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IMPHAL FRIDAY 07 NOVEMBER 2014
IMPHAL FRIDAY
07 NOVEMBER 2014
Aliens in their own country
Samarjit Kambam
-ROLLER COASTER WRITEToday's Thought
All political parties die at last of swallowing their own lies.
Dr Arbuthnot.
More than professional hazards
Media : Not a punching bag
Professional hazards. A term synonymous
and universal with all profession. However
how does one explain the hazards that come
because one is associated with a certain
profession but in fact have nothing much to
do with the profession ? A condition for
which there is as yet no universally acceptable term but this is something not new to
the journalists working in Manipur. Tough to
verbally explain or put down in words, but an
experience which all journalists in Manipur
must have gone through in their profession.
The presence of numerous power players
each dictating their own interest has only
made things more complex. And so it is that
journalists here find themselves in a catch 22
situation numerous times. In such a situation
it is not uncommon for one of the numerous
power players dictating what can be and
should be published and what should not be
published. The casualty is not only journalism but also the truth. Not wonder then that
journalists here have to master not only the
craft of their profession but also something
much more which may lead to short changing the readers or the listeners. Not that this
matter to the power players for whom the
ultimate objective is to bull doze their way,
never mind if in the process it is the people
who lose out. And to think that a number of
these power players have attained a certain
degree of social legitimacy for whatever they
do they do, it is in the name of the public.
Some sort of a tragi-comedy for Manipur.
It is these elements the public should be
wary about. When they care two hoots
about the fourth estate, then what will they
care about the public ? A question which
everyone should start raising now, vocally at
that. A number of journalists have fallen prey
to the designs of these elements. Some
have been killed while others have had to
suffer serious injuries. The impact on the
physical and mental well being can only be
imagined. Some publications have had to
suspend publications on one charge or the
other while some journalists have been told
to give up their vocation. Not at all conducive for the healthy growth of the media and
certainly unhealthy for all those who are engaged in the job of disseminating information
to the public. So far the journalists of
Manipur have been steadfastly opposing the
designs of these elements to brow beat the
media, but it is nonetheless disturbing to
note that attempts to influence the media
should enter their train of thoughts in the
first place. Food for thought here for everyone.
Etc.. etc...
No single HIV prevention method can end
AIDS : Combination prevention is key
Bobby Ramakant, Citizen News Service (CNS)
There is no effective HIV vaccine available today. Yet
a safe and effective vaccine is critical to the control of HIV
globally.
He also stressed to fashion combination prevention for
‘hotspots’ of HIV infection. He gave an example of Lake
Victoria area in Kenya which has HIV rates comparable to
places in Africa with highest HIV prevalence. This area is
also known to have low male circumcision rates and unsafe
sex work associated with fishing community is also reported. But rest of the Kenya does not have that high HIV
rates. Combination prevention needs to be tailored in unique
contexts and realities and if we do so, we could prevent
“600,000 new HIV infections by 2030” said Fauci.
(Concluded)
WHO launches new guidelines on
management of latent TB infection
Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service (CNS)
For the first time, the World Health Organization (WHO)
has issued guidelines on testing, treating and managing
latent TB infection (LTBI) in individuals with high risk of
developing the disease. These guidelines were launched
today at the Global TB Symposium just before the start of
the 45th Union World Conference on Lung Health in
Barcelona.
“Prevention of TB and the management of latent TB is
one of the key elements of the new END-TB strategy of
WHO to be pursued primarily in all low-incidence countries”, said Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of the Global
TB Programme of the WHO.
The new guidelines on the management of LTBI provide
public health approach guidance on evidence-based practices for testing, treating and managing LTBI in infected
individuals with the highest likelihood of progression to
active disease.
“These guidelines respond to the request of several
Member States for a clear WHO guidance and provide the
framework for the development of national guidelines for
the management of latent TB” said Dr Haileyesus Getahun,
Coordinator for TB/HIV and Community Engagement,
WHO Global TB Programme, while releasing the new
guidelines.
Dr Getahun further said to Citizen News Service (CNS)
that, “The guidelines primarily target higher and middle
income countries with an estimated TB incidence rate of
less than 100 per 100 000 population because they are most
likely to benefit from the guidelines due to their current TB
epidemiology and resource availability”.
