ZOUGAM.COM

1984 kum Doupi hla nimit 15th apat in 18th kikâlin Zomi Sangnaupang Pawlpi General Conference a 30 veina ka pienna khuo Singtom vângkhuo ah thupitahin na kizang hi.
Kei díngin ZSP General Conference ka tel masahna pen ahi.

Tuami Khawmpi sunga vâisaitu ahileh; ZSP,Chandel Block ahi. Tua lâiin Chandel Block President Pu.Jacob Tutkhanthang a na hi a,Pu.Joseph Khenkhanmang Secretary na hi hi. Khum hun lâi a,ZSP hqtrs General President pen Pu.Michael Ginzasuon ahihi. Pu.Francis Zamkhanthang in General Secretary Hqtrs a na pang hi. ZSP General Hqtrs makâite zintunna díngin Special inn khat a kisepdoh hi.

Kei pen Gujarat a B.E(Civil Engineering) ka zil lâitah ahia,ka suty pei toh na kituoh kha ahiziehin ZSP General Conference panpina in chiin pawlpi’a dínga poimaw pen SUM sûi in ZSP Canteen Manager in ka na pang luòng hi. Tu-a a phamsa, ka u Lucy Lamching in nâhpitahin ei na kithuopi hi. Canteen sai in ann ne ngimlou,tui dawn ngimlou leh tou ngimlou khopin vanzua in ka na pumbuoi hi. Nungâh-tangvâlte kuva hlâi a na sua mama uhhi. Kuva na kikhilai mun pen uh nehthei khat na hihi. Kuva ahileh zawlhêlna vanzah hoipen khat na hihi chi’n ka lungsim sungah ka na kuo hi. Ei mite nehthei leite ahileh; zatep, khaini, kuva, mithai chite ahihi.

Tuami hun a, Zinlien Pu.Satkholal,MOS(IFCD) na hihi. Churachandpur district; Gûngâl lam patsa in, Zogam ngâina mama UZO(United Zomi Organisation),Manipur state Phamsa Pu.Thangkhanlal, Dr. Lachinkhai, Pu.T.C Tungnung, Pu.Kamdou, Pu.T.Semkholun, Pu.Barry Thangchinmang Zomi, Pu. Lamkhothawng Taithul, Pu. Haumang, Dr. Lampu Taithul, Pu. Dominic Khammeng, Phamsa Dr. Tongkai Tungnung, Pi. Vungzamawi(Colonelpi Mawmawi),Pi. Chingkhokim leh adangdangte’n na zou uhhi.

Chandel district sunga gûngâl patin Pu.Khupchinmang MDC,Pu.Leo Kamchinthang MDC,Pu.Subedar Peter Thangkhokam,Pu Subedar Lawrence Langpum, Pu. Lienzathang Chief of Singtom,Pu. Zâmmâng Chief of Sugnu Lamhang, Pu.Thangkhogin Chief of Sachih,Pu. Suonchinthang Chief of Kathuong leh mi tampite’n na uop uhhi. Phâipi leh Moreh(Tamu) panin zong mipi tampi in tam ZSP Khawmpi Lien a na uop uhhi.

ZOKAM A THUGÊN KIDEMNA

Nimit 16th Doupi hla ni in Extempore Speech kidemna Zokam leh Mangkam in na om hi. Mi tampi na tel uhhi. Kei zong ka na tel a,topic(thupi) ka sâwkhâh ahileh ‘Mizawng’ leh ‘Love’ ahi.

MISS LEH MR ZSP KITÊLNA

ZSP Miss leh Mr kitêlna a na om kia a, tuami hun ah,Miss Nienghauchîn in Miss ZSP a na la hi. Tualeh, Mr. Joseph Khenkhanmang in Mr.ZSP na la hi.

Nimit 17th Doupi hla niin,ZSP Bumper Lottery draw a na kinei hi. Kidemna tuomtuomte a na om a,lasahna leh lâmkaina na om hi. Nitâhin mipi lênkhawmna na om a,nungâh tangvâlte lâmton in nun bang nuom tuolnuom na mang uhhi. Tuami nitâh lênkhawmna ah,Miss Chinglunnieng in ‘Mîm bang I pienna Zolei gam nuom ah’ chi la ngaitah khu a aw ngaiteng toh Singtom leh a kîmvêl a om khuo dangte thawn zawzên in a na sa hi.

Doupi hla 18th niin,Zinlien Pu.Satkholal a’ng na vâigei tâh ziehin sawtpi a na zilsa uh Zo lâm lahna toh kivâidot díng chipen a kilah nawnta sih hi. Hunzahna a na kinei a, zinlien thugenna,UZO President thugenna,ZSP President thugenna leh thugenna dangdang a na om hi. Tua zouin,letsong hawmna a na om hi.

