Sooner than later!

Last night, my kitchen knife made a fairly deep cut at the very tip of my right thumb. That happened while I was cleaning and cutting a fish for the dinner.

I immediately doused spirit over the cut and bandaged it.

I struggled through the cleaning of the fish and then, making my dinner.

After dinner, while I was brushing my teeth, I slipped on the floor. To avoid falling flat on my ass I grabbed the nearest object, well, with my right hand. I avoided the fall but my right thumb was bleeding again while grabbing for my balance.

I had to re-bandage it.

I was furious with myself for such sloppiness and went straight to my bed.

This morning I went to the nearest clinic and asked them if a tetanus shot was called for. They simply replied that I could still go for it. I was confused. Would it still serve any purpose? Anyway, I got the shot and bought fresh first aid kits.

While I was putting the kits in the cabinet I eyed them, with some parts of me asking myself when I would first open the kits again. Because I was determined to be careful and such accidents were really rare.

But this afternoon, I crouched under my desk to pick up a pencil. I was so intent on looking at the pencil that I was not aware of the edge of the table just at the level of my forehead. As I lunged for the pencil my forehead directly hit the edge of the table. I was stunned, forcing me on all my fours on the floor.

As I was rubbing my forehead, I noticed that I was rubbing over some sticky substance.

I dragged my self to the mirror and found out that my forehead was bleeding.

So, I opened the just bought kits and made a bandage for my forehead.

I opened them so soon!

Gentle flower--go bust the 'inharmony'!

The humble flower is poised to bust the ‘inharmony’ in Chinese society!

You know, china has abundance of ‘inharmony’ in its society. Economy is booming in the coastal regions and all other regions ( and their inhabitants) feel left out. So much so that 100 millions people are abandoning their home and hearth to gamble their chances in the cities, in the coastal regions. This phenomenon is shaking up the Chinese society in its core.

So, they are seriously into floriculture in the hinterlands so that considerable people there can remain employed near homes and hence, there would be no incentive to move to the cities.

How serious? I’m quoting a few lines from a report of Times of India ( 27th Sept issue—do your search for the report!) to drive home the point.

>> The cut flower industry is so important a national priority that President Hu Jintao came to Yunnan province two years ago to call for growth in shipments. Prime Minister Wen Jiabou and his predecessor, Zhu Rongji, have taken a personal interest in improving the province’s greenhouses, and the government is offering interest-free loan for greenhouse constructions.

.. . ..

( There) is the thinking behind an elaborate Chinese government’s effort to export cut flowers, aimed not just at developing a new business to take on the world but at redeveloping the social and economic landscape here in South Western china.<<

They are building 12-lane roads and bridges to support the industry. This is over and above the up gradations airports to the standards of ‘international airports in this strategically critical area’.

Don’t you notice Yunnan being a ‘strategically critical area’? I have no idea how Yunnan is perceived to be strategically critical vis a vis china’s security. But it is very close to our place and I’ve learnt every single reason why our place is so strategically placed vis a vis India’s security. May be, something happening here will have ripple effects on the Yunnan province and this close connectedness transfers the strategic values to that province also! I related matters, you would miss the news of All Assam Student’s Union’s agitation for opening the Stilwel Road, that connects the Upper Assam to Kummim, that is the capital city of Yunnan Province. They say it would serve as a modern day silk route for Assam and NE states.

In Manipur’s case, DONER ( Deptt for North Eastern Region) have already sanctioned the establishment of cold storage facilities in Tulihal Airport in Imphal. That would be the first step for anybody wanting to start a floriculture farm in the State. Don’t you also notice that some Bangalore-based floriculture companies have already started investing in our Northern neighbour—Nagaland?

Anxiety-led discovery!

My ‘anxieties’ led me to shopping trips as far as Dewlaland. ( please see my last three posts! Please!!). I told you about how I had seen the starting up of a broadband provider. That is in the premises of Manipur Baptist Convention.

A little further down the road, just opposite the offices of the Manipur Public Service Commission, I had also encountered a remarkable Manipur Govt initiative.

Some years back—I still vividly remember it—it was during a govt where Mr Paonam Achou was in charge of Urban Development—a stretch of tree-lined footpath just opposite the MPSC and Hotel Imphal was dug up and steel pillars were laid and ,in no time, nearly 30-35 shops sprung up. Ostensibly fearing public outcry, they did not cut down all the trees in that stretch of footpath, with the result that we witnessed the birth of the 30 -35 shops amidst the trees!

Can you tell me what these shops sell?

USED CLOTHS!

Those were the biggest eyesore in the tree lined, quite and almost majestic stretch of the National Highway 39 along the breadth of the D M College.

Now, without any fuss and media fanfare, this Ibobi Govt quietly dismantled the shops and re-laid the footpath. Personally, I’ll count this as one of the biggest achievements of this Government! I can give you the reason why. Ask any avid walker and he will tell you, without any shred of doubt, that the said footpath along the breadth of the DM College is the best place for a quite evening walk.

At the time of the digging up of the footpath and the starting of the laying of the concrete pillars, I felt like crying. I was ready to do anything to do to block that construction. But I could do nothing. I can still feel the helplessness of a private citizen against the might of an organized government, even though you are standing up against a patent misdeed of that government. At that time, the combined students of the two DM Colleges tried extremely hard to block the construction of the shops. But the then govt used force to bulldoze its way through.

Now, they have dismantled the shops so quietly that not a newspaper carried a report of that. And, what happened to the shopkeepers? I think it was their own money that was used to construct the RCC shops. They must be compensated for their investments. Most of the time in such situation whereby you see negotiation between a Govt and a group of citizens, it is the norm seeing disagreement and consequent sit in protests and invariably media circus covering the dramas.

This time around, not a single fuss. For once, this government is extremely efficient in handling a potentially explosive situation.

Anxieties to excitements

In the morning, I had an argument with myself.

If what I actually want is to dress up for someone special, I better check out what I have already in the wardrobe. So, in front of the mirror, I actually dressed up!

In all the combinations, I’m mostly presentable. I had also found out that I had several t-shirts which I had yet to put on in any occasion. And, I have also found out that my Lee Cooper boot seems to be very similar to the one worn by Dean Kamen!