These criteria are currently met by 113 countries. Resource-limited and other middle-income countries that do
not belong to the above category are advised to implement
the existing WHO guidelines on people living with HIV
(PLHIV) and child contacts below 5 years of age.
(To be contd)
Samarjit Kambam
“Aliens in their own country”. That’s what we the
North Easterners really are.
Here Roller Coaster Write
brings forth to the limelight
the collective mental pain and
agony of the people of North
Eastern India with Manipur
in particular.
We the north easterners
particularly people from
states of Manipur, Nagaland,
Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh(sorry for Tripura) are mongoloids. No doubt we have chinky features but we are not
Chinese. Nothing can be truer than the fact that the people of
mainland India possess the mindset that the North Eastern part
of India just beyond the proverbial ‘chicken neck’ is not a part
of India. When every students in primary classes residing in
the most remote corners of North East India knows the political map of India, the number of states and union territories
and their capitals, its sovereignty and history, a big question
arises whether the schools of mainland India misses out North
East India in their school curricula. Is it sheer ignorance, or
deliberate ignorance on their part? Or is India limited only to
the Indus valley, Deccan plateau, the Vindhyas, the Aravalli
etc where the rivers Ganga, Jamuna, Saraswati, Mahanadi,
Jhelum, Krishna, Cauvery and the likes flow, where descendants of Aryans and Dravidians reside? ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was
declared the most beautiful national anthem in the world. Has
Rabindranath Tagore made a flaw by not mentioning the
Brahmaputra river or any region of North Eastern India as he
wrote the national anthem of India or has the national anthem
failed to deliver the concept of existence of North Eastern
region of India to the mainland Indians? Or has the mainland
Indians taken an inverted and asymmetrical theme of such a
beautiful national anthem? Or is it the idea of North Easterners
an inferior race?, to be suppressed, to be bogged down? There
are many questions galore which remain unanswered.
Bangalore, the capital city of Karnataka has been known
as the Silicon Valley of India. But since a few years back it
has become the Racism Valley of India. After the issue of Late
Loitam Richard, a student of Arharya Institute of Technology,
Bangalore who was beaten to death by his hostelmates has
remained dead calm, locked away in the closet of a lawful
democracy with ‘Justice for Loitam Richard’ never seeing the
light of the day, many untoward ugly incidents of hate crimes
towards people of North Eastern region of India are cropping
up in this big cosmopolitan city like a routine affair. In a big
digital city like Bangalore, it really comes as a surprise and
wonder that the mind-set of most of the people of the city has
transcended to the level of Stone Age. The attack and brutal
assault in the night of 14 October towards a Manipuri student
T Michael Lamjathang Haokip in Kothanur, a part of Bangalore
where he was mercilessly beaten up by a gang of men of the
vicinity abusing him with various remarks such as, “If you
outsiders know how to eat food that is produced in Karnataka,
you must also know how to speak Kannada. This is India not
China” has shown that the attack was a deliberate hate crime
and reveals that racism towards North East people do exist
and has grown exponentially. The ironic part of that incident
is that the onlookers sided with the attackers. When one of
Michael’s friend came to help, he was surrounded by the
gang, snatched his valuables and bikes’ documents. Here
also, the nexus between the police and politicians were clearly
depicted when a local politician on the pretext of helping them
actually allowed some of the attackers to escape. Of late a
couple from Nagaland and their friends were assaulted and
racially abused by four men near Hesaraghatta on the outskirts
of Bangalore on 25 October. The accused foursome was
arrested by law enforcing agencies, but for name-sake (as
you’ve already known). Now they may be roaming around
freely looking for fresh misadventures.
Late Miss Reingamphi Awungshi was found murdered in
her rented room in Delhi and now the issue has become
history with the murderers enjoying their nights in pubs and
discotheques or night street-bike racings. Numerous instances
of such brutality and murder had happened before. Mention
may be made of Nido Tania, a student from Arunachal Pradesh
beaten to death by a local gang nearby a hotel in Delhi. The
justice – verdict by a trial court with relation to the CBI
investigation that the murder was not based on racism by
cleverly blending with the SC/ST Act. Would the accused be
convicted for murder if ‘ST’ was marked on Nido Tania’s
forehead as a tattoo as evidence? Is the SC/ST Act the end
of all? Forget SC/ST, what about justice for murder of a
human being? Wasn’t Nido Tania a human being? For the
North Easterners justice is like the dark side of the moon,
never to be seen. The CBI’s conclusion on Nido Tania’s
murder case is a factor which acts as an impetus to heighten
the hate crimes against the people of North East. On the night
of 15 October two persons from Nagaland who have been
working at a BPO were forced to drink liquor and then
brutally assaulted for hours at Sikanderpur area in Gurgaon
with the attackers prunning off their hair warning them it was
a message to all of North Easterners particularly from Nagaland
and Manipur that they will be killed if they come there. One
of them was rescued by his sister but the other one was
dumped on the roadside where he lay till some of his acquaintances spotted him in the morning. The next day again i.e on
16 October, Juliet a Mizoram girl was found murdered inside
her residence in South Delhi’s Munirka area with the murderers going scot free having a gala time.