MIPI ZÂNGTA LÂMKAINA

Nitâhin,zutung nekawm leh dawnkawm in Zo lâmtuol kaina in na zui paita hi. Pu. Thangkhanlal MLApu in a .38mm pistol satkhie in,Zo laphuosiemte,Zo lâm siemte leh Pu.Huotpau theizingna leh zâna in a thâunêu tang li(4) tahpi vântung lang dawikawm in, a na kâptou hi.

Atawpna lamah,ZSP lasah siemte: Pu. Dominic Khammeng,Pu.Haumang,Pu. Francis Ringo leh ngâhnu tampite’n la ngaingai tampi a na sa uhhi.

ZOVAKHU KOP BANG PIENNA

Tu-a a kinuathei dânin Pu.Haumang in Singtom ZSP Conference hun sungin,ngâhnu mêlhoi mama khat a na ngâi hi. Tua ngâhnunu a na ît séngséng man in, mitphiel kâl in, “Zovakhu kop bangin= Singtom vângkhuo pan” (‘Tunia mêl a ka mu ngai Zozâm aw) kichi tu chienga la minthang pen khat a na phuodoh a,tuachiin Conference vâisai hun sungin mipite mâitang ah ngaitahin kihot zên in a na sa khie hi. Mipite’n zong ngai a na sa séngséng un, pâkhi leh sum tampi na awsah uhhi. Hinanleh,tua ngâhnunu pen a ninu in zu-um a tunlusa ahimanin, a kingâina gêl na guitung zouta sih hi.

Tua bânin,Pu.Haumang in zong zawlla zâtzât a na phuokhie hi. A laphuo pawlkhatte ahileh; Tulsing lêl a Saheipa bang,Sawm leh nga veipi, Kei Ngai heisa,Kei ka heina gam pan,Tulsing lêl a Saheipa bang, Solha hing tâng ngai aw leh a dangdangte ahihi.

ZOGAL LIMLAHNA

Tuami ni nitâh in,Mawngkên(Mongken) khomite’n Zogal(1917-1919) limlahna(drama) a na nei uhhi. Tuami limlahna ka ngaituo chiengin I pu I pate namtatna thupi ka sa mama hi. Tuni dongin zong ka mangngilthei sih hi. Tuami limlahna pen mipite’n a en nuom mama uhhi. Tuami zou in,mipi lênkhawmna zânlâi nai 12.00 tan in na om hi. Lênkhawmna a nop mama mai hi.

Tu vângin(tu chiengin) pâpi ka hita a,hinanleh tua hunlâia ZSP General Conference nunnop guollâi ka mangngilthei sih hi. Bangchia mangtheikia díng ka hi diei? chi’n sumsiel bang lung ka sielsiel zêlta hi. Tua banga nunnuom zaidei awina,lie leh tângte lâmtâng kaina nuom ma e! aw nuom sâm e!.

Khum hunlâi a,lênlâi pe bang zilkia thei díng hileng nuóm sâm va’ng!
Tua bang nunnop tuong hing tungthei kia leh chi’n hâi bang ngâh na lâi sâm va’ng e,
Seinouguolte aw.

Philip Thanglienmâng

Source: My Personal Diary of 1984 A.D

Just a few weeks ago, we read a disturbing racist report in a national paper on how NE girls are accused of being drug peddlers. Yet another racist remark from yet another paper on Sunday. Please refer to an article “Spa with a difference” in page 3, of Times Life, Times of India’s Sunday supplement.

“Walk into a spa which has music, scented aroma candles, but you’ll meet a professional doctor rather than a Linda from the Northeast.”

I am quite unsure why that reference is made. But it is in a bad and derogatory manner. I don’t quite see the connection between “a Linda from the Northeast” and the author’s story which is attempting to report on a booming medispa in the city. If you recall, a couple of months ago, a nurse from Manipur by name Linda did made it to the news for her supposed role in being a party to the kidney-scam. I am not quite sure whether the writer, Nona, is trying to make a mockery of people from the region by loosely making such a stark racist remark. I don’t see the link between an illegal kidney transplant story and her medispa story.

But whatever she has in mind, it is disturbing and upsetting that a media house like Times of India, be allowing its vigilant eye to miss out this racist and uncalled for line against a particular section of our diverse country’s community. It’s such an uneducated piece which only reflects the limited sensitivity and knowledge of the writer.

It is certainly not in a positive light that the reference is made. I appeal to all readers to refer to the article and understand the depth of disrespect that is shown towards NE in particular. We cannot allow just any journalist to pick up his or her pen and start penning against any community in the country least of all NE.

At the same time, we must understand that we are a soft target in everything that we do. And this, calls for utmost responsibility to all individuals to be extra careful of our actions.

