Defeat the enemy within for a better Manipur

The essence of patriotism that runs through our veins of Manipuri people seems to be getting away with the invasion of the dirty mind call ‘jealousy’. Thirst for money and power has made people in our state live like a mere pawn. There seems to be no fair games in the making of peace either as love and humanity have been shattered in the ‘peace-making game’.
Well this is Manipur – an Asiatic Kingdom, now a state of the Union of India and a home of over 32 different ethnic communities. Myth and legends talk about the blood relationships among these different communities. History says forefather lived, worked and fought together to protect the kingdom. However, reality today is different as the power hungry people play games of revenge to the history, without knowing that somebody superior to them are using them as pawn. The sacrificed of our ancestors for what we are now is being made a mockery by us. We now create situation that our next generation may curse us for what we have done for them.
It’s wrong to redraw history, we can’t change history but we can learn from history for a better tomorrow. It’s not fair to paint pink on the seven colours, for the beauty of rainbow will no longer be seen. Yes, all the 32 and more communities who had been living together from time immemorial have every rights to live as themselves by flourishing their culture, tradition, religion and identity. Its easy learning the minds of the jealous people playing with fire using all weapons to discard the history of this small erstwhile kingdom, but its hard taking up against such, as the virtue of patriotism that runs to the veins has been slowly poisoned. Without knowing our mistakes we keep on following the wrong path.
On the other hand, the educated public of the region, world-weary and well-travelled, seem to have an inexplicable affinity for embracing the bright side of things while downplaying the multitude of vexing problems and irritants that combines to hold back the state and the region from keeping pace with the rest of the country despite its potentials which have been much publicized, discussed, deliberated upon and generally accepted. So what are the things holding back our state from picking up the pace of progress despite the burgeoning multitude of educated and experienced individuals?
For starters, the lack of conventional opportunities for economic development on an individual level leads to excessive and almost always unfair competition fuelling corruptive practices. For all the hue and cry about developing entrepreneurship in the state, the choice is still a very risky and demanding one, in more sense than one as a prospective entrepreneur have to start from scratch and overcome insensitive, ignorant and often indifferent officials in every step of one’s entrepreneurial efforts.
We also have an acknowledged yet unofficial system of political favouritism where opportunities are provided not to the best candidate for a job or project, but rather to the ones who can win favours from those who matter, never mind the fact that the favoured ones are often the least qualified for the tasks at hand. Cronyism and contract-culture has proved to be a major hindrance to the march towards development. There is also the unexpressed resentment against the mushrooming vigilantism which invariably ends up with a cut of the loot, and once satiated, turns a blind eye to the blatant inefficiency, deliberate misappropriations and open disregard for public welfare as has become the norm rather than the exception when it comes to public development activities.
But the worst offenders and detractors of progress are the public themselves, for while baying for the blood of the high and mighty, it is the petty, almost ignorable deeds that adds up to become the behemoth that is standing in the path to progress. Offering bribes, accepting cash for votes, accepting less of their allotted share of benefits, failing to speak up on any irregularities all adds up to the present situation we are experiencing today. We need to change ourselves if we seek to change the state and society.
We need to defeat the enemy within to realize a better future.