The North Easterners are treated like cattle in a slaughterhouse where they can be beaten, tortured and killed at will.
A few years ago, my heart sank as I watched a mobile phone
video clipping of a young Manipuri girl studying in Delhi
being sexually assaulted by her own female college mates in
an unimaginably brutal and inhumane way that really sank my
heart. The young girl pleaded for mercy but she wasn’t spared,
she was stripped naked, molested, hot balm was inserted in
her private parts and her hair was shaved. I really wonder
how college students of the capital city of India went down
to such a lower level of moral degradation. Again, it cannot
be taken as co-incidences when various crimes emanated on
alternate days at Bangalore, Gurgaon and Delhi. The intention
seems to go beyond the realm of chinkese look or oriental
feature. Could it be a political game or a syndicate of some
religious fanatics instigating a kind of ethnic cleansing? If
such a syndicate or organisation exist, their intentions can be
spread through its various branches instantaneously in this
world of information technology where almost all people in
the world are connected virtually. So, you can seriously introspect by yourselves whether the recent serial hate crimes
that took place in alternate days in Bangalore, Delhi and
Gurgaon were co-incidences. Again, there is no assurance that
such hate crimes will not emanate like multiple sclerosis in
other metropolitan cities of India.
Even though numerous hate crimes or crimes with racist
intention had happened before, the lackadaisical attitude of the
law enforcing authorities, politicians and judges led to such
unwanted status quo further advancing instead of receding.
Even though various North East Support Centre and Helpline
agencies as well as Nodal offices for crimes against north
easterners were introduced in metro cities, the whole hearted
personal indulgence of the Prime Minister of India and relevant Union Ministers is crucial for looking into the unfolding
of unwanted events to prevent the rate of hate crimes against
the north easterners climbing up the chart. Over and above
exemplary punishments at fast track courts, it is of paramount
importance to enact new anti-racism laws to protect the North
easterners from racial discrimination, abuse and crime against
them on priority in the Indian constitution.
As the idea or knowledge of North Eastern region being
an integral part of India seems to be missing in the mind-sets
of people of mainland India, it is high time the Prime Minister
of India & Co. do something innovative to lift up the status
of North East at par with mainland India. Only ‘damage
control measures’ after the damage has already been done will
not ameliorate the situation. Mr Prime Minister, from where
will your “Indian Dream” materialise when you can’t muster
up the audacity to protect your own Indian citizens? Please
think about that.
Such are the harsh realities the North Easterners face in
other parts of mainland India and most particularly in cosmopolitan and Metro cities such as Bangalore and Delhi. So
many crimes, murders and sexual assaults have taken place in
Delhi against North East girls. Its not that the men born and
brought up in Delhi are sex maniacs ready to pull down their
pants whenever they see a female of the human species. Its
the arrogant and contorted mindset of most Delhites which is
the tangible factor for crime against women. A huge chunk of
the Delhites have this battered mentality and ego that they are
the superior race for they were born and brought up in the
capital city of India. That is the numero uno problem, a big
social issue, an assymetrical mindset that needs to be properly
angled, corrected, sanitised and thoroughly cleansed. They
nomenclate the North Easterners as “Junglees”. But it is from
amongst the junglees who save the face of India in the world
of sports many a times.
The prevailing scenario of the North East people is that
even though we were born in India, we are inferiorly treated
as non Indians/foreigners or aliens by counting from the face
value of our chinkese looks and oriental features. But if this
trend of discrimination against North East people rumbles on
it may result in a very ugly repercussion – the rift between
the North Easterners and Mainland Indians will get wider and
may act as a motivational factor to the frustrated youths to join
insurgent outfits. If a person born in India is treated as nonIndian, its tantamount to alienation. If this goes further on, a
collective movement may arise wherein the whole North
Easterners cry out for separation from Indian mainland.