So, my anxieties actually morph into excitements. Well, I know exactly whom I’m planning to meet ( but for the moment I’ll keep it as a little secret). My anxieties are everything about how to dress exactly right for the occasion. I don’t want to look dressy and too rehearsed.

I’ll go in a khaki and a t-shirt.

Anxieties

I’m so anxious about something.

Something, which I cannot put my fingers on.

This may be one reason why I want to go on shopping trips. Something in me revolts against the routine I’ve been following. It tells me to do something different, something beside the routine stuffs.

It is also possible that on an unconscious level I badly need to dress up for some special occasion or a special girl. Something is happening to me—something is definitely brewing up.

May be, slow rolling in of a new season (though, it’s winter!) makes me romantic!

3rd day

Today is the 3rd day of shopping trip and I’ve not yet bought anything!

This evening I went looking for some t-shirts. I went as far as Dewlaland. On my way back, I notice a sign board for ‘Convergent Technology—broadband provider’. It’s coming up in the premises of Manipur Baptist Church. From the road, I saw hectic activities, including an installation of a tower, which looks like some kind of satellite receiver.

It’s a very welcome development. But, will they be able to get the critical mass of subscribers to stand in its own feet against the offerings of big phone companies? For one, for a phone company, broadband is what they call the value added product, a specialized product among the mundane bread and butter offerings. When I last went to BSNL office, there were about 200 applicants for broadband, forming the roll of what you call the ‘waiting list’. It was some months back. Now, let’s assume that the number doubles to 400 during those months. Again, let’s assume that the new broadband provider gets the double that figure ie, 800 as their customers. Can there be a full scale provider for just 800-1000 subscribers?

Another downside is that it is coming up in the space vacated by Big Byte Infosys, which served as the franchisee for NE Line, a privately run ISP. Their service was so bad that it was a joke. Naturally, they, at least their Manipur franchisee, closed shop.

But I think we must wish them luck.

And, somebody should wish me luck in the shopping trips!

I tried several white t-shirts at numerous stores. But somehow I did not like any one of them. I don’t know why. Is it the cut of the shirts or is it the feel of the fabrics?

I’m seriously thinking of carrying the measurement of my favourite t-shirt in my future shopping trips! And, now, I’m going to look for white and yellow t-shirts.

I’m not in a hurry. I’ll try to find the ones I like during the next few days.

Shopping and a pink t-shirt!

I’m in the mood for some shopping.

Yesterday also I went out to find a pair of denims. But I could not find anything I like. Today also I tried but I returned exhausted and not finding anything worthwhile.

I know a Hong Kong brand that fits me. But I want to try something new. Something new but fits me.

How it fits you, is a matter of feeling because most pairs come with almost identical style and cuts. But I won’t do without that feeling.

While I had been in these moods I read a wired report that scanners are being deployed to measure exactly fits of a person. You go inside a scanning box and within seconds your fits are exactly measured. And you can have your clothes tailored exactly to your fits. I like the idea very much. I like somebody holding my personalized measurements in their database and keep producing my personalized clothes whenever I order for them.

Today also I tried a t-shirt presented to me by my sister, who is in Delhi. She presented me that some months back. When it was delivered to me I could see through the wrappings that it was actually PINK! Let’s say shade of pink. So, I did not even open the package—come to think of this, a pink t-shirt! But when I returned empty handed today, I wanted to try something new. So, I opened the package that had been sitting unopened for so many months. But here is a surprise; it actually goes well with my khakis!

And this evening I suddenly wanted to buy some white t-shirts. My hunch is that I’ll opt for the white t-shirts instead of the denim tomorrow.

Because I’m going shopping tomorrow also!

Why such a pronounced dichtomy?

Today’s papers completely ignored the emergence of the ‘joint task force’ of the three rebel groups ( see my last post).

In the same post, I concluded with this sentence:

>> Manipur’s rebels, in themselves trying to be an active player in these shifting power relations, are also bound to be impacted by it.<<

I’ll venture into putting this sentence in sharper focus relative to the broader ethnic canvas of the region, which in turn, is pictured in the context of the more or less active insurgency for the last 50 years.

For instance, take the case of Naga insurgency. It is one of the longest running insurgencies of the world. It must be also on the bloodiest. For all these toils and bloods for the last 50 years, do they have an impact on the fellow ethnic minorities across the Indo-Burma regions? But for the hue and cry of some Church leaders from Europe, no impact can be registered in the neighbors of its home turf.

To be very brief, so much toils and blood have been poured into an insurrectional arena, which literally barricaded off its neighboring environs. Is it the case of the classic ‘isolation and then, containment’?

The story is the same in the case of the Mizo insurgency.

Thus looking at the ethnic canvas of the region, we have no other clue than to trace the force, which led the India military establishment to become an active player in the power relations among the numerous ethnic groups, to the area, known as Manipur. It’s a very significant development, which may impact the carefully nurtured image of India as having a lot of restraint in exercising its military power. The deployment of considerable military resources by India to get its desired effects on the inter-ethnic power relations will have unpredictable ripple effects on the already simmering ethnic canvas stretching upto the borders of China and Thailand. Add this to the coming polarity of the world power relations, competition for the leadership of Asian block of the world and the already happening turf war for oil fields between India and China, then we sure have a sure shot recipe for great upheaval in the immediate neighborhood of Manipur.

Now, let me come to my point which is not anything particular about insurgents or insurgency. Actually, I don’t relish talking so much about them.

My point is all these developments show a disturbing dichotomy in our society. At one end of the spectrum is the hyper-active insurgents, who have the organization and the ingenuity to pull off an initiative which may have repercussion in the Asian ( and so, global) power relations. And, at the other end, are the editors, who are supposed to be thought leaders of a society, having not an inkling of such moves and counter-moves played out under their own noses.

It is such a deep dichotomy. It’s extremely disturbing.

Shifting power relations

I could find this news in only 2 papers. Even in these two, it was tucked away inside several pages deep into the likelihood of not noticing by any reader!

The news is that a small shop owner was produced before the media for selling tobacco products. He was punished by forcing the closure of his shop for 30 days.

Of course, it was the handiwork of rebels.