While we may condemn any anti-social acts like nurse Linda’s supposedly role in the kidney scam, we also know that she definitely isn’t the only nurse doing what she is doing. Perhaps, there are lots of unnamed nurses from other regions of the country playing the same or even more significant role in the scam. It is unfortunate that just because Linda looks different and stands out in the crowd, she has been an easy and soft target. Hence, the punishment while others are scot free.

The point am trying to make here is, we ought to be so careful of what we do and why we do what we do. We are fighting a silent battle of prejudice and that’s quite difficult battle. We can win the battle by proving people wrong by dint of our honesty, hard work and sincerity. We are all responsible to a great extend in projecting the right image of our fellow brothers and sisters from the Northeast.

As for the report in TOI, may I request each of you to pick up your pen and shoot your mails at:

nona.walia@timesgroup.com

Here’s Hoihnu’s mail to Nona Walia

Dear Nona,

Just a few weeks ago, we read a disturbing racist report in a national paper on how NE girls are accused of being drug peddlers. Your Sunday story “Spa with a Difference” is yet another example of how media is so callous in its approach to loosely make stark racist remark against a particular community. Quite unmindful of the fact that we live in a country which is so colourful and diverse like no other country in the world.

“Walk into a spa which has music, scented aroma candles, but you’ll meet a professional doctor rather than a Linda from the Northeast.”

I don’t quite see the connection between “a Linda from the Northeast” and your attempt at telling a story on a booming trend on medispa. In fact, I will be quite happy if you can enlighten me with the link between the two.

If I am correct, it seems you were trying to refer to Linda, the nurse from Manipur, who was recently held for her supposed role in the kidney scam. Anyway, you must understand that there is a black sheep in every society and we, as supposed members of the media, cannot effort to be prejudice and racist.

In fact, it may be worthwhile for you to know that of the service industry in the country and particularly in the Capital city is employing people from the Northeast like never before. This is simply because people from the Northeast are considered assets to the organization. First of all, because they are non-political, hard working, do not shamelessly market themselves and are silent workers, among many other qualities.

The two smiling ladies who usher you in each time you walk into The Imperial (hotel) are from the Northeast. The ladies, who serve you your pasta at Flavors, Big Chilled, among others, are from the Northeast. Similarly, the oriental looking sensitive masseurs in all the spas around the city are actually from Northeast and not quite from Thailand or Indonesia. We ought to look at the positive side of every community. And especially in the case of Northeast, which has a perpetual grudge that they are being given a step-motherly treatment in their own country, we ought to be responsible and sensitive.

While am trying hard to figure out why you have made that reference, I would like to let you know that as responsible people form the media, we ought to be sensitive about sentiments of other communities. After all, India is a diverse country. It would be incorrect, if the media loosely make such remarks.

Your reference to NE is in your story is ugly and cruel. It is hurtful and negative to the community. To me and many members of the civil society, your reference reflects ignorance and insensitivity.

Warn regards,

Hoihnu Hauzel
Gurgaon

———————

THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE

They are a one-stop beauty and health shop — a perfect blend
between a spa and a hospital. Nona Walia on medispas

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Aspa-break used to mean lying wrapped up in seaweed paste, being massaged with lavender oil, and being scrubbed for that perfect body shine. And as you got massaged, scented aroma candles lit the room to open energy blocks and relieve stress. Not anymore. Welcome to the world of medispas.

It seems, spas with doctors is the next big thing. Walk into a spa which has music, scented aroma candles, but here you’ll meet a professional doctor rather than a Linda from the North-East. And order for yourself a quick botox, lunchtime peel, nip-and-tuck liposuction or a nose surgery.

The rise of medispas is the latest hot trend in India. They’re emerging as one-stop beauty and health shops for those who want to look younger. There are already three in Delhi. And within the next two years, 20 medispas will be opening all over India, predict spa industry experts.

A spa isn’t a place for massages anymore; you can even get a perfect designer smile here. Yes, A+ medispa in Delhi have a separate cosmetic dentistry department. Meet Rahana Mathew, 44. She’s here from London on a holiday but also hopes to return with a new face, skin and perfect body parts. She’s enrolled herself into a medispa for the last two months in Delhi. Says Rahana, “For me, it was about having the perfect relaxation period. And I wanted to look great when I returned home. So, I got a nip-and-tuck on my thighs, tummy tuck and facial peels. Along with relaxation massages post-surgery, it’s been worth it.”