Only quick response lip-service by concerned Union Ministers and leaders of the nation without any result oriented
outcome will not serve any purpose. It will always remain like
“Which one preceded, the egg or the hen?”. As long as the
tainted mindsets of people of such big cosmopolitan cities
such as Bangalore and Delhi are not flushed out, there is no
assurance that such unwanted incidents will not crop up like
a routine affair. Now its time to ring the bell of awareness by
the central government to do away with their distorted
mindsets. The Govt of India need to include portions of North
Eastern topography, its people, historical perspectives and
diverse cultures as part of India from primary school level so
that the meaning of ‘Unity in Diversity’ holds true and doesn’t
simply remain like a price tag attached to a clothing. Presently,
the North Easterners particularly students residing in mainland
India are always accompanied by a sense of insecurity with
the most fearsome question constantly arising in their mind,
“Who’s Next?”.
Why not ATSUM-T or UNC or NSCN-IM
impose economic blockade for 10 years?
Dr Khomdon Lisam
(Contd from previous issue)
There are hundreds of Meitei women married to Naga boys
settled in the hills. No amount of force will be able to break
up these ties. We want Muivah to be the leader of North East
not for Nagas alone.
Benefits of imposing ten years blockade along ImphalDimapur Highway
Ten years Economic Blockade along the Imphal- Dimapur
Highway will be just like a silent Atom Bomb to the valley.
We may suffer to the extreme for a limited time. But quickly,
we will recover and start looking for alternative ways of
sustaining ourselves. How can we achieve sovereignty if we
can not sustain ourselves during 10 years blockade. This will
be an useful lessons for the valley people, which comprises
of Meiteis, Meitei Pangans, Nagas and Kukis. Some of the
possible benefits may be:1. The valley people will try their best to be 100% self
sufficient in production of rice, fish, vegetables, oils, sugar
and other essential items’
2. The valley people will be compelled to do double cropping and triple cropping to increase food production.
3. All other National Highways connecting Myanmar,
Mizoram, Cachar will be developed and maintained bringing
the people closer together. Can you imagine, although
Tipaimukh produces many highly intelligent officers, 50% of
Tipaimukh people die without seeing Imphal during his/her
lifetime. This is a gross injustice to the people of Tipaimukh.
4. The valley people will start using their own products in
day to day living, at marriage ceremonies and death rituals and
they will no longer buy materials from outsiders.
5. The valley people will explore and negotiate with Government of India and neighbouring country, Myanmar for
import of petroleum, diesel, Kerosine, LPG, food products
and expand the Indo-Myanmar Trade agreement.
6. The valley people will learn what is Time-keeping and
work –culture. No Meitei pung will be used.
7. The corruption will die its own death.
8. Elections will be far less expensive
9. The valley people will boycott the Imphal-Dimapur Highway for good. It may be open for cyclists and adventure
sports.
10. Politicians will be more honest and more reliable.
11. The valley people will start loving mother land and try
for unity of all ethnic groups in Manipur.
12. The administration will become more transparent and
more accountable.
Suggestions :
We, the valley people should have the courage not to use
and boycott the Imphal-Dimapur highway. We may suffer for
some time but we will be able to recover and find a permanent
solution. The Imphal-Dimapur Highway should be completely
forgotten and no money should be invested for repairing of
this road. I appeal to the Hon’ble Chief Minister, all Ministers,
MLAs to consider the following suggestions to make ourselves free from economic blockades.
♦ The National Highways – Imphal-Jiribam, Imphal –
Aizawl, Imphal Moreh, Tongjei Maril (Old Cachar road)
should be made Four Land Highways not only to bring
materials from outside but more importantly to bring the
people closer to each other. Presently it is easier and faster to
reach America than to reach Tipaimukh. A separate scheme
should be prepared and ask for funding as a special package
from the Prime Minister and International banks. Omar
Abdulla, Chief Minister of J & K is asking the Prime Minister
to sanction Rs. 44000 crores for flood relief in Kashmir. We
may request only half Rs. 20,000 crores for Manipur. Sanctioning of this money will depend on the language,
effectiveness and power of advocacy of our political leaders
with the Prime Minister.
