Endless debate goes into what laws and amendments are needed to create more and better state security. Most security personnel rely on force to produce the results they need to justify their deployment. In doing so, the law is often abused. But everyone may be missing the point. Most of today's laws will be obsolete within a few decades. To be precise, most of everyone and everything will also be obsolete. We need to start redefining the way we determine how we obtain basic rights, and how we may stop accepting the unacceptable.

Talking piously about freedom and the evils of the AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) are fine for people who don't have to put up with the diktats of insurgent outfits. The worst choice, in an apolitical sense, is to give up almost all of the personal liberties most of us take for granted, and to live at the whims of the local rebel outfit of choice. Worse, don't forget that most people in that situation don't have an option. So what should we do? So far, all talk about how the state is going to hell has been just that - Talk.

In any case, if we assume some sort of organized social safety net is a good thing, the present multi-social mind and headset puts shreds in the whole fabric. In the end, we will probably move away from today's 'free market agitation' mantra despite cries about anti-AFSPA and human rights violations. If we assume there should be no social safety net, we face the eventual possibility of whole families taking up arms and laying minefields around their properties. Or get the usual collection of parrots and ditto-heads that can spell AFSPA, but don't engage in serious problem solving.

According to our Constitution, one of our responsibilities is to secure justice for all. That translates into a common set of righteous values. Assuming we take that phrase in the preamble seriously, we cannot ignore the rise of injustice in our midst. With increased strife and political disorder, the number of arms taken up and street agitations are only going to increase. Despite all the commissions and committees and companies of armed forces, in 10 or 20 years we may end up with every part of Manipur shooting the other to pieces. Any act or law would be quite irrelevant then.

Now comes the big question: In light of all this, how do we go about promoting justice? We have a rough consensus in Manipur that endlessly elects Governments who don't work. We are also witness to the economy collapsing entirely on its own, and most employees have needed some sort of unwritten support payment in order to feel secure. We, who would freely contribute to our permanent insecurity, have chosen a variety of temporary securities over the ideal of justice.

So what should we do? Assuming the old solutions don't work, what new ones should we look to? Or should we just put our heads on our hands, repeat the same old helpless lines, and hope tomorrow will take care of itself? If you create a lawless thing, make it narrow and one dimensional enough, and create all the environmental constraints you want, you can 'prove' any point of injustice and misfortune and suffering you want. In a world where only achievements are prized, we are, unfortunately, sad and sorry losers.

I would like to think that this is not the world we would like to live in, and certainly not the world of our future. Why should it? The ability to create and sustain justice, peace, and security lies beyond any law and act. The laws and acts enforced upon us to keep us in order have not come cheaply. Much needed funds are spent in paying for the costs and upkeep of the personnel deployed to enforce law and order. It looks like there will be no gap at all between the two. We must escape this predicament.

We must escape our doom by our own efforts. We are going to have to become more practical and sensible in our choices. We are going to have to become far more productive in every sphere. Governments are going to have to become more imaginative, more dedicated to the public good; less pre-occupied with their own personal status. Every known funding agency has all the resources to help every aspect of such an effort. If only we can find an impetus out of our anger and despair to embark on it.

We are all afraid of arms and acts and other man made death-devices. I am no exception. But I am absolutely terrified of potential future reactions to excesses and accumulations of ill-gotten wealth and power, which may include civil wars, mass executions, and onerous repression in the name of justice.

I would far rather make some gentle compromises today, including the writing of boring and verbose essays that urge my fellow citizens to live wisely, than silently participate in the exposure of my homeland to a doomed future. A future that could easily include bands of armed thugs roaming our streets, confiscating money at gunpoint in the name of justice. Or children out of school and in the line of fire of an incensed soldier. The terrors of a lawless state are limitless.

Justice, AFSPA, draconian, and law are some of the words of our modern verbal shorthand. When we use them, we may be talking of cold-blooded murder, inhuman torture, or wrongful seizure and detention. What we don't talk about is whether a repeal of the act will see the end of injustice in all its forms. I don't wish to condone the act, or any act that can willfully destroy a life. What I wish for is an act, the act of securing our lives towards a better future. A future free of any fearful act. A future where there is peace, hope, and progress. And justice. For all.