But the keyword in the report is that the media was briefed by the spokesman of the joint task force for three rebel groups.

The emergence of a ‘joint task force’ for the three rebel groups is an extremely significant development here. I’m at a loss as to why most of the editors failed to see this development.

I’m not saying that anybody should celebrate the coming together of some rebel groups. I’m not even interested in the way rebel outfits operate—I’m not concerned if rebel groups operate in a united front or not.

This ‘joint task force’ is the ripple effect of the continuing shift in the power relationship of various ethnic groups vis a vis Burmese military egged on by the Indian military establishment by deploying significant resources. The fact of this deployment of considerable military resources ( covert or otherwise) by a candidate-nation for the leadership of Asia in this twilight zone mapped by the overlapping of South Asian and South East Asian power relations, is bound to unleash an unsettling force that is likely to determine the fates of many ethnic groups. This deployment of significant military resources by India must be noted with alacrity by the ASEAN nations and, by its competitor, China. And the Burmese military won’t let go of this golden chance by not leveraging it in its already constrained regional maneuvers. This, in turn, will produce another set of regional power relations.

Manipur’s rebels, in themselves trying to be an active player in these shifting power relations, are also bound to be impacted by it.

Please read this with this and this.

Is Islam open to dialogue?

It is good that the Pope has no qualm to personally tender his apology to the Islamic world. We hope that this personal apology would be able to assuage all the hurt feelings of the Muslim world.

We can also see that the Pope is a master strategist. Although, seemingly he is seen to be retreating from his lecture in Germany, he is standing firm in his goal of focusing the attention of the world on the need of dialogues between Christiandom and the Islamic world.

Even the starting point is presented very vividly. For the start, Christians living in Muslim majority countries should be guaranteed the free profession of their faith without any condition, hindrance or threat. They say Muslims living in the Christian world have already enjoyed that right.

Everybody should support such a dialogue between these two great religions of the world.

Personally, I fervently hope that Islam is open to dialogue.

I’ve said that because ground realities present a very pessimistic picture. Consider my place, which is a very backward and inward looking. So many ethnic groups have been jammed into this space to find their own ways of life and expressions. Generally, despite all their shortcomings, every ethnic group is minding their own business, letting others to do what they like for themselves.

But the Muslim community presents an island of oddity in this otherwise placid canvas of humanity. Their neighbors gradually find out that they are being termed as infidels, who are either to be converted to Islam or are to be shunned. Just like Azzam of California who declared that every others not Islam as ‘unfaith’ and inviting these ‘all others’ to come to the light, that is, Islam.

In such a scenario, where do we start the dialogue?

And, does India present a way out of this crisis?

The general feeling is that there are so many communities with different religions living together in India that it might serve as an example to this world. The underpinning ( which is unfortunately seeing signs of tottering) of this social condition is that God is one. Muslim may call Him Allah, Christians and Jews, Yahweh etc. All the Books of the world are the different ways to reach the same God.

The chief profounder of this idea is Swami Vivekanand, although the idea was brought to focus more forcefully is the first prime minister of India, Jawharlal Nehru. But the main problem here is that Swami Vivekanand and Nehru, unwittingly or wittingly, installed themselves as the super-prophet, capable of interpreting all the Books of the world. The result is that all the conceivable religious communities attack them and the space of the ‘idea’ is being usurped on the daily basis!

So, India does not present a way out. This is a bad news.

Too little space by Islam?

Will man ever come to grip with what cosmos is?

If we are confronted with this question, then we’ve to admit that religion ( or is it ‘religions’?) have a lot of relevance in today’s world.

Attack on the acceptability of evolution as a kind of Holy Grail for modern society is a pointer to this fact. Now, this attack is not confined to US; it is spreading, as was in the news some days that some evangelist group in African country was protesting against the exhibition of pre-historic skeleton as an established proof of evolution. They want to term as evolution as only a theory to explain life in this world.

I think most educated men and women accept the limitations of human knowledge to grasp the complexity of the Cosmos. But, still, they want to tinker with technology, dream to going to deep space or toy with mathematical model to explain the theory of everything.

That’s the way man kind of move on to living a life, trying to leave behind the complexity of the Cosmos. And, should we also say, the complexity of many antagonistic religions?

Is Islam giving too little space to this man’s desire to ‘move on’?

I suspect that even Islamic scholars have too little spaces to engage with the exigencies of the day to day life of their society. It must be one reason why they are not in a position to make a reply to the question raised by the Pope.

I also suspect that Islam is giving too little to its followers because it is the only way to reach to the God and hence to knowing the Cosmos. But how many of the educated young Muslims would believe that Islam or the Koran is the only way? It will be very interesting to know the percentage of the youths in Islam who subscribe to the view that Koran is the only way.

In such a scenario, what will be fate of secularism?

Modern society depends heavily on the concept of secularism to move forward and to engage with multiplicity of peoples who come with equally numerous cultures.

Secularism, by saying that the State is giving equal respects to all the religions, spearheads the modern consensus that there are many ways to come to grip with the Cosmos.

So, is Islam coming in direct collision course with the modern society?

I don't support the Vatican but....

But where are the Islamic scholars?

It’s just the right time for them to beat the Vatican in its own game. They should make a start in engaging the Vatican ( and in the process, enlightening the whole non-Christian and non-Islamic worlds) by focussing on the same text of the 13th century Byzantine emperor, Manuel Palelous’s conversation with a ‘learned Persian’.

What will interest me most will be in knowing the answer given by the ‘learned Persian’ to the Emperor when he told him that Prophet Mohmmed sanctioned the use of force in propagating the faith. And the whole world will be greatly enlightened if some Islamic scholars checkmate the Pope by fishing out another quote from the same text of the conversation between the emperor and the ‘learned Persian’, which is by the way is supposed to be 8 pages long.

The exact quotation which caused so many ruckuses in the Islamic world runs like this:

(The emperor had said) “ Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as the command to spread by the sword the faith he preached”.

What was the response of the ‘learned Persian’?

I think that the Islamic scholars are duty bound to provide to the whole of the humanity the answer given by the ‘learned Persian’. Better still, if they think that the answer by the ‘learned Persian’ is not satisfactory, they, themselves should provide us the answer. NOW.