Medispas are innovating beauty, health and wellness experience. After surgery, Dr Ajaya Kashyap’s medspa in Delhi offers special recovery travel packages. And if you’ve been travelling, there’s a jet lag package for your face. They even have a post-partum package. But there are some questions that emerge: just how medical are medispas? Says Dr Tejinder Bhatti, cosmetic surgeon, “The concept is new to India, but Europe and the US have quite a few of them. But you have to be very careful if you wish to admit yourself to a medispa. Cosmetic surgeries at spas throw open lots of questions. There has to be a high degree of professionalism. A spa provides anonymity. You can tell people you went there for relaxation.”

The medispa is a ‘modish’ space to heal and rejuvenate the mind, body and soul. Meet Nitu Arora, 45 who recently met with a major accident. Instead of going to the hospital, she’s got herself admitted in a medispa. As her face has got deformed, she is undergoing a major facial surgery. Also, she needs care to heal. “That’s why I wanted to be at a medispa rather than a hospital,” says Arora. “I checked their credibility and their inner and outer healing model. But mostly, I opted for a medispa because I needed empathy.”

Massage magazine reports medispas are one of the fastest growing segments in the wellness industry. entrepreneur.com recently calculated their growth at 23 per cent a year. People love onestop health and beauty shopping. Says Abhit Sud, executive director, A+ medispa, “The time was just right to open a medispa in India. In Europe and the US, they’re very popular. A medispa is a much enhanced version of a regular spa. Spas are modern beauty parlours, but medispas are much more than that. They also provide medical health specialties. We try to heal our client’s skin problems forever. We’ve tied up with hospitals and provide pre and post-surgery care. Our treatments are also focused on being anti-stress and anti-anxiety. We combine medical health services with spa treatments. This is for optimal healing and well-being.”

In fact, TIME magazine reports how spas with a twist are in vogue. According to them, medispas are the fastest-growing segment of the spa industry with an estimated annual revenue of $450 million for doctor-run medispas. According to Eric Light, president of the International Medical Spa Association, they have an annual growth rate of 11 per cent to 14 per cent.

But it’s crucial to be informed about the competence and experience of the surgeon. Says Poonam Bali of Bliss Medispa, “There’s a certain intimacy and care we offer at a medispa. We’re much more than a spa which offers just well-being. It’s total healthcare. For instance, if you have hairfall, we’ll treat you accordingly. Not just give you random massages.”

But there’s one thing certain with the arrival of posh-nosh medispas in India — looking young isn’t going to be a distant dream for average Indians.

SOURCE: http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOI/navigator.asp?Daily=CAP&login=default&AW=1204525204687

Yes, who am I? I knew who I am. I knew my parents, the tribe I belonged to, the place I’d came from and the region too. I knew my country. I knew the people therein. But, now and more so than ever, I’d have to cast doubt on my identity or even my nationality as one from a democratic country known for its tolerance, cultural diversities, religious freedom and what not – when people from a certain race, especially from the North Eastern region, with their Mongoloid features seems to be an easy target in the Indian media.

Granted that most of the North Eastern states in India have embraced Christianity unlike the dominant mainland Hindus. But that does not warrant being meted out a step-motherly treatment by the mainland, including the government as well as the media. A precedent in the past, and which seems to be sadly gaining momentum in the wrong direction. Even after the all too evident results of decades of neglecting their interests, lack of development and numbers of insurgent groups that operated in the areas, trying to look for answers. Nobody seems to get it. The government, and more so the media.

Actual events or catastrophes or even large movements spearheaded for a just cause never find its place in the mainland media. The present famine due to large presence of rats, feeding on the crops in the North East in Manipur and Mizoram rarely got mentioned in the media to the extend it deserved coverage. Whereas, the same situation in Bangladesh has been covered even by the BBC. Where a few farmers committing suicides in Andhra or Madhya Pradesh can hit the national headlines, the attitudes towards the North East by the media, is slightly different.

Oh yes, it did cover stories too. Ocassionaly. On a more sleazy and tabloid like tone. Like the NE girls alleged links with Nigerian drug-traffickers or comments on their morals. Or an individual, caught up in the recent kidney racket, master minded by a Hindu Doctor with several cases against him prior to his capture in Nepal. Or let us say, to the point of cleverly worded one sentence insinuations, that the people from the region do not belong or fit in their culture, society or their moral values.

Which I somehow, find it hard to believe that so-called journalists would even attempt to identify the region as such. The land of Kama Sutra, seriously! Loot at the red light districts of Sonagachi in Kolkatta, Kamathipura in Mumbai or the infamous GB Road in the heart of Delhi and please, you so-called journalist, tell me if there are a single girl from the North East. or a girl named Linda. Instead there will be girls from your own mainland states, kidnapped, sold or driven to the profession because of abject poverty. And nonetheless, because of discriminations faced by them due to their caste & creed.

