ILP agitation leaders need to be accountable too

Pengba Aruuba Eshingee *

A Protest rally at Lamlai Bazar demanding implementation of Inner Line Permit System on July 28 2014 :: Pix - Deepak Oinam

Tripuris in Tripura, Lepchas in Sikkim. Extinct or on the verge of it.

The same fate must not befall on Manipuris in Manipur and so here we are again, agitating and demanding the implementation of Inner Line Permit.

As in the past, students and the Meira Paibis are in the forefront and bearing the brunt of all the excesses of the high-handed security personnel.

The happenings in the valley of Manipur today echo those 'Go Back Foreigner' slogans that reverberated in the state from the 70s till the 90s. Then also, All Manipur Student Union (AMSU) and All Manipur Students' Co-ordinating Committee (AMSCOC) led the chorus.

It feels very much like history repeating itself with the 21st Century version, warmed up by FRIENDS and played to full throtle by the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS), shuts down Manipur.

Much water has flown under Thong Nambonbi since 70s and 80s but not much has changed on the ground, except for the ever increasing population of so called outsiders in Manipur.

Therefore a question begs to be answered. Why is it that umpteen mass uprisings have failed to achieve the desired objective in Manipur?

Agreed, our politicians have failed us and the less said about them the better. But how about the people who led us in those agitations?

If the protests of the 80s and 90s yielded the desired result, would we witness what we are going through today? Why did the sacrifices of many students and women folks went down the drain?

Is there a guarantee that the same sacrifices by a new generation today will not have the same unfortunate ending?

This is where those who are leading these agitations today need to be honest and true to the people. There have been many instances in the past, not necessarily restricted to ILP, but on other issues as well when selfish motive and ego clashes compromised the very cause for which people even sacrificed their lives. Case in point AFSPA.

Remember 2004-05, how close was it for AFSPA to be lifted from Manipur but for the bungling of the leadership of Apunba Lup? In fact one of the leaders of the agitation then is today a Congress MLA, who is no longer heard raising any voice.

June 18 is today observed to remember the sacrifices of those departed souls yet it's only a few assembly constituencies which are free from the clutches of AFSPA in Manipur.

So, is there a guarantee that today's agitation for ILP implementation will not peter out with some of those leading the agitation quietly joining a political party or getting a plum contract or even managing to build a nice building suddenly?

At the same time, young students and women folks must also be as vocal to their leaders as they are in demanding the implementation of ILP. Demand transparency and ensure they can't back out unless the demand is met.

Just don't follow them blindly but make them realise that this time around no one would be taken for a ride till the desired end result is achieved. Far too many sacrifices have been wasted, it's high time the trend changed.