Now, the Papal spokesman had already made a formal apology. That’s good. There should not any misunderstanding between the followers of such great religions.

And, this apology also reinforced the idea that the ‘Arab street’ has such a great impact on the whole world’s political relationships. It’s only natural that some people should come out to the street to protest any threat their interest, perceived or otherwise. But where is the response of the Islamic scholars?

It will make the world a better place if Islamic scholars try to interact with, if not lead, the ‘Islamic street’.

But the worrying thing is that they are conspicuous by their absence. Does this imply that they have not yet been able to find the answer to the question put forward by an emperor 800 years ago?

It is an extremely worrisome development.

Balkan-speak by Hmar National Army

We should not be alarmists nor should we be, what is generally termed, as ‘sensationalists’. More importance lies in the speed with which we try to put this news in its proper context.

So, first, we should note what the news is.

Hmar National Army, in a press statement, said that they would do to the Meiteis what the two rebel groups, namely, UNLF and KCP, did to the Hmars.( By its souondbites, it seems that HNA must be operating somewhere out of the Balkans!).

It made me jumped out of my seat when I first read it!

After some moments, it dawned on me that what they were trying to put across was that they would make some Meiteis ‘refugees’ as some hmars became ‘refugees’ in Mizoram for some months. Please note that what made me jumped out of my seat was : ‘Are they going to rape some Meiteis?’. They didn’t say that. Is this a tacit admission that the ‘mass rape’ is at least controversial?

They laid down a condition. They want the State government to execute rehabilitation programmes for the Hmars on a priority basis. If the Government fails to do so, they will in turn execute the threat to the Meiteis.

We should not fail to note here that they are not saying rehabilitations for the ‘mass rape victims’ but for the whole Hmar refugees. It is significant.

So significant that it can be read as something to do with a desire of making a tactical retreat from the allegations of mass rape slur on the Meitei rebels. Or, at the least, a desire to bury the Rajkhowa Commissiom’s working (and therefore, its inconclusive report) under the weight of an engineered ethnic tension. We have to note here if an ethnic tension is made to pop out of nowhere there would not be cross-examination—that means the Commission’s report would be inconclusive.

We are made to think on this line because they made 2 very significant points in their press note.

>> Hmars being a Tibeto-Burman group of people (like Meiteis) have no qualm at the receiving ends of some collateral damages as a result of the insurgent movement of a fellow Tibeto-Burman people, Meiteis. But the groups, UNLF and KCP had bad intention to inflict heavy hardship to the Hmars particularly.

>> Hmars have the support of Zo people to issue ‘quit notice’ to Meiteis living in Churachandpur so as to make them refugees. They are sending out message that they are different from Zo (Mizo) people but they can easily elicit support from them. This is a very significant message.

So, where is the context, as I talked about at the start?

The context is the formation of an umbrella organization of the Kuki-Chin-Mizo rebels, under the name of United People’s Front. The Front was formed by the representatives of the constituent group in Aizawls some weeks back.

What’s significant is that Hmar People’s Convention (Democratic) is one of the 8 constituent groups. HPC(D) had tried all it’s might to abort the birth of HNA, which is a newbie in the Hmar political arena.

This could only mean that HNA has been slowly pushed to the fringe of Hmar political space.

Another very interesting corollary is that it is very likely that HNA must represent the ‘creamy layer’ of the Hmar society which, by its definition, would be more interested in short objectives like reservations in the jobs of the central government and production of more administrative posts as a result of the formation of a Hmar autonomous administration, like a Union Territory.

The sad thing is that the late Isaac Hmar fits the bill as exactly as can be imagined. And, we also first heard of the HNA at the time of his death. And it is becoming clear that the late Isaac Hmar was a crucial figure in all these developments.

Read about Isaac and HNA here.

Deeply pshychotic core of Indian nationhood.

I feel bad that anybody reading this may get bored. Because, I’ve been trying to ‘decode’ the cryptic messages sent out by the rebels and those in charge of containing them. If I’ve to carry on with the ‘decoding job’ non-stop for weeks now, there is bound to be reactions. I’m aware of that.

But how the cryptic messages speed through this society, how one of those messages get a fitting reply from another quarter of the society and, most importantly, how I attempt to decode them in real time, greatly excite me.

That’s why I’ve been blogging about those tings on and on for weeks now. A post in my blog is what excites me or what pisses me off, on that particular day. So far, I’ve been truthfully laying down those feelings here.

I keep on making posts because I’m living through exciting days.

So, I’ve no option but to continue!

I’ve no links for Mr Makhonmani Mongsaba ( because, at the present rate of internet penetration, we are but a ‘linkless’ society). He is into films—producer and director. Apparently, he is right now in Vellore-Cooimbatore area. The other day, he telephoned (from there) his media friends telling them that all the Manipuris there are being harassed by Tamil Nadu police in the aftermath of the arrest of a vice president of rebel group of Manipur.

He was arrested right after he was successfully operated upon in a coimbatore hospital for some spinal Cord ailment. He was under constant and direct surveillance of Intelligence Bureau ( responsible for internal intelligence of Indian State) and the military intelligence.

Uncharacteristically, the military admitted that their intelligence operatives kept a tab on the phone conversations of the rebel leader. Are they making a alibi for covering a mole in that rebel outfit?

But what’s most interesting is that the rebel was flown into Imphal by a special Air Force plane.

Special Air Force planes are reserved for a few very select senior ministers, that too during emergency.

Then,why he was getting that VVIP treatment?

The cryptic message is that though he is a rebel they were treating him with a lot of respect and importance. They are saying that they were giving him the especial treatment of availing to him the service of special Air Force plane.

This is an extremely polish and sophisticated face of the many faceted counter-insurgency strategy of the Government of India.

Read this together with how they managed to rope in some communities like Hmar to make direct onslaught on the rebels, how they can persuade some parties to go as far as Chin State in Burma to hit the Burmese Army there, then you will find that Union of India is the true leader of the community of nations in the arena of counter insurgency and low intensity warfare.

Personally, I’ll give 10 out of 10 to the counter-insurgency operatives of the Union of India.

14th and 15th

On 13th and 14th, my ISP's network failed.