I remembered living in Delhi in the 90’s. Even though I am as Indian as all mainland Hindus are, my appearance and my religion is different. I am a Chrstian. But I am not a fundamentalist. I hated the RSS. But I addept. But I’d find it strange and awkward, when walking into Palika Bazaar or doing the rounds of Connaught Place, when every hawker would try to sell me their wares in English! There are times, I’d retorted to them back in undiluted Hindi, which many people thought that we do not know, and there are times I played their games. Who am i?

I’d joined a very respectable Ministry where my colleagues and friends are all graduates – highly educated, maybe in their own way. But strangely enough, they’d never heard of the place I’d came from in Manipur. In the NE India. Whereas as I knew the Malayalees, their Kuchipuddi dances, their Dosas and love for the tamarind fruit. The Tamils, the Mohinyattams or the Bharatnatyams, the Bengalis, the Punjabis, their holidays, their cultures etc. – they knew zip about me, the place I came from.

So I’d often told them -‘I know your languages, you do not know mine. I can curse you without you knowing..but hey, you people cannot’! They grinned uneasily. And I knew why! I would not say what though its pretty obvious.

So who am I? Am I an Indian or am I from the North East, a tribal? Outside the distinguished caste system. Or was I born inside a British created border, on the wrong side? I’d never thought I was on the wrong side, I’d just thought that I’d have to fight my way into it. Which is not easy. But not difficult, as long as you can prove you are smarter than those who sits in the higher echelons of Indian society, culture and the rigid caste system that cast a hold over the whole fabric of the society in all aspects – and those who cannot see beyond that. Its survival instincts.

Then I’d made my way into an Indian Embassy abroad, to represent the GOI, as a Consular Asssitant. I handled passport, visa applications and other consular matters. Most foreigners, who came to talk with me for services thought that I was from south America. A Peruvian..someone even guessed. But most of the local Indians who I came to represent made it a point to ask me if I was from Nepal. I never felt bad. I do not even ask them why a Nepali would bw working in an Indian Embassy. I just told them am from Assam. For they never knew whats beyond Assam, and there’s really no point going further eastward..for I had already known how STUPID the mainlands Indians really were.

I am here now, living in West Europe. The locals thought I came from Brazil or Peru. My wife is a Thai to them. My son is from Japan. We want to keep that facade. My son gets tired of defending himself to be an Indian – because no one believed when he said he is an Indian, my wife does not even try. And I enjoyed being a South American. And if the Indians wants us and projects us that way..fine by me. Citizenship is just a piece of paper. Dignity and principle do not come in writing. Signed, stamped or seal.

But the people from the North East deserves more positive coverage in the Indian media. And journalists plays an important role in redefining and more so, projecting ..what is best for the integration of the country. Vague insinuations or terms used can hurt feelings of the people of the region as much as the negligence so far. You can either continue to alienate them or you can try to embrace them as your fellow countrymen. Or sit on your high pedestals and look down on us as tribals or ‘chinkies’. The choice is yours. Remember Genghis Khan. He was a Mongoloid. So are we. And so are the Chinese.

http://www.zogam.com

Kohima, March 2: If one M doesn’t work, try the other two — it is a winning formula that has rarely failed an election candidate in Nagaland.

Whatever the Election Commission might do to ensure free and fair polling, madhu (liquor in Nagamese), money and muscle remain the three decisive factors in any election in that state.

A candidate said madhu was the weakest of the “M siblings”. On its own, it does not wield influence and works merly as an “enhancer” that boosts the power of money.

Money, as one would expect, works like a charm.

“From the lowest-ranking volunteer to the chief election agent, no one will budge an inch without money. When madhu and money fail to yield the desired results, muscles are flexed,” the candidate said.

In the run-up to the polls this year, several candidates are known to have taken recourse to the “last resort”.

The influential Naga Mothers’ Association has now implored women to “empower” men so that they can act with “reason and wisdom”.

Terming the excessive use of money in elections a “dangerous trend”, Nagaland PCC president H. Sumi said it was a sad state of affairs. “What we are witnessing here is not democracy but moneycracy,” he said.

“The ballot battle in Nagaland has earned the reputation of being one of the most expensive elections in the country only because the candidates have to fund various camps and pay daily wages to volunteers besides buying votes and garnering gangs specialised in electoral malpractices,” analyst Geoffrey Yaden said.

When this reporter visited the Dimapur residence of a Congress candidate, he was sitting with a bagful of money surrounded by youths and elderly people seeking cash. He obliged them all.

“You cannot say no to them. People these days treat their votes as ATM cards and us as ATM machines where they just insert the cards to collect as much money as they like,” a Nagaland People’s Front (NPF) candidate said.

“No candidate can even think of putting up a decent fight, forget about winning, without a minimum budget of Rs 5 crore. A commission can never check this practice because it does not dig deep into the irregularities.”

