Manipur Emotions: Who Cares

Writer – Amar Yumnam
Something very unfortunate has happened in South East Asia, particularly Myanmar. Well it is natural that human beings feel sad while people anywhere, other than selves too, face any unfortunate event which claim lives. This is exactly what has happened in the South East Asia. Manipur, though in India, is basically a South East Asian country. All the recent earthquakes in the region have also happened in Manipur at more or less simultaneous timings though the intensity of the scale has been lower in the case of Manipur.
Manipur has escaped the disaster for development has definitely been less and concentrations of big buildings and population to enhance disaster potential have been lower. For the sake of easier appreciation, let us understand what a disaster is. Charles Fritz (1961) defined disasters as “…… uncontrollable events that are concentrated in time or space, in which a society… undergoes severe danger and incurs such losses … that the social structure is disrupted and the fulfilment of all or some of the essential functions … is prevented.” Thus expectedly the social structure in Myanmar must be highly disrupted now and even the government must be at a loss on how to go about when demands of government support and interventions are at their height at such times.
Though earthquakes have happened in Manipur recently many times, these have not caused earthquake-caused social confusions as disasters have not accompanied them. But Manipur has already been suffering the absence of governance for the last two years with the huge unusual potential for rising social inequality and socio-behavioural disturbances at both individual and social levels, which will definitely take a decade or more to reconstruct; this consequential scenario is based on the assumption that normalcy is restored and social reconstruction measures are put in place today.
Though emotional pains do happen to people on the basis of losses of other people, these are more in the cases where the losses and disasters are in the case of relatives. As said earlier, Manipur is fundamentally a South East Asian country with genetic, demographic, cultural, historical, evolutionary and other various reasons; Manipur’s human and social relationships with Myanmar are more robust than that of any other province in India. I am a Manipuri, and I do know for sure the feeling of unexplainable and information-less emotional pains the people of Manipur must be undergoing right now on what might have happened to and how might be handling the daily crises by their knowns and relations.
So the people of Manipur are under two Emotional Burdens today – first is the two years old one of absence of governance and free-run of inter-community violence. The second one are the Emotional Pains caused by the damages and lives claimed by the heavy earthquakes in the South East Asia.
While the people of Manipur are thus under severe Emotional Pains, the Government of India has extended the Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958 by a Notification on 30 March 2025 – exactly a day after the disaster. It is a legislation which the people of Manipur and the North East had heavily fought against earlier. In plain language, the legislation applicable only to the North East region says that under this Act any security personnel can kill anyone on suspicion and there can be no legal case filed for the killing without reason; it is a legislation which empowers and makes the security personnel happy without reason.
I would like to share the irrationality of this by recalling some personal experiences. By the way I was already a Faculty in the University. A. Sometimes we do come back a little late (8 pm is very late under this Law). All of a sudden, a security personnel member would just appear on the road and signal/shout to stop and we had to stop pretty fast immediately unless inviting slaps. In a very rude way (it is always rude) he would ask me about my trip. While explaining that I was a teacher, he would utter who cares. On days, if books are found with me, the query about books from those would be in a very rude way asking me what do I do with the books. B. In instances where we had to attend emergency calls, like a relative falling sick and going to the hospital in the night, we shall be queried many time on the way as if a national enemy was moving on the road. C. While moving with brothers or relatives, the query would be so detailed that we might miss the time of our purpose of travel. D. On any day, a group of them would come to our home, make any query they like and search our home in whatever way the team of security personnel feel. E. If a young boy just drives recklessly, getting beaten up heavily is no surprise. F. In my own village a boy was killed who we could stand for as a normal and seriously studying boy. But the Law is there and no Manipuri can do anything. Well let me end with these instances.
So while Manipur has been asking for Social Policy to solve the crises of Manipur, the Government of India has brought Manipur under a legislation which empowers the security personnel to kill anyone without accountability. This is happening exactly at a time when the people are handling huge Emotional Pains, old and new. While the province needed a Social Policy to handle the various crises, the imposition of the irrational (I know the meaning of Rationality and Irrationality) legislation has come again. So when it comes to Manipur the issue of Rational Social Policy is never applicable.