For two days, I missed my blog and daily reads.

What a fate!

4th world fate!!

I'm continuing

I feel bad that anybody reading this may get bored. Because, I’ve been trying to ‘decode’ the cryptic messages sent out by the rebels and those in charge of containing them. If I’ve to carry on with the ‘decoding job’ non-stop for weeks now, there is bound to be reactions. I’m aware of that.

But how the cryptic messages speed through this society, how one of those messages get a fitting reply from another quarter of the society and, most importantly, how I attempt to decode them in real time, greatly excite me.

That’s why I’ve been blogging about those tings on and on for weeks now. A post in my blog is what excites me or what pisses me off, on that particular day. So far, I’ve been truthfully laying down those feelings here.

I keep on making posts because I’m living through exciting days.

So, I’ve no option but to continue!

I’ve no links for Mr Makhonmani Mongsaba ( because, at the present rate of internet penetration, we are but a ‘linkless’ society). He is into films—producer and director. Apparently, he is right now in Vellore-Cooimbatore area. The other day, he telephoned (from there) his media friends telling them that all the Manipuris there are being harassed by Tamil Nadu police in the aftermath of the arrest of a vice president of rebel group of Manipur.

He was arrested right after he was successfully operated upon in a coimbatore hospital for some spinal Cord ailment. He was under constant and direct surveillance of Intelligence Bureau ( responsible for internal intelligence of Indian State) and the military intelligence.

Uncharacteristically, the military admitted that their intelligence operatives kept a tab on the phone conversations of the rebel leader. Are they making a alibi for covering a mole in that rebel outfit?

But what’s most interesting is that the rebel was flown into Imphal by a special Air Force plane.

Special Air Force planes are reserved for a few very select senior ministers, that too during emergency.

Then,why he was getting that VVIP treatment?

The cryptic message is that though he is a rebel they were treating him with a lot of respect and importance. They are saying that they were giving him the especial treatment of availing to him the service of special Air Force plane.

This is an extremely polish and sophisticated face of the many faceted counter-insurgency strategy of the Government of India.

Read this together with how they managed to rope in some communities like Hmar to make direct onslaught on the rebels, how they can persuade some parties to go as far as Chin State in Burma to hit the Burmese Army there, then you will find that Union of India is the true leader of the community of nations in the arena of counter insurgency and low intensity warfare.

Personally, I’ll give 10 out of 10 to the counter-insurgency operatives of the Union of India.

Will there be physical threat?

It’s now fashionable in Imphal to talk by using terms like non-state or state actors. Like, is it the handiwork of a non-state actor to explode the grenade in the ISKCON temple?

In our particular case, we have seen that the state actors had already issued a stern warning to Mr Babloo Loitongbam. Then, within a few weeks time, non-state actors came out with strong warning to him. See yesterday’s post.

Why should I repeat it tonight also?

Because, I find it imperative to add another strand to the still developing drama.

We have to go a little farther down the line. It was on the 3rd of this month. I talked about this conference organized by MAPI Council. The theme of the conference was—‘ Manipur in the aftermath of the ISKCON bomb blast: A retrospection’. Here is the full post.

Mr Babloo Loitongbam was the last speaker virtually wrapping up the speeches by all the resource persons. He talked about how was in Hyderabad when the bomb blast occurred. Though he was far out his State (or may be, because of that) he did not fail notice how the Home Ministry in New Delhi responded, within hours of the blast, by raising an accusing finger to one particular rebel group of Manipur. He commented that it was the most unusual response of the otherwise very protocol-savvy but bureaucratic-driven Ministry of Home Affairs, particularly the speed with which it reacted to this particular bomb blast.

Then he paused, shrugged his shoulders and blurted out—‘ Talking like may mean trouble for me when I go out of this conference hall’.

This, he repeated several times during the course of his speech and during question and answer sessions. The images of his body language keep still coming in flashes in my minds.

Will he be subjected to physical threat? This question keeps nagging me all through out the day. I tried to dismiss the notion as too preposterous, as being too enveloped in paranoia.

But his body language on that conference day refuses to go away from me.

So, call me paranoid, conspiracy-driven or anything for that matter but I would like to it on record that we must keep prodding for any lead that will show the likelihood of bringing physical damage to out human rights activists. We must be extra alert at around the time when they may start to infer their warnings have no perceptible effects on their activities. I mean, when they are likely to feel that they fail to kow tow the human rights activists.

Here, we must also remember that we are living in a society where there are devils who can throw grenade in a crowd of children and elderly and devils who have the resources to go al the way to the obscure Chin State in Burma and to wage battle with the standing army there to settle political score here.

So, anything is possible.

I only wish that writing like this would bring everybody to senses and it won’t come to that pass.

I'm sorry

Come to think of this.

My blog was inspired by the blooker girl.

The starting date was 17th of April 2006. !7th of April is an important day for student activism in Manipur. As I grew up a student activist, I think it was a good day to start.

Then, the first photograph ever published here just happened ( Ididn’t plan it) to be of Dean Kamen’s. I’m a fan of Dean.

Now, a commentator who apparently likes to shoot pics of taxis in NYC jolted me to see the injustice perpetrated here for so many months.

I mean, unaware to me, my blog erected walls between people—those who can ( by virtue having a blogger account) comment here and those who can’t.

I didn’t mean it—it was a default setting for blogger.

Today, I demolished that wall!

Still, I’ll say sorry to you all.

I don’t mean that there is anything especial about NYC or people from NYC. Somehow, only last night while I was in ‘leave a comment box’ did it come to me that those who do not have a blogger account can’t comment here. Beats me how it didn’t come to my notice earlier.

Still, I do not forget what I read sometimes back. A piece, by a Brazilian lady, that recounted how she felt when she first landed in NYC as a brand new immigrant. To be very brief, she said (1) She found all NYC men in her immediate neighborhood shorter than her; (2) Americans kiss far lesser and (3) you can WALK in NYC.

When I read (3), I said to myself, ‘Oh! I’ll love NYC’.

So, isn’t it a good sign that someone from that place gave me the jolt to wake up to the injustices that I failed to notice for so many moinths?