Former minister Kakheto Zhimomi, who is contesting the Ghaspani-I seat as an Independent, said most voters ask for money because most candidates forget to fulfil their aspirations after winning elections.

It is a vicious circle Nagaland seems unable to get out of.

The Telegraph

IMPHAL, Mar 2 : Thanks to its scenic beauty, everyone, chiefly the State Government, talks about the immense tourism potential of Manipur, but a reality check has revealed that it is the Government of the State which is mainly responsible for the total absence of any tourism activities.

Just sample this information, to get a feel of the real picture : Between 1992 and 2007, the Tourism Department dropped over 36 schemes/projects for infra-structural development, 13 projects have been abandoned midway work is un- derway for only twelve projects!

During the course of an investigation conducted by The Sangai Express it came to light that tourism has failed to take off in the State due to faulty procedures and unwillingness of the Government to put their heart and soul to develop tourism industry.

To attract tourists both domestic as well as foreigners, the Tourism Department took up nine projects during the 1992-93 fiscal.

The projects included construction of tourist lodges, cafeteria and jetties with ample publicity stunt as well as a tourism festival.

However five of the projects were abandoned midway while another was dropped altogether.

In 1993-94, the Tourism Department took some projects including the construction of a tourism complex along with adequate publicity. However three projects were dropped half way while in 1994-95 only publicity material were published.

The same story continued in 1995-96 when the Tourism Department took up 7 projects including publishing publicity literature only to drop two projects while another two were abandoned midway.

Three projects including tourism festival and construction of a health resort at Imphal was taken up in 1996-97. The health resort was left unfinished.

In the following fiscal, that is 1997-98, five projects were taken up but two were stopped midway while one was dropped. In 1998-99 the eight projects taken up by the Tourism Department were all dropped together.

The dismal story continued in the next fiscal, 1999-2000, when out of the 10 projects taken up, seven were dropped while another one was left unfinished. In 2000-01 all the 18 projects taken up were dropped.

Though the Government has maintained that 18 projects taken up from 2002 to 2007 are making progress, there is nothing on the ground to suggest that work is going on, much less progressing.

During the course of the probe , it came to light that the half cooked Imphal Health Resort to attract tourists has been turned in-to a garbage dump.

The health resort is located just behind Hotel Imphal and the unfinished work had cost a total of Rs 20 lakhs. On the other hand it is learnt that the Government is intent on finishing the work of the health resort.

Since the State Government has not put forward any proposal to take up tourism projects in 2007-08, the Union Tourism Ministry has not sanctioned any fund for the same.

On the other hand officials of the State Tourism Department and the Union Tourism Ministry during a meeting in 2005 had agreed that 12 projects would be adjusted with the fund already released by the Centre earlier as well with the unfinished projects.

When The Sangai Express contacted an officer of the State Tourism Department on the failure to complete all the projects taken up earlier, the officer maintained that the primary reason is the delay in releasing the fund by the State Government.

To a question on whether interference from militants had derailed the process of completing the said projects, the officer replied in the negative and added since the fund allotted to the Depart-ment annually is only to the tune of about Rs 1.38 crores, the Minister concerned as well as the officers posted in the Department do not take keen interest.

The problem is further compounded by the fact that the tourist homes set up at Phubala, Sendra, Khongjom, Churachand-pur, Moirang and Moreh are occupied by security forces, said the officer further.

A senior IAS officer, who at one point of time served as the Director of the Tourism Department told The Sangai Express that the most vital point in promoting tourism is coming up with the needed infrastructure.

The Indian Tourism Development Corporation should be urged to construct a five star hotel in Manipur, added the IAS officer.

The IAS officer further said that the law and order situation can be a deterrent in attracting potential tourists. The restrictions imposed on the free entry of foreigners is also a dampener.

Talking about the law and order situation, the inflow of tourists has dropped in Jammu and Kashmir but not completely stopped, said the officer and stressed on the need of the people to be friendly, hospitable as well as sincere and honest while organising tours.

The State Bhawans located in other cities can orga- nise tour programmes for po-tential tourists, he observed.

TSE

“There is often a considerable difference between the general will and will of all, the former aims at the common interest, the latter aims at private interest and is only a sum of particular wills. But if we take away from these wills the various particular interests which conflict with each other, what remains as the sum of difference is general will.” – ROUSSEAU

Our egocentric and choleric MLAs needs to understand if not earlier in their heads that general will was rational and not self-contradictory. It thus gave us unity in the sense that it was indivisible because once divided it will not be called “general will”, but only sectional will. Since general will was based on reason, wisdom and experience and thought abut the good of all, it was not to sway with the time but was permanent. It cannot altered and is pure. Even though it may be dominated by other wills for sometime yet in the ultimate analysis this will dominate.

