Tuesday, December 6, 2011

EMAs Blooming Manipur Project Inauguration 20111205

EMAs Blooming Manipur Project Inauguration
Ema Keithel, the 300 year old traditional and ingenious women's market of Manipur, which centers right in the heart of the state, continues to inspire many people across the world especially with it being the largest only-women market in the world, the symbol of empowerment of the woman, the place where the woman of Manipur rose against the might of the British Empire.
Blooming Manipur is inspired by the Britain in bloom concept, a campaign which has made Britain one of the most beautiful island Nations .And beyond the beautiful flowers and gardens of Britain, the campaign has done wonders for community cohesion. The campaign has managed to get communities to participate in keeping the towns and cities beautiful, increasing civic sense of pride and truly creating a sense of belongingness to their streets and neighborhoods.




Thursday, June 9, 2011

A Response to “The nation state and its territory”

Bimol Akoijam
MS Prabhakaran, the author of the article,The nation state and its territory (Hindu, 8 June, 2011), is an old hand in the state of affairs in Northeast. In fact, you can almost count him as one of the Northeasterner as such. However, he, like most non-professional academics who haven’t grappled, perhaps, thoroughly with the conceptual categories and perspectives that are being invoked in his above article, ends up conflating the "categories" and correspondingly created confusions and avoidable conclusions which have far reaching political implications.

For instance, his conflation between “state” and “nation” and “nation-state” have produced a distorted idea of “territoriality” vis-à-vis the former three categories. In a similar manner, because of his conflation between “memory” and “history”, he fails to see the difference between those articulating the “Naga nation” and the “Manipuri nation” (and the geo-political statuses and the issue of “territoriality” in juridico-political terms) in the light of the “aspiration” that distinguishes between what he has termed as something that “came into being within living memory or has been a stable polity for centuries”.

Consequently, he misses two crucial aspects. First, he misses the difference in the definitions of “Manipur” and “Nagaland” (correspondingly, what are these two “entities”); for instance, going by the Schedule 1 of the Constitution of India, which incidentally also gives enough hints on the historicity of the formation of the present postcolonial Indian State (as different from the “idea of India” which has been appropriated by, albeit in a truncated form that does not sit well with, the present Indian State), the former (Manipur) existed as a “geo-political” entity with a stable polity before the commencement of the Constitution (thereby the present Indian State) while the latter (Nagaland) as a “geopolitical entity” with a “stable polity” came into being by virtue of the Constitution (thereby, after the present Indian State and in some sense, by virtue of its political will).

Secondly, that the historicity and contemporary reality of postcolonial politics have produced an “instable polity” in Manipur was completely ignored in his analytical engagement. It is worthwhile to remember that a state with a constitution of its own with a democratically elected Assembly based on universal adult franchise and a “responsible” government was unceremoniously dissolved by New Delhi as it “took over” the state in 1949 and initiated a long 23 years of a bureaucratic rule of Manipur by New Delhi.

This aspect of Manipur's recent history has critical bearings on contemporary Manipur. Having been freed from the alien rule, while the rest of world got the opportunity to shape their destiny on their own terms and aspirations as a mark of postcolonial ethos, Manipur was reduced to an unfortunate trajectory in the form of a deprivation of that postcolonial experience of self rule. As a result of this ironical post-colonial life, the sense of “peoplehood” and polity based on the notion “popular sovereignty” in Manipur has been weaken over the years. Indeed, the fractured nature of the idea of “people of Manipur” has lots to do with that weakening of a democratic politics in the state. The awareness of being a people who have a common stake in the socio-economic and political processes determined by a shared (democratic) polity of being a state was substituted by a political culture wherein the people have been reduced to (competing) “clients” whose well-being was/is critically depended upon their competing proximity to the distant “patron” (New Delhi) and its representative at Imphal.

In fact, this "patron-client" relationship between New Delhi and Manipur reproduces and re-enforces subservient mindset and lack of self-confidence to deal with issues with a sense of one’s own sense of agency associated with old feudal and colonial dispensations in Manipur.  In fact, this "patron-client" structure is one singular aspect that critically determines not only the political culture in Manipur but also many other aspects of life beyond politics in the state.

It is also this aspect that brings in New Delhi as a primary mover in the region, particularly Manipur. Incidentally, it is also a fact that the deepening of the present so-called “ethnic” divide in Manipur is not un-related to the ongoing negotiation between the Naga rebels and the Government of India. This has also been subsequently left out of the analytical purview of Prabhakaran’s analysis.

On the other hand, things get complicated in Manipur as derivative discourses and politics that smack of “two-nation” theory (deeply informed by some sense of “ethnic” and “religious” ideas) and a majoritarian nationalist imagination that smacks of “imperial nostalgia” (a strand of which is a counterpart of Hindu nationalist, either in its right wing variety or those who equate “Indic”, wittingly or unwittingly, with “Hindu”) continue to play havoc in Manipur.

And yet, the political class and its intelligentsia of a “nation” whose birth trauma was caused by a “two-nation theory”, and whose contemporary life continues to be haunted by the ghost of that theory and remnant communal politics, have hardly countered the aspirations and politics of similar kinds that marked the so-called “ethnic conundrum” in the Northeast, particularly Manipur. 