Mr Babloo Loitongbam in the eye of the storm

I got it wrong in my last post. The Hmar National Army has not withdrawn the agitation of blocking the passenger bus services. Today, they have threatened to intensify the agitation.

They invited a team of media men in Churachandpur district. As I said in my last post, their main grouse is the lack of rehabilitation of the mass rape victims.

But behind such straight talk, there is the underlying message that an armed Hmar group is much interested in anything connected with the mass rape issue. Outwardly, they are trying to caricature themselves as the aggrieved party but underneath, they are also let it be known to anybody concerned that they are ready to use brute steps to force their agenda.

Especially when it comes to the issue of cross-examination of the alleged rape victims.

Read the emergence of an armed group under the guise of Hmar National Army together with the newly-acquired vigour in the tone of the Hmar Women’s Association, then, it is very clear that they are giving notice to Mr Babloo Loitongbam to stay away from the subject of cross-examination of the alleged victims.

This comes in the close heels of the warning issued to Mr Loitongbam by the state government. I’ve already dealt with in a post and I’m quoting again from it here.

>> As I had said in my last post, the real purpose behind the arrest of the two human rights activists is to intimidate the larger human rights community in general, and Mr Baloo Loitongbam, in particular. Those scripting the arrest, and thus, the news, have no business to disclose this real context to the general reading public. Their game plan is to clinically convey their messages to the select ‘subjects’.

But the reading public’s real business is to understand those behind the scene machinations because they are happening in their own society.

Going a bit deeper, we can discern that by intimidating people like Mr Babloo Loitongbam, the military of this largest democracy of the world want to influence the judicial proceedings of the legally constituted inquiry commission. Their logic is quite simple: if people like Mr Babloo Loitongbam don’t make representation to the Rajkhowa commission to put the alleged victims of the Parbung rape cases under the test of commonly accepted norm of cross examination, then the Commission is more likely to give its verdict of ‘possible rape—but without any conclusive evidences’.

Going still a bit deeper, we are confronted with the stark reality of the military of the largest democracy of the world trying insidiously to influence the verdict of a lawfully constituted inquiry commission. This is a very serious matter with fearsome implications—not only for Manipur but for the whole world.<<

You have only to replace ‘ the military of the largest democracy of the world’ with ‘Hmar National Army’ to get the full picture of the forces that are swooping down on Mr Babloo Loitongbam.

Here is the link to the full post.

Certainly, Mr Babloo Loitongbam is in the most dangerous position of having caught in the eye of the gathering storm.

Hmars and HRA.

I had been so absorbed telling you about the fall outs of the Chin State clash ( see my last 6 posts!) that I had actually no time to go into another of Kuki-Chin-Mizo communities’ move (is it a countermove?—well, I for one is so confused after being inflicted with such a barrage of moves and countermoves that I’m now beginning to feel it’s not humanly possible to know them as they are!)

One outfit called, Hmar National Army, blocked the movements of passenger buses to and fro Churachandpur and Imphal. They said they were compelled to do so because the Hmar rape victims had not been properly rehabilitated.

Only yesterday the normal bus service was restored. Nobody knows how that restoration comes about as there was no report about it in the media. But all the papers today carried a press statement from Hmar Women’s Association.

The statement made an all out attack on Mr Babloo Loitangbam. It accused him of propagating false and doctored report about the rape case. Telling us about Bablloo’s first visit at Parbung and Lungthulien when the news of the rapes cases appeared in the media, it reminds us that he came there at his accord and at his own expenses. Now, it said, he asked for a chopper to visit the places for cross-examining the victims! So, it concluded that the cross-examination must take place only at Parbung and Lungthulien.

The same press report told us that on the 6th of this month the above mentioned Association had submitted a memorandum to the Rajkhowa Commission stating that Human Rights Alert and MAFYF has no locus standii and so, no cross-examination is necessary.

HRA and MAFYF has been demanding that either they be accommodated in the chopper in which the Justice will be going to the two places or the venue of the cross-examination be shifted to any the three places, namely, Churachandpur town, Jiribam or Aizawl. Their main point is that the road to Parbung (nearly 250 kms ) is so in such state of disrepair that it is as if no road exists there at all and this situation together with the menace of armed militants there, warrants any kind of travelers without heavy security coverage.

It needs to be noted here that the Commission has been given a time extension of 1 month starting from the 1st of this month.

Chin State and the inflection point

I should not shy away from continuing posting about the Chin State clash (See my last 4 or 5 posts!).

To my mind, it just might willy nilly transport our society to a point where we may approach, as some management gurus would term, an inflection point.

As I have already noted in my last post, we may witness the most sustained and vigorous anti-narco drive starting middle of this month. It is because they are trying to prove a political point, not necessarily having to do anything with narcotics and substance abuse.

As the situation develops here, it can be expected that they might go all out to make their political point.

So, what will be the immediate consequence?

Substantial number of people will be thrown out of employment. That will be the immediate consequence.

Start with the paddy cultivators. There are some who specialize in cultivating and storing up the products for brewing of liquor.

Then, come the womenfolk who fetch the paddy from such cultivators and bring them to rice mills for some processing and carry them to the brewers.

Then, the brewers themselves.

Lastly, there are wholesellers and resellers of the final products spreading throughout the state.

All these people are likely to lose their jobs.

Regarding tobacco products, there are whole lot distributors, whole sellers and retailers spreading all throughout the state. Think of the sheer number lowly pan shops owners who are most likely to bear brunt of the coming drive.

Isn’t it ironic that some unexpected clash in an obscure place called Chin State of Burma would impinge so hard to the bread and butter business of so many people here?

Surely, they would start questioning their positions vis a vis the response of the whole society when they find the ferocity of the drive. But, will they ever reach the clash there in Chin State when they start unraveling the moves and countermoves that ultimately lead to their predicaments?

Even if that sound a little too lofty for them, will the reading public inform them all the moves and countermoves leading upto the Chin state clash?

My point is if our reading public could unravel that much, this society would be standing at the thresh hold of an inflection point.

How will the whole drama unfold?

Today Manipur Police came out with a press statement saying that they are in the advance stage in the investigation of the ISKCON bomb blast. It said they would be able to ascertain who was behind the crime.