Shri O. Ibobi Singh, chief minister, the name itself is a rare palindromic word like ‘madam’ in English version. What a lucky guy Mr. Ibobi is even by his name who is again accoloded by his chair. However, at the beginning of his political innings as chief minister (2nd term), Shri Ibobi appears to have burdened perdurable pangs inspite of chuckling in taking up the qaunlet thrown upon him by the deprived congress MLAs who are mongering at Delhi for months together (3/4months) prostrating at the feet of saviour, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, congress supremo and other acolytes to have divested the Morris chair of Shri Ibobi Singh. As the fractured team was not guided by an individuated leader at his own will as well as there was no pluripotent members to have pleased/invoked the half-sleep supremo and also from want of the way in which they have to use pernickety devices to her, appears no final denovement on the card till date amounts to flogging a dead horse while the loser goes to the society as a whole.

Again, Ibobi is waiting to see what fate in store from the fort of dissidents and his fearless courage is tossing between joy and care. But the more they try to jostle his chair the more it appears to have tightened by clamping with a big ministerial head (a turn coat) and a few piece (remnant) of screw-leked MLAs. Here recalls a Manipuri saying – ‘shamu yathin inkhatlakpada mange thengu yaoibana Keidouni’ – (literally, a gemmy mall (tamarind) may fail to break down an offshooting tusk of an elephant). The corruption charge levelled by the dissidents against Ibobi rapping over the knuckles without evidential documents which is also not made available to the press is a sign of demand for power only. But unfettered authority automatically invites dangers any time whether it may be either ‘X’ or ‘Y’. However, it is of the opinion that the present poking of Ibobi’s nose by the dissidents to catch him upon the hip is too early but it may remain a great lesson for those chief ministers to come in.

Yes, not only in the case of MLAs but also even their electors of any given constituency want ‘Ministerial power’ rather than ‘MLA power’ because the more power the more money it brings and the more money it can buy the more power vice-versa. But unless, we see before we leap the place where we have to stand or reasons in mind or maintain powers according to one’s personality and social standing, one may lead to self-degeneration any time, consequently a social embarrassment at all.

Regarding power (here lust for money), here recalls how greedy “Pahom” died for a piece of land, a legendary character depicted in the English literature that runs the head “How much land does a man need?” Again, if all the men cannot be right, there might be a wrong ones. So that who will be held responsible for emergence of leadership change (chief ministership)? If it is taken for granted, the root cause of the present Ibobi-Vs-Dissidents is due to non-rotational allotment of ministerial berths (chairs) among the refractory MLAs alternately which is also more or less related to Anti-defection law and downsizing of ministers enacted by the parliament. For the present impasse, is there any reasons why shri Ibobi should not be held responsible for the breakaway MLAs? For the end of justice, from this moment onward, any existing or incoming chief ministers needs to maintain reshuffling of ministers for the maximum MLAs in his capacity as chief minister – one at the beginning of the first ministry and the another (second) at the middle (half-end of the 5 years) so that no MLAs will ride, roughshod over the feelings of a reigning chief minister.

In the mean time many non-ruling MLAs including crestfallen political Netas are boxing the ears of the ruling congress baselining on corruption, insurgency, law and order doldrums which has been no more a new phenomenon since last many decades which they could not solve while in the seats of power as they turned deaf ear in hunting hush-money and plundering public money, spending time in the easy armed-chair with legs crossed and shaking thighs. These verbiage are the second nature of every politicians but even a minister or an MLA who committed any social blunder has no courage to make a clean breast of their quilt. Then how will they solve any grave issues in the state? Thanks of the people would go to the campers at Delhi if their demand was one of the burning state issues. It is time for them to think over at their own issue if it is to be in sostenuto and also the demand is for chair only under a headless rag-tag mission.

One may know that the hole and corner of Shri Ibobi who habituated in harvesting a bonanza in cutting “percentage”, bulk sharing of quotas in any recruitment procedure, but it appears to be an open secret. No one including media-persons can make it public with ne plus ultra with dossiers. If the dissidents are not in a position to pull their punches against the fortified regime of Ibobi, it will be better to take their heels for life otherwise it will amount to public mockery which is unwarrantable at all, even it may be familial embitterment or dust-up in the congress wings.

As heard, in December, 2007, on the behest of the congress supremo, Prithiviraj Chauhan, general secretary, North-East states come to Imphal and made fall in line the deprived and dejected MLAs, then he cross-examined them one by one whether they were walking the chalk line. Presumably the recorded list (datum line) would, no doubt, be in the hands of congress supremo but unlotted as yet. Seeing it, Ibobi by virtue of his status and political gimmicks wooed Devendra, second in rank by parbuckling his fleshy portfolios in anticipation maintaining oneness to keep the wolf from the door chancer said “If the gold rust, what shall iron do?” Likewise when the head is corrupt, the followers are doomed. Only when there is no political chicaneries on the part of a public head all will seem to be alright.