♦ The construction and maintenance of the above men-
tioned highways should be taken up as No.-1 priority under
state PWD. The Ring Road of Imphal can wait.
♦ Establishment of a separate cadre of National Highway
protection force as a part of the State Force to ensure security
of drivers and vehicles and smooth passage of vehicles along
all national highways in consultation with the Government of
India.
♦ Encourage double and triple cropping to increase productivity and attain self sufficiency in agricultural products as
a time-bound Programme by invigorating agriculture department, training of farmers, ensuring availability of fertilizers,
improving irrigation facilities etc. Rice, Potatoes, Onions,
Vegetables etc can be made self- sufficient by utilising thousands of hectares of paddy fields, which remained un-utilized
after harvest. Support price for important agricultural products
should be declared.
♦ Encourage and support expansion of private fish farms
to make the production of fish self sufficient. Let the officers
go to the field instead of working on the tables.
♦ Encourage and support companies producing medicinal
Oxygen and Nitrous oxide in Manipur.
♦ Encourage and support bulk production and storage of
LPG in Manipur. Four months supply should be stored at any
point of time.
♦ Improve the functioning of the Manipur State Drugs &
Pharmaceuticals, Imphal on modern management lines to cater
to the needs of the state to make it business friendly and profit
making. This company should not meet the same fate as that
of Spinning Mill, Sugar factory, Cement factory, Cycle Corporation and MSRTC which brought ruins to Manipur due to
bureaucratic bungling and mismanagement.
♦ Increase the capacity for bulk storage of Petrol, Diesel,
Kerosine for at least four months supply in collaboration with
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd fulfilling the legal requirements for
the safe storage and handling of these materials. (To be contd)
Music- Center of my life
Andrew Heanngam Pamei
Music is the center of my
life and it is the foundation of
how I live. Everybody knows
what music is and all have
heard a form of it but most
people underestimate the
value and power music has in
our everyday lives. Whether
they know it or not music can
affect the mood of the people
and influence their behaviors
as well. Music is so much
more than it is made out to be
and it is a core aspect of life
itself. Music is an art of
sound in time that expresses
ideas and emotions in significant forms through the
elements of rhythm, melody,
harmony and color. “I see life
in terms of music”, said the
great scientist Albert Einstein.
Very truly said, and I agree
with this saying of the great
scientist, not because I’m a
music lover, but because
music has changed the entire
perspective of my life. Music
has such a profound impact
in my life that, at times, it
seems to be like moonlight in
the gloomy night of my life.
It enfolds me in a blanket of
comfort, giving me an inspiration in moments of
loneliness and sorrow. Music
in itself is the harmonious articulation of people’s thought
and passions utilized as a
meaningful and complex expression
of
universal
communication. Music cre-
ates a gateway, in which, I am
able to empower my
own world of imagination and sensitivity.
Though I’m not a great music composer, I have had the
experience and joy of composing two simple gospel
songs sung by a younger sis-
ter of mine, Valentina Pamei,
who studies at Sacred Heart
School Loktak Project. I love
to play keyboard (piano), and
as I play intensifying versions of my songs and
worship hymns of “All you
hills” and the “Joyful
Melodies”, all the anger, fear,
love and hatred transform into
some sort of electrifying energy that heightens the
musical notes into another
level. The piano keys are
black and white but they
sound like a million colors
in our mind. And when we
play, never mind who listens
to us. To me music is kind
of like a woman. You don’t
know why you like them but
you do. And the kingdom of
music is not the kingdom of
this world; it will accept
those whom breeding and
intellect and culture have
alike rejected. The commonplace person begins to play,
and shoots into the empyrean without effort, whilst
we look up, marveling how
he has escaped us, and
thinking how we could worship him and love him,
would he but translate his
visions into human words,
and his experiences into human actions. Perhaps he
cannot; certainly he does not
or does so very seldom.
Music gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind,
flight to the imagination, and
charm and gaiety to life and
to everything. Martin Luther
once said, “Music is the art
of the prophets and the gift
of God”. Indeed, it is the gift
of God and I don’t deny that
fact, and the aim and final
reason of all music is none
else but the glory of God.
Music is enough for my lifetime but my lifetime will
never be enough for music.
God bless you all.
The writer is alumnus of
St. Joseph’s school Imphal,
class of 2011, Herbert school
Imphal, class of 2013(Science).
He can be reached at
heangam.pamei@gmail.com