Ninety days and counting, and with it the increasing body count as well as the number of injured and the displaced. The escalating feeling of indignation and frustration of the people of the state is understandable. The determined silence of the centre and the blatant disregard for the continuing pleas of the people who are facing a worsening humanitarian crisis the scale and intensity of which the state has never witnessed before is however a mystery only those at the helm of affairs of the nation can only explain if there is anything worth explaining about. The continuing sordid acts of those in power whom the people of the land voted to power have now angered the public to such an extent that the only few options left for them to draw the attention to the plight of the people especially those living at the peripheries of the valley is to increase the frequency and intensity of their agitations. But nothing that the terrified and perplexed public have done couldn’t elicit any proper response from the government so far- neither the central nor the state.
The 24-hour public curfew called by the Coordinating Committee of 27 Assembly constituencies in Manipur today is one such step taken up by the people to try and jolt the government into action so that a lasting and pragmatic solution to the protracted violent conflict may be drawn up before things go out of hand. Today, amidst the mounting uncertainties and increasing difficulties resulting from the three-month and continuing violent conflict, the state is paralysed and normal life ground to a stop with markets and business establishments remaining shut in all the localities. Roadblocks and local Meira Paibis coming out in massive numbers and restricting the movement of the few people with serious enough reasons to risk any form of backlash from the protesting public has become commonplace.
The practice of resorting to public curfews and roadblocks as a form of protest and to express dissatisfaction by the public towards the government has become the medium of choice. It has however resulted in limited success and is turning out to be more of a hindrance to the general public who are trying to go about and get their work done amidst the curfews and other restrictions being imposed by the state administration to curb violence in the state. The frequency of such forms of protests owing to the multitude of CSOs taking decisions on their own to protest against various issues has also disrupted the society. This has led to suggestions from different quarters of the society to streamline and form an apex body to carry forward the efforts to drive the Kuki Narco-terrorists who are attacking the villagers along the peripheries of the valley without any letup. There is also an increasing support to the suggestion to take the protests directly to the politicians and elected representatives and to stage the protests at their residences and offices rather than to block roads and burn things risking injury to the general public. There has also been instances of quarrels breaking out between protesters and the general public who are getting fed up of such protests which is exacerbated by the unruly and often abusive behavior of a few escalating the situation.
What the society sorely needs at present is a cohesive and concentrated effort which truly represents the views and ideas from all quarters in finding a lasting and pragmatic solution to the present violence which has left so much death and destruction and is still continuing to do so. And the first step should be to come together as one and choose those who can shoulder the responsibilities and steer the collective efforts towards its logical conclusion.