By: Janghaolun Haokip
Since the beginning of mankind, differences are what separate people. The history of human society, on the other hand, has taught us that there is a more inevitable and more imminent threat to unity, which is to disregard another person’s morale and values. These two are the chief reasons why societies separate, and sadly, pursuing differences; exploitation and discrimination has become the conventional spirit of our society today.
The result is evident, and the chaos it has brought is catastrophic. Our societies are doomed by our arrogance against our differences. We exploit each other with our strength against our weaknesses than exploring the differences and witnessing the beauty in the diversity of our society. We have become more accustomed to prejudice and discrimination than understanding and acceptance. We are building walls between us and strengthening our defences rather than building bridges and weakening our vain pride. We have narrowed our mindsets and abridged our mentalities than broadening and expanding them in the way we see our world. This is our sorry state and a crucial question largely rings “Unity in Diversity: A Utopian dream?”
Unfortunately, Manipur is no stranger to this sorry state of societal affairs or namely the lapses in the making of the state. This tiny state has apparently more underground or insurgent groups than all the other states and union territories of India combined. Its conflict has a history of more than fifty years without a solution in sight –with the flames of ethnic clashes often burning the land, the people, and its wealth. Relevant too are bandhs and blockades, and strikes and protests called by various student bodies among others in the name of justice, and as means to counter or warn of consequences of government policies and propagandas, and sometimes even between these organisations. The peak in these problems is a desperate issue to ponder upon and brood over as in it lies the fate of our tiny state.
In consequence, there is the need to dig deep into the core of these problems and ‘nip the evil in the bud’ before it sprouts into a full grown adversity. It has also become imperative to explore why the state has been stricken by policies hindering mutual growth and prosperity; the constant conflicts between several groups are issues to tackle at the earliest. Furthermore, others such as insurgency and exploitation of various groups or individuals in various kinds and in various names are also issues that require immediate attention, and instant and constant effort both of the government and of the common people. The pivotal issue remains, however, in the failure to find an encompassing solution in the light of the difference in political aspirations of the major ethnic groups of the state and in the nature of countering the same.
The counteractive now is a subject of immense importance. The government initiatives and the contribution of the people is also a question with crucial implications. However more weightage inevitably lies with the policies of the government opposed to what the common people aspire. This is so because the government holds the natural right to govern or otherwise it holds enough force to subject people. However, this at the same time is not to undermine the role played by the common people as its consent is the source of the force of the government, thereby stating that the people also have as much right and power as the government as is rightly stated by Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, in defining democracy as Government of the people, by the people, for the people.
As a result, it has become necessary for both the government and the people –each of the other –to come to a consensus in order to bring about a desirable order in the state. There has to be a paradigm shift in our mentalities, mindsets, and as well as our aspirations. There has to be a double-check done with ourselves and our impacts on the society. We have to come to a common ground which entails the necessity to sacrifice and compromise our self-centred aspirations towards endeavouring for a common good. People and organisations must be accommodative –one for the other and the other for the one –in order to be able to come together. We have to let go our selfish ambitions and realise the need for a common goal –a unity in diversity –the need to build trust among each other. We have to interact more often among the ethnic groups and promote friendship and understanding –learn and appreciate each others’ cultures and traditions. Above all, we must be extra sensible towards the sensitivity; culturally and traditionally attached to a particular ethnic group.
The effort ostensibly will be an arduous task, but the state at which we are in cannot carry on at the same time too. If it does, chaos will be the inevitable fallout. Therefore, at such a state of the state, it has become all the more crucial for all the like-minded and light-minded individuals, leaders and commoners, to assume responsibility and critically analyse the nature and effects of ethnically motivated political goals. The analysis has to be made on grounds notwithstanding the different political aspirations but in the light of the need for unity in diversity, and in the light of the TRUTH; of history and culture, and of humanity and a rationale.
Indeed! We have every right to choose our choice as free individuals; every right to deny any and every appeal, and every right to do and be what we want to be. But, much in that same nature, we also have the natural obligation to be responsible as human beings -the right to be sensible in our dealings against another. Therefore, let us be responsible, each of us, thus enduring and ensuring others that we are on for a greater good. No more narrow and selfish goals, but on for a common good for all -a mutual prosperity for all. Let us therefore prove today that Unity in diversity is more than just a Utopian dream.