Manipur going,
going, gone
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Manipur is on the boil again. There have been nine deaths since September 1, in violence leading to Chief Minister Biren Singh to visit the Governor twice in 24 hours to plead for Central action to curb the strife and with a request to commence talks with the warring Kuki and Meitei communities.
Earlier, the CM had been playing the ostrich by burying his head in the ground when the law and order situation was going from bad to worse and declaring that everything was normal in Manipur. An interesting thing is – Why is Biren Singh going through the Governor when he has direct links with the Centre and the BJP? The reason possibly is that the Manipur CM is persona non grata with the Centre shown by the fact that he was not invited a few months back by Home Minister Amit Shah when the latter chaired a meeting with the police, Army and intelligence agencies on the Manipur situation.
Thus we see the Centre keeping a ‘lame duck’ CM in the State that has been facing law and order problems for the last 15 months and with some 160 deaths reported since violence commenced.
The other thing is that if the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is finished with implementing peace in Ukraine then he can deign to turn his attention to our troubled State of Manipur. He can look into the problem and institute durable peace measures that will bring life to normal in Manipur. When he could visit both Russia and Ukraine the least he could do is go to our own Manipur and see what the problem is, and try to find a solution to the vexed issue. But then with Modi there is a problem, he runs away from difficult situations or just goes silent like a ‘Maun Modi’ when faced with a difficult problem.
He may also not want to go to Manipur because one thinks he does not have a solution and the fear of being shown up as a failure is uppermost in his mind. So he may choose not to visit Manipur even now letting it fester and become over time a terrorist and separatist movement.
Srinivas Kamat, Mysore
Manipur on the
boil again
What started off as an ethnic issue between the Kuki and Meitei communities in Manipur, has reached a flashpoint
now, leaving the Centre and State in a fix.
The State is a simmering cauldron threatening to explode at any time as both the communities battle it out for supremacy. The use of drones by militants to carry out bombings has caught the security forces off guard. The Centre must be proactive about bringing the warring sides to the negotiating table.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been visiting one country after another, has not set foot in Manipur after February 22, 2022. That election-related trip took place just a couple of days before the Russia-Ukraine war began, and the PM has toured both nations in recent months.
It is high time the PM intervenes directly to save Manipur. Attempts to keep the partisan State administration with a failed Chief Minister at the top can make matters worse.
Gregory Fernandes,
Mumbai
Spl e-vehicles for persons with special needs a must
With more than 100 persons with disabilities reportedly taking up jobs in food delivery and courier service across India, it is learnt that the focus is under to empower wheel-chair users to take up such employment opportunities in the State.
It may be recalled that the Goa government announced significant reforms to promote electric vehicles (EVs) in the State. In support of EV adoption, the Goa government has provided financial assistance, leading to a significant increase in the percentage of EV sales in the State.
In keeping with the slogan ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’, the Goa government needs to also empower differently-abled persons with mobility issues by making available special e-vehicles so as to provide them with job opportunities.
It is learnt that many wheel-chair users are unable to access desk jobs and hence by taking up an unskilled job as delivery agents they can find opportunities in their localities and earn a living. The government needs to provide huge subsidies and even free of cost powered wheelchairs and e-scooters for people who have severe disabilities and who wish to seek employment but cannot obtain such vehicles due to the cost factor. There are e-bike models, specifically tailored for those with particular needs. The three-wheeler makes it easy to maintain balance and manoeuvre even in narrow streets. There is also no need to wait in long queues to fill in petrol. E-scooters can be charged from the comfort of one’s home.
Adelmo Fernandes,
Vasco
Bharati: Revolutionist par excellence
September 11, 2024 marks the 103rd death anniversary of nationalist poet Mahakavi Subramania Bharati. No amount of adjectives would be enough to describe the deeds and the characteristics of Subramania Bharati, who was not just a poet, but a patriot and a revolutionist par excellence.
His poems and literary works were not restricted to thoughts on freedom movement alone, but echoed his emotions as a social reformer speaking about all social evils prevailing at his times.
As a spiritual philosopher, he translated Bhagavad Gita into Tamil, and wrote many poems for children. He touched every aspect of human life as a poet of all ages. His poems were visionary documents of how free India should be.
Bharati was a visionary, who lived far ahead of his times in his short life-span. Had he lived at least for some more time, he would have brought about certain positive changes in the society through his impeccable literary works. Visualising the turbaned poet, one cannot avoid Marina and Triplicane in Chennai which are symbiotic references to his life.
Though the language of Tamil was enriched in no small measure by Tamil scholars like Kamban and Thiruvalluvar, it was Subramania Bharati who totally infused new life into it with his works, which were fierce and echoed bravery, and which virtually decided the course
of the future of this beautiful language.
Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai
