Never Too Late to Stop Racism

I do not deny that racism exists in every corner of India; I do not even deny the very fact that in Loitam Richard’s case, the college authorities and the concerned department are tackling the issue with a racial attitude. However, my counter question is why they should have the will to resolve the case when our State Government is least bothered about it? We were shocked to read that our Government had contacted their Karnataka counterparts and their diabolical lies. How can we dare to blame others when our own Government is careless, unreliable and grossly irresponsible? Richard’s case is just another mundane murder case that can be left safely covered up, so the Government think. Is the notoriously-short public memory the government’s best weapon? The fight for justice has been reduced to a pathetic farce. The Government is supposedly prepared to lose more Richards in the future. But we should not give them the chance.

Now, can our collective voice against racism fight this cause? We pray – racism or not – Richard’s murderers must be sent to jail and must be given the most fitting punishment. But what do we want to prove when we admit the existence of racism everywhere? Will there be an anti-racism law, especially for the Northeast? In any case, will it give solace to Richard’s departed soul? Will it really end the era of racial discrimination and profiling against the Northeast people? These are a few open questions that are more bewildering than the law against racism, which some scholars have pointed out that it has taken an institutional form.

Our first priority is to drag our State Government out of its Delhi-dreaming slumber and ask them to get involved in this issue. Let there be more pressure groups. Let there be a one-goal focus from all corners. This is one way to fight the justice for Richard. And in general cases, we should not let our crummy egos and arrogance interfere in our fight against racism and injustice. And yes, we should also stop being mute spectators and mere commentators affluent with free comments. If you feed the troll, it gets more energy of trolling people around it. Let us first stop feeding the trolls. Let us also be a little bit more practical. It would take many years, for example, to pass an anti-racism Bill in this country. We should not waste our time feeding racism and making it a redundant topic that the public memory would get the better of. There is also a bigger problem in us having a facial look which is un-India in a country where the society is structured on caste system. Then we have a larger mission to fight the prejudices of the mainland people against us without negative emotions.

If we accept racism in this country, we become the law un-abiding citizens, because we are admitting to a view, which the government does not. If we deny it, we are nevertheless not different. If you want your voices to be heard, have the guts to drag out your own MLAs or political leaders from your very kendra. Ask them to join the fight in a politically-correct, though restless approach. Seek suggestions from the law makers and keepers. Yelling on social networking sites as keyboard warriors, hammering keyboards to discuss issues, displaying our arrogant badges to others – all of these are so damn pestering. Most importantly we should leave our attitude at home and flush it down somewhere before we commit ourselves to a cause. We should not take the advantage of playing the lead roles of a particular cause, if not in some extreme conditions. One may fathom himself/herself as the hero for a cause, but the ugly truth is s/he often gets tagged as a zero in other’s view. Precisely this is a textbook case of the utter failure of leaders and the lack of real leaders in Manipur.

We should not accept racism, in its raw toleration, because by accepting it we are indirectly providing legitimacy to its very practice in the society. But we should accept it and know the problems inherent in this barbaric social mores. Especially in a not so fascinating country like ours, there are many grave issues that need our attention. As compared to mainlanders, we the people from the Northeast have many things to be proud of. This statement is not about claiming superiority, but that we have a reason which the mainland people should know, we are not the children of lesser god, and that we have a lesson to teach the insensitive India. It is never too late to give up prejudices.

This article was published on 17 June 2012

Can We Let Injustice Brood?

“Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression! And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be?”

The above paragraph is an excerpt from the dialogues of a movie called V for Vendetta. Many of you might have watched the movie and for those who haven’t watched it yet, please watch it at least once. I want to relate this excerpt with an obedient consent that we have been often forced to follow in our society. Before I come to the point, let me cite another quote by Adolf Hitler-“If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” Let us introspect and co-relate the quote with the most shocking moronic medical report of the century that has stated that Richard’s death was caused by a cardiac ailment. The medical practitioners have come up to such a conclusion that has left us shocked and baffled. Perhaps this is just an example rather an excuse of an obedient consent we are meant to blindly follow BUT only if we are the wisest fools to simply believe it, only if we are MORONS who do not have any thinking capability and only if we cannot act or react. They might have listened to many fairy tales; they might have considered JUSTICE as a myth for the very fact that the norm of democracy is a raucous joke in the country. However, we won’t blindly believe them. We will not call it a quit. We will never quit in fact. The cause should be dragged to courts, more medical researches should be done and most importantly it is high time for CBI to probe into the matter. This is not just for one Richard; this is for many Richards who were killed in the past and also for many Richards who will be succumbed to such inhumane killings. No institution, no medical practitioner should be exempted from any unfair dealing with the cause.

My humble suggestion, as of now, to every concerned Manipuri is to have a firm stand. Let us for the time being stop debating on racism or discrimination. A criminal is a criminal; he does not need a caste or creed to be differentiated from us. Richard’s murderer and any criminal in our community belong to the same league. If we say that it’s a sheer case of racial discrimination, we would be side tracked for the time being. As I mentioned in my previous column, we have graver issues than racism to be dealt with- the irresponsibility of our political leaders being the simplest example to cite. Has Richard’s issue been strongly addressed by our so called Government? Has anything been done so far to pressurize Karnataka Government to conduct a fair research on the medical examinations? No case has ever been filed because we were waiting for the evidence. What kind of evidence are we talking about? The PM report that states Richard probably had a hereditary cardiac ailment? Oh come on, if someone is beaten up black and blue, a cardiac arrest of the victim is pretty obvious. A case of suspect of murder or attempt to murder could have been already filed against the culprits but that is, so far, not done. We were/are raising our voices on social networking sites, we are noticed by National media channels and the issues of Richard & Dana Sangma have made news everywhere. Alright, if it was for the petty sake of making news, I will understand why the campaign of Justice almost successfully failed. I do not intend to discourage the spirit of campaigners but I earnestly believe that when we are fighting for a cause we should not be side tracked. Can’t there be a better time to fight for racism? Can’t we take help of another lawful means to raise our voice against racial discrimination of NE people? We do not provide any legitimacy to mainlanders to discriminate us on any ground but I strongly believe that the issue of racism should be addressed on another platform. This issue needs to gain momentum; we need support from the rest of the Nation. Let us wake up the whole Nation; let us indulge our political leaders; let us incite them up from their slumber. Let us not leave any stone unturned to fight for this cause.

Let us stop saying YES to an obedient consent framed only for political conveniences. If there is no fair court in this country, let us pledge to create one. I am not an activist (do not wish to become one too), I am not a strong voice that is worth to be heard among the hoi polloi; I am not even related to Richard. It’s nothing personal for me but I cannot take this issue lightly. Richard could be my own brother; Richard could be anyone’s brother. We cannot lose our brothers like this as if their lives are worth only a penny. We cannot let INJUSTICE brood, We WANT JUSTICE JUSTICE JUSTICE NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.

This article was published 20 May 2012