Regarding the subject of my last post, today’s Imphal Free Press came out with a most accurate report. They did not mince words. They quoted the rebel group as saying that they knew for certain that one valley-based rebel group was behind the blast (see my last post). But they refused to name the group.

What most interests me is not whether they know the perpetrators or not but why they chose to speak out publicly at this particular time. Actually, they are risking their credibility and standing among the general public in general and among the rebel fraternity in particular when they went on record claiming that they know who was behind the bomb blast.

Why take the risk? And, now?

To my mind somebody very powerful is trying to make a retreat from their border-crossing enterprise (read, Chin State clash—the details are in my last three posts). And it is sad to see one less sophisticated group actually becoming a tool for achieving that retreat maneuver.

Actually, we are witnessing a fascinating moves and countermoves truly on the scale of sophisticated world class geo-political and diplomatic maneuverings.

Sensing that one side is trying to move towards a tactical retreat, I think, the other side will go all out to make a killing out of that.

Meaning?

Meaning that, we will witness the most sustained and vigorous anti-narco drives during the next 10-15 days, as already announced jointly by the three rebel groups. I think that the scale of the coming operations will be truly astounding.

It will be truly astounding not because they are trying to suppress the use of narco but because they are trying to ‘make a killing’, as I said above.

This is my hunch. We will see how the whole drama unfolds.

Another riddle

A riddle for every day!

Today’s papers carried a report of a media team’s visit to rebel camps along the Manipur-Nagaland border. It seems that the team was invited by a rebel group. The group is of Muslim rebels, who they say, are fighting for ‘sovereign Manipur’.

They did not fail to tell all those were typical of any rebel group. But what stands is the way they spelt out two points.

>> They are under a ‘suspension of operations’ arrangement with the military.

>> They say they know some groups which are responsible for the bomb blast in ISKCON temple.

The way they form the sentences while spelling out the above points, particularly the second, we get the impression that they know with certainty the people who threw the grenade. As they have no material evidence they can’t name them.

Interesting.

But the most interesting aspect is the timing of their media interaction. We are just beginning to form the impression that we had actually moved on to the Chin State clash, leaving behind the bomb blast in ISKCON for good!

We have to note here that whoever had planned the Chin State clash failed in their objective. Because, the Burmese army do not (so far) react in the way they have anticipated, particularly in the Moreh-Tamu sector.

But what’s most not anticipated is the way in which the reconfigurations in the complex relationships among rebel groups in Manipur is taking place here (see my last post). Today’s development strongly points to the likelihood that some very interested people do not want the reconfiguration to take place.

That’s why they are trying to bring the focus again to the ISKCON bomb blast. More than this refocusing, they are trying to throw the proverbial spanner into the emerging process of the reconfiguration, by pointing accusing fingers to some rebel groups for the throwing of that devilish grenade inside the ISKCON temple complex.

Whys and hows of the third force

I’m afraid we have a full scale riddle at hand.

On the 4th, there was a news report in a non-descript eveninger about the clash of Meitei rebels with Burmese army in Chin State of Burma.

The next day, there was a clarification by one of the three groups that constitute the MPLF telling us that they were not involved in the said clash.

Today, there was another very significant press statement by the remaining 2 groups in conjunction with another group which is outside the MPLF. Actually, they were announcing a joint programme to check the use of intoxicants, and to prevent ‘ substance abuse’, by the citizens of Manipur.

The announcement of any joint programme at this point of time is very significant.

Is the underlying message is like this: at least we, 2, are still committed to a joint programme ie, we are ready to be united?

You should also note that everybody (including the media) is mum about the clash in chin State.

Is this the response to someone who somehow crossed a line which is meant to be the borderline of some ethical values considered to be sacred?

In this light, we can sum up the underlying message of today’s press statement like this—‘ Someone has just crossed the line we consider to be so sacrosanct that we prefer to keep out mouths shut; but we are still united.’

My question is: why are they so cryptic?

Cryptic they are but it reaffirms that the clash in Chin State of Burma did really take place.

And what’s not so cryptic is the main reason behind the Chin State clash. Even a kid will know that by striking at Burmese army in chin state the perpetrators aimed to sow the seed of discord to the supposedly cosy relationship between Manipuri rebels and the Burmese army in and around Tamu.

And who wants that to happen?

>> The Indian military trying to control the Manipuri rebels.

>> Kuki-Chin-Mizo community. Before asking ourselves the why of pointing an accusing finger at them, we should immediately infer that the clash should happen in Chin State at all is the sufficient indicator they are an interested party here. Because without some minimum logistic support from the Chin people anybody, be it Meitei, Naga or for that matter,any rebel groups, simply cannot strike at Burmese army inside the territory of Chin State. Another reason is that they are likely to support any measure that is likely to annoy or harass the Burmese army.

>> Here we come to the most profound point: is there a third force emerged in the meantime?

It is really sad that we should be asking this question at all. Personally, I would be more interested at asking why should a third emerge at all? And, how this new force manages to get sustenance in this tightly contested political space of the present day Manipur and its adjoining areas?

Yet another riddle?

All the papers I had read did not carry the news of the clash Manipur’s rebels with Burmese army (my last post). I could not get hold of only 3 papers—yakairol, Huyen Lanpao and Ereibak.

So, the source of the news is not trustworthy enough? Or, it cannot be independently confirmed?

But all the papers I read carried a clarification of a rebel group. This is one of the three groups that constitutes MPLF. The clarification told us that it had no involvement in the reported clash with the Burmese army. But the most interesting part is that the clarification clearly stated that MPLF had been reduced to a state where it functioned only as the producer of press notes! As such, there is no possibility of MPLF involving in the class.

Well, that’s the most interesting clarification. It carries so many underlying meanings and shades of meaning that it will take awhile to digest them and put them in their logical orders.

Do you not notice that the Times of India report was dead lined Agartala? Well, some how, such small details tell me that there is something fishy about all these developments.

I hate to say this but all the ingredients for a classic geo-political riddle are slowly converging.

I only hope that it does not develop into one of those unbearable riddles now throttling the people of Manipur.

Clash of Meitei rebels with Burmese soldiers.

I found this in yesterday’s Times of India, NE edition. Going to Times of India site, I found that link to the NE edition was not yet incorporated.