Indeed, that the leadership and members of the intelligentsia in this country have never denounced the political ideology that smacks of “two-nation theory” (saying that people with different religion or ethnic groups have different “destinies”) that lies behind the territorial demands is a telling revelation. (In fact, I have come across well-known public figures and lobbyists who denounce communal politics and its concomitant ideas in the case of the so-called “mainstream” India while supporting the same in case of what’s happening in Manipur).

Thus, generally speaking, these issues have hardly been acknowledged, leave alone addressed, when one talks or writes of the “conflict” ridden Manipur and its contested and unstable polity. The present write up by MS Prabhakaran is no exception to that kind of articulation.

And it must go without saying that such absences or denials have critical bearings on the present and future of not only the Nagas or the Manipuris but also the people in the entire Northeast and arguably India as a “nation” and more accurately as a postcolonial “state”.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

I Love Champions League when Barcaa is on the field :)

1. Pedro gi goal.. :)

2. Lone Looney gi amata ngairaba consolations in #UCL

3. Messi gi phajaraba goal

4. Villa's Icing on the cake

Sunday, May 15, 2011

One of those days when you felt odd.

I'm just wondering at what
point of mine, that guy got offended. Went to buy a ticket. Chatted with the ticket counter guy. You know about the condition of NH-53 road, price of a ticket to Jiribam and the expected inconveniences on the journey ahead. And we were bargaining about the price, he was charging us 600 bucks, to lower it. Finally he agreed at 525 bucks. I thought it was a good deal. Then, suddenly he started talking strange things like all the people working in the ticket counter are well educated. Can't pursue for govt. jobs b/c of the corruptions... If they get a better jobs. They won't be stuck in this job. I became uncomfortable but went on listening. What else can I do? At last, I told him whatever you are doing is also a respective job. Do it sincerely, keep on working hard and try to move on to achieve his dream job. He pondered upon this thought. And I moved on.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

UPSC announces Civil Services Main (2010) Result

Here's a link to UPSC announces Civil Services Main (2010) Result: Merit list in English.
merit_eng.pdf

Thursday, April 14, 2011

I-League 2nd Division.

NISA #football club, #Manipur will take on Southern Samity, #Kerala in one of the most important game of the group today, 14th April 2011. It's do or die situation for NISA FC. NISA is standing 3rd in the league table and will be meeting a formidable opponent Southern Samity with better position standing at 2nd position in the Group A. Nothing less than a win for NISA will see them through to the next round. And It seems like an uphill task for NISA football club. Will they be able to upset the favourites? Let's hope for the best and support NISA FC. All the true football fans of Manipur are rooting for your grand success. Make us proud. :-)
Please click this link. join and support the NISA FOOTBALL CLUB FAN PAGE. http://on.fb.me/fOejDi

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Champions league: Chelsea all the way.

Power cut for the last 3 days. So, I Wont be able to support my fav. epl team @chelseafc I hope they utilised manure united the way they want. 2 goals and they r toast. :-) Go for the kill, search, seek and destroy.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

I want to see how Indian Arrows Football team plays the beautiful game. Duck you the AIFF and its president. There's no F-word in mobile T-9, so duck it is.

Irom Sharmila image

Irom Sharmila image is being tarnished by 1 school of thought. As #Manipur become one of the fertile ground for human rights abuser both state and non-state machinery.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Funny humour revisited :)

"GADHE KEE PECHHE EK AUR GADHE, USKE PECHHE MAIN AUR MERE PECHHE SARA DESH" << Hindi loving teacher in an English School trying to make the students learn the spelling of "ASSASSINATION (ASS - ASS - I - NATION)".

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

NISA FOOTBALL CLUB LOST TO UNITED SIKKIM

Manipur State league champion's NISA Football Club lost to newly formed United Sikkim in the ongoing 2nd division Group A league match. John D. Meyongr scores 2 goals at 30’ and 52’ during the stipulated times. This is the first defeat for NISA in the ongoing competition.
 After 5th edition of professional league, many football fans of these sporting states will be expecting better result from various professional club of the state. This defeat raises serious questions on the quality of professional club in Manipur. Are they prepared to meet the challenges of quality opponents coming up in the different parts of the country?

REMINISCENCE

Thought I knew you are the one,
always believe am not the type for you,
tried to have a conversation with my interest only,
end up knowing someone else through thyself,
couldn't make myself visible,
years passed being unnoticed.
          Hours turn into days,
          days turn into months,
          months turn into years,
          your thoughts maketh me miserable,
          tried to make myself at peace,
          making myself being something else,
          days seems to pass by so fine,
          years passed being unnoticed.

Monday, April 4, 2011

WAKE UP

Sitting here all alone,
drowning in the darkness of dark nights,
knowing how deep I've got myself into.
I used to be someone I know myself to be,
when did the darkness of comfort swept me away,
All I have been doing,
puff by puff,
smoking my youth and dreams,
wondering where I've reached.
I need to let go of the golden nuts,
and look for a guiding star.
I gotta know myself again.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

World Head Injury Awareness Day, 20th March, 2011


                Every year more than 5% of the people around the world get serious brain injury due to accident or fall....
How to prevent head injury?
  •  Always wear a seat belt in a motor vehicle and use appropriate child safety seat.
  • Never drive under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
  •  Always wear a helmet while driving a two wheeler, while participating in contact sports, when horseback riding.
Fall prevention methods:
  • Use the rails on the stairways, provide adequate lighting, place bars on windows, sit on safe stools, do not place obstacles in walking pathways.
Gun safety:
  • Keep guns locked in a cabinet, store guns unloaded and ammunition apart from guns.