By- Amar YumnamÂ
Sangai is not just the name of an animal. It is a most valued and loved life-form for the Manipuris. The relationship with the humans takes a cultural form founded with the evolution of the cherished characteristics of the people and their society. Thus, Sangai has precious values going much beyond the capability of history to accommodate. This is why the very mention of the name evokes love and linkage with the entirety — society, history, geography, ancestors and expectations; the term geography here is being used in the contemporary inclusive sense of features and environment and not in the old physical perception only. This is why the moment the name was associated with Festival, it has been attracting the minds and attention of the people to the occasion. The social values associated with the name implies — with greatest certainty — that any occasion involving the name should be conscious of the social timing; it is never a case that the name of Sangai and events associated with it can be organized at times of high social instability. Sangai is not subject to the whims and fancy of any person whatsoever. The cultural and the social purity of the Sangai should never be compromised.
It is known by all that the State has been facing a social crisis for the last three years. For any society anywhere, the resolution of the social crisis is the priority for all – individually and collectively. This social priority is globally accepted as not something the government can override I her governance for other engagements. But in a very strange way, Manipur is experiencing something very unexpected. The critical behavior of the government has been as if viewing the social crisis can remain, as governance is behaving more like free from any concern with the critical issues of the land and her people. The interesting part here is that in a democratic polity , the government in Manipur todayis only a transitpry arrangement, unde the constitution though, until a Representative Democratic Government comes in place. This being so , the objectives and areas of engagement and preoccupation should be limited. On the other hand, the attention should raer be concentrated on the urgent and primary needs of the population. By the way , it would be rewarding to recall here that since the 1090s governance is a theme the global bodies and the intellectuals have been concentrating their attention to establish the components and the characteristics of functioning of government for meaningful inclusive performance for the welfare of the people. Given the prevailing circumstances of Manipur, the President’s Rule should rather be preoccupied with the efforts to bring about enhancement of symmetry of relationships across the diverse ethnic groups. While the public and the civil society organisations have been rasing their voices against the holding of Sangai Festivak, the government should have digested the spirit of the opposition and the intelligence wing of the government should have apprised the depth of it. Instead, the State was subject to widespread and serious use of violence by the police; the present technology easily captures such events and travel to the rest of the world within minutes. Thus what Manipur has just witnessed is the inwillingness of the government to attend the critical social issues of the society but rather attempt to divert the attention of the population.
Being a democratic country, it is paramout that the State government is necessarily aware of the present politico-economic scenario of the people and the prevailing quality of life people have been subjected to. This understanding and the consequential adoption of relevant policies are imperative to sustain the feelings of the people on democracy. But is it happening in Manipur today?
Further, the primary preoccupation of the governance in the prevailing circumstances should be the evolution of a shared approach to a collective decision. In this the hectic engagement of governance should be the adoption of a mechanism for a strong and continuous communication with the people. What Manipur is experiencing today is the Social Crisis of the last three years being coupled by a crisis in governance. The social, familial and individual costs the people are bearing with this scenario is such that, even if normalcy returns, the recovery would be both difficult and long to take place unless a comprehensive programme with contextual relevance is taken up sooner than later. But this requires a clear commitment of a government with committed capacity.
