobnobbing with buereaucrats and ministers.

If the police commandos want to do a better police job, unintimidated by the rebels,it's only to be encouraged. The only condition is that they should be guided by the law of the land.

If we look at the other sectors of the society, like sports, popular arts,especially cinema etc, we can see the same empowering process.

But it's not the empowerment of the samll men and women by design.

The stream of the empowerment process started its tortured course because of the intense competition between the ruling class in Delhi and the whole assortment of rebels here for winning the hearts and minds of the small men and women.

The intensity of the this competition is magnified many fold because of New Delhi nearly-neurotic needs for containment of rebels in Manipur purely for geo-political compulsions, percieved or otherwise.

Marvel of technology

2009-04-22T22:02:00.000+05:30

Nobody seemed to remember that there was a thing called election on this day. It was totally a non-event, that is, at least in my area.

I spent major part of the day trying to listen to the lecture by Mr Th. Tarunkumar, chief editor of Eastern Quarterly.

He delivered the lecture in JNU on Sunday. One guy named Mr Atom Sunil of Manipur Research Forum(Manipurresearchforum.org), which publish the Quarterly,was so quick in responding to request to the links of the lecture.

He quickly emeailed me telling me that the lecture was yet to be published online. In another email he attached an audio file of the whole lecture, presumably recored live. I got hold of Sunil's email from a Yahoo Group in which he invited everybody to the lecture.

I said I was trying to listen to the audio file because it was not the work of professional recordist and so, you have to lsiten to it several times.

But,still, it was an encouraging efforts on their part. Now, I'm listening to a lecture delvered only some days back in Delhi.

It's the marvel of technology.