The story begins here...

I hailed from a nondescript village in Churachandpur district, Manipur, and, like many of my contemporaries I consider myself fortunate, to complete my graduation outside of Manipur that got me a comfortable job so to say. I spent more than a decade outside the north east for my education and employment that relieved me from most of the horrors of loots and killings faced by my peers and relatives back home.

My thinking and lifestyles have been greatly influenced by western Indian culture; even then I have not forgotten my roots. I visited my home state not that frequently, not because I don't love the place but I often get butterfly in my stomach seeing the plight of the myriad people who have been deprived of their livelihoods forget about good education.

I only feel the burden heavier and my worries multiply, depriving me all the happiness and the joy of being at home. Today I would like to introspect on my indignation on the North East with main reference to Manipur, being my home state.

Every time I visited Manipur the situation got worsened leaving the innocents in the lurch while few self-styled revolutionaries enjoy all the privileges of sprawling mansions and flashy lifestyles. I believe we are tired of reading articles after articles focusing mainly on the hopelessness of our future with no solution in sight.

Countless thoughts rage in my mind accusing the insurgent (read goons) groups, the profligate govt, the excess of Indian army, the corrupt bureaucrats, etc with no end. I can proudly say that I am not the only one to have that feeling but everyone including people in the above mentioned list say the same with equal anguish and rather shamelessly.

Then who is at fault? If I have to articulate on that point the barrel will turned to you and me who are considered educated and privilege in Manipur parlance. I mean people who can read and understand what I am recounting here. With malice to all and one we project ourselves better; that would be an ignorant assumption that we are good people when you see your relatives and friends see no hope and future. The role we can play is immense and I understand some people have shown altruism in some aspect.

East and west...

Coming back to my experience of both the East (as my home state) and the west (where I got my education), one prominent difference is honesty with their works. In the east people are kind of lazy and unproductive, esp the govt employees want pay without work. They consider govt job means pay without work throughout their lives.

As the saying goes, "An idle mind is a devils workshop", when people become saturated without any productivity their thoughts become greedy and corrupt. All these practices bred insurgency for un-employed youths for easy money and not for any ideology. Manipur problems did not exploded over night but a slow and unchecked process of corruptions and greed exemplify by our own people.

With little malice to the Meeteis, being the majority and advance community than all others in Manipur have to take the blame for what makes Manipur today. Having said that I don't absolve other communities, today they are getting better and better in ruining the state.

Whereas, in the western India , people have some regards and respect for their source of livelihood, their jobs. I cannot say 100 percent of them are sincere but majority are atleast contributing something in their own way, leading to the overall development of their state.

Further, nothing comes for free and they work hard for what they want that keep them busy and productive. That is the DIFFERENCE. Today highest tax payers are the west and highest tax consumers could be the East, this is shameful and demeaning.

Any Hope left?

Who say North East does not have resources to alleviate themselves of their predicaments? It is for the corrupt, dishonest politicians and bureaucrats who cite the terrain conditions and lack of industries as one of the many reasons for hindering developments.

And the centre minced no word but pumped huge amount of booties in the hands of the very corrupt officials who have been responsible for all the problems of NE. I am not just being cynical but as a matter of fact, how long we allowed ourselves being ruined by huge funds without progress.

Where are the funds? Militancy in the NE is due to lack of employment opportunities. If the govt is really serious about what it preaches then employment opportunities need to be opened up in war footing. We have beautiful landscape, the Hills and the valleys comprise the uniqueness of NE.

It can be one of the hottest tourist destination in the world, eg Loktak lake in Manipur can generate crores of rupees from tourism and fishing industry in a day. Thailand , Indonesia for example survives mostly from tourism revenue. We don't' need industries that pollute the environment, but by preserving nature at its best, supported by favorable climatic conditions can be a huge draw for the people.

Assam has a huge reserve of oil and gas, majority of Indian oil companies are surviving on the crudes from this state, yet the people remain backward and poor. Unless we wake up and make use of the available resources by our own, no amount of centre assistance will bring change. It is no rocket science to understand that the solutions lies in Employment compounded by making use of our rich resources, here itself; starting from our mindset.

Education:

The primary objective of education is to make our life better and simpler. Today the reverse is happening. If we have not been able to use our education system to good use, we must have to get a reality check.

It is fact, in Manipur majority of the govt teachers don't go to school whereas parents expect their children to get education in the paddy fields. Everyone, from teachers, parents, ministers, bureaucrats, NGOs, last but not the least you and me is responsible when it comes to education. We must take education as our moral duty and fight corruption from here.

We have seen dubious appointments in this dept leading to excess of some underground groups on the corrupt officials, and such is the state of affairs we deprived our children the much needed education. If we have to stop militancy, corruptions and alleviate poverty, the answer is education. If we cannot set right the remaining at least education must not be disturb at any cost.

We can do out bits by donation or adoption of young children who are deprived of basic education without waiting for authorities to aggravate further.

Not that simple

My ideas and suggestions are not without flaws and I accept its shortcomings. I agree that the problems and solutions are not as simple as what is being projected to be.

Even then we must not stop looking for opportunities to find solutions within ourselves. My thoughts and feelings are shared for the good of our state and a call to rely on our skills and resources rather than being spoon fed from the centre.