The mandate of the people of Manipur on the issue of Inner Line Permit System cannot be more comprehensive or decisive. The terms and conditions for resuming talks with the state government have been laid down in no uncertain term. The government is also evidently warming up to the challenges, and the statement expressing the intent of drafting a comprehensive, enduring and popular bill by the five-member committee specifically set up for the purpose carries a note of sincerity and urgency which, although uncommon, is nevertheless a welcome one. Now, it all boils down to this: every party and stakeholder to the issue needs to come clean on the viability and constraints on the conditions and terms laid out publicly through the media so that everybody will have a clear picture on the developments. Each and every party also needs to give some space to others in order for the smooth and unobstructed working. This present exercise should be viewed as a collaborative effort to ensure the protection and preservation of the interests of the indigenous people. And while the committee is at it, the as-yet ambiguous questions as to who or which communities are included in the term “indigenous”, or that how far should one go back in history to arrive at a period which can be considered appropriate to be the cut-off year to determine the indigenousness of a community or group of people, should be clearly defined. The bill, while being exhaustive, should not be allowed to be seen or projected as xenophobic. The slightest mistake could send out wrong signals to the rest of the country, inadvertently inviting repercussions and harming the interests of the huge number of people from the state residing, working or studying outside the state. There is also the growing concern from various sections of the society on the deteriorating social and economic conditions due to the protracted disruptions and agitations that have taken a heavy toll on the economic and social activities. The public, and indeed the whole of the population have displayed the seriousness of intent and the unstinted in their own different ways. It would be the only logical step to pick up from where we left off our normal social life and take on the activities and profession once again and try to catch up on the backlog. Putting too much passion and emotion for too long would definitely result in a burnout. Let us all ease off a little bit and put our lives and works back in order. The state government could not have missed the message sent by the public in a blaze of fire and deafening uproar. We can always strike the last decisive blow if, in the most unlikely of circumstances, the state government still have not grasped the gravity of the situation.