I’m quoting verbatim.

>> Two rebels were killed when a Manipur outfit, currently based in Myanmar, recently fought a pitched battle with Myanmarese soldiers.

According to Khonumthung News, a Myanmarese online news site, three soldiers were wounded in the incident. It said the encounter between the Manipur People’s Liberation Front and the Government soldiers took place on August 24 at 6 am near Phaisat village in Ci Kha town in Chin Province.

Nearly 40 Meitei militants and 10 soldiers, led by a Major, were involved in the shootout. The officer was among those wounded. The rebels managed to loot two firearms from the injured soldiers.

It is not clear how the gunbattle broke out because the militants and Myanmarese soldiers seldom cross path and usually avoid altercations. Myanmar had imposed a curfew restraining the movements of villagers in the region.<<

Last night, I tried to find Khonumthung news, which is supposed to be online news site. I even went to Baidu but not a single page could be found linking to Khonumthung.

Times of India report was dead lined Agartala.

Only one eveninger in Imphal carried the story, apparently lifted wholesale from the Times of India.

Just now, I found out that I misspelt the site.

Here is the link.

Watershed

It’s increasing clearer by the days that bomb blast at ISKCON temple has become a watershed in the political development in Manipur.

Today, I also went to a conference on ‘Manipur in the aftermath of the ISKCON bomb blast: A retrospection’. The theme of the conference also somehow points to some kind of a watershed.

The conference was organized by Manipur Peace and Integrity Council’, commonly known as MAPI Council. Though I keep reading about its activities in the paper, this is the first time I ever attend anything organized by them. It was a well organized conference, the venue being the State Guest House, Sanjenthong.

As usual, I didn’t join the conference proper but instead hear out the whole proceeding at the control room of some cable guys, who were covering the event live!

Among the speakers are P. Sarat, a serving IAS officer, Hareshwar Goswami, again a serving official and Nongmeikappam Koteshwar, a brilliant practicing lawyer.

They are the embodiment of what you the upper class. Normally, they avoid anything to do with CSOs (civil society organizations), like MAPI Council.

Now, they are propelled to come out.

Again, this, itself is a watershed.

Not only they came out but also spoke out. They also closed their speeches saying that it’s just right time for speaking. Otherwise, they said, ‘we are not going anywhere’.

Manipur's digital film is the global leader.

Notice to all naysayer.

It is now proudly proclaimed that Manipur’s digital film is the global leader.

Most of the naysayer keeps telling us that it is not the cinema proper.

Such a small budget?

CD (or, DVD) format?

Now, see for yourself what’s just beginning to happen in USA, the land that produces Hollywood.

This is from Wired. I’m reproducing the first 3 paragraphs so as to lead you to the link expeditiously.

>>Tell us we're brilliant," Mark Duplass says. He and his brother Jay are standing in front of an audience that's just seen The Puffy Chair, a movie the brothers wrote, directed, produced, and starred in. Their euphoria is understandable: The indie film they made has finally been released in theaters, and this is their publicity tour.

The post-screening Q&A session at Mezzanine, a San Francisco club, gets under way, but the first question isn't about the movie's quirky plot (a guy buys an overstuffed recliner on eBay and hauls it cross-country to give to his dad as a surprise birthday gift). It isn't about the shoestring production, either – the $15,000 budget, the crew of one, the free catering by the lead actress's mom. What the audience really wants to know is how these scruffy twentysomething neophytes ever got a distribution deal.

"It was really painful," Mark tells the crowd. "Every studio came to us after the screenings and said, 'We love this movie.' We thought we were gonna be millionaires." The Puffy Chair toured festivals or more than a year, drawing raves and racking up awards. But no studio believed the audience would be big enough, so no theatrical deal. Finally, in January, the brothers were approached by a film distributor that loved the picture and knew exactly how to find an audience for it. But it wasn't Fox or Universal. It was Netflix. <<

Here is the link.

Proper monograph link.

In my last post about the monograph on Burma, I made a mistake providing you with the link that leads you to the prelim page only. Here is the link that gives you the full download page.

Myanmanfication!

Here is a freely downloadable monograph on Burma. I’ve read only a small part but the first part is titled using a word ‘Myanmanfication’ and it immediately attracted me.

What about ‘Mumbaification’ or ‘Bengalurufication’?

I'm reproducing the first few paragraphs.

________________________________
As one of the regime's journalists pointed out, in 1988 ‘Myanmar resembled a house that tumbled down. The Tatmadaw had to pick up the pieces and build a new one’.Indeed, Saw Maung himself assertedthat during the 1988 unrest ‘the State Machinery had stopped functioning’ and in the aftermath ‘it is justlike building a country from scratch’. A new house had to be built, and one of the cornerstones of theregime since 1989 has been the attempt to delineate and reconstruct the entire country through theprogramme I dub here ‘Myanmafication’.

……….. ………

This resulted in the official replacement in languages other than Burmese of ‘Burma’ and ‘Burmese’ (or whatever other languages use) with ‘Myanmar’ and the extensive renaming of
many towns, including the capital Rangoon which became ‘Yangon’. It should be pointed out that this renaming has virtually no impact on Burmese citizens speaking in Burmese, who continue to refer to bothMyanma as well as Bama (this not unlike formal reference in the English language to ‘The Netherlands’ while informally using ‘Holland’). It was a measure solely intended to affect references (both written and spoken) to Burma in languages other than Burmese, who may not now refer to Burma. At national independence under U Nu, the country was known as the Union of Burma. Under Ne Win in 1974 this changed to the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma. In 1988 it briefly went back to Union of Burma, and now we must refer to the ‘Union of Myanmar’, or Pyidaungsu Myanmar Naingngandaw.

Though taking place without referendum, this was officially endorsed by the United Nations five days after the regime's declaration. Because of the UN endorsal it has entered into widespread use, so that it is currently even used by human rights organizations such as Amnesty International.

_________________________________

BYOD

After posting my last post, I took a product tour of the ‘Google apps for your domain’.

They say it is ‘BYOD’ program, meaning you have to have a registered domain of your own. ‘BYOD’ is ‘bring your own domain’.

Still, it’s a wonderful program.