Again, Frederick Engels reasoned “Realism to my mind, implies, besides the truth of detail, the truthful presentation of typical characters under the typical circumstances”. All the elected representatives of any social stratum have to conceive the characteristics of sobriety and maturity. The former represents vigour, zeal, energy and idealism and the latter represents his sober, mature and practical character. Always read the ambience of the people that cannot be separated from each other till one’s last farewell to this mundanity rather than the chair made of the innocent people.

Let us imagine, how a particular mishap (her change of leadership) evokes two different reactions is best illustrated by the statement of a great statesman. Ironically as and, when the shoe pinches the self it is poignant and painful but when it hurts somebody else, the resultant comment is mild and casual. When a similar fate overtakes us, we beat our breasts and make a shrieking show of our depressed state of mind. Therefore, objectivity on the part of a leader is a different discipline to cultivate and practise.

According to Aristotle “corrective justice is a type of justice which prevents people from encroaching upon the rights of his fellowmen. He believed that it relates to voluntary and commercial transactions like hire, sale and furnishing security etc. with involuntary actions involving aggression on life, property, honour and freedom”. But in politics, numbers can play a new power game as all the MLAs are opportunists like weather -cock. Hence the new coinage “No one can put a full stop in politics”. If so, is going leeward by the dissidents for change of leader at this critical juncture of murky law and order problems to receive a fresh lease of political mileage hitting the nail on the head?

Metaphorically, it may not be wrong when we say that Ibobi’s regime (ministerial aides or associationists) are like the composition of a mechanical a number of ingredients are brought together. They are mixed up but they do not lose their individual properties. They still exist as separate identities. On the other hand, in a chemical compound, the different ingredients are no separate identities. They lose their respective properties and fuse together to creation while mixture is merely a bringing together of a number of a separate elements. Being helpless with local mountebanks Ibobi sought, the succour of a top Alchemist but appears to have blessed and he may be in a position to unite the incompatible elements. The Alchemist, so far we know, was none other than congress supremo.

Undoubtedly, as conceived the jumping of the congress dissidents on the band wagon for change of leader of their own by ousting Shri Ibobi high and dry from the centre appears to have skated on thin ice while the congress supremo plays a Fabian policy by twisting around her little finger to have closed the political drama indicating to lift no finger from the dissident side.

In conclusion, the congress supremo well aware how the Manipur land lies and being on the upper crust and chief of administration kindly order a final “Fait accompli” to one of the either parties to run the government without hullaballoo.

The writer is a Retired Asstt. Private Secy. (Edn/S)

IFP

IMPHAL, Mar 2: The Democratic Students’ Alliance of Manipur, DESAM has appealed to the state government and Manipur University authorities to try its best to the settle the matter of reservation for the tribals and urge a special programme for them to the Centre.

The organisation urged the authorities to insist upon the Centre to amend the act of the Parliament which bound the Manipur University after its conversion to Centre University.

Agreeing that the Central reservation policy for the non-teaching and teaching staff in the University is not suited with the state, the statement said that the current reserved seats of 38 out of 322 posts of non-teaching staff in the University and three out of 143 posts for the teaching staffs is not agreeable.

The Desam said that even though the MU was under an act of the state policy before, it has come under the Central University Act 1995 since it was taken over by the Centre after a decision passed by the Parliament and under the act only 7.5 percent are reserved for the ST while that of SC is 15 percent.

The same is enforced in all the Central universities throughout the country.

But in the matter of demanding 34 percent reservation for ST in accordance with the population, it can be said that state has been reserving 31 percent for the STs.

Despite all this, the University cannot do whatever it wanted according to the local situation. So there is the need of amending the Parliament Act which binds the reservation policy to make it suitable with the local situation, DESAM observed.
The matter needs to be focused to the Centre with a firm stand of the MPs and chief minister and political parties. Any campaign in this regard will be supported by DESAM including any steps taken by MUTSU and other tribal students bodies, the statement added.

The DESAM also further extended its full support to the move of MUTSU and other bodies of the MU to expand some study centre of the University to other parts of the hill districts of the state. It will help in improving higher study facilities in the hill students to a great extent and bring balanced development between hills and valley, the DESAM said.

The DESAM also drew the attention of the authorities for the setting up of a department for the tribal languages in the state, like the separate Manipuri language department.

It would also help in preserving and developing cultures of the tribal people, the statement went on to say.

IFP
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MPSC age limit, DESAM reiterates stand to CM

By Our Staff Reporter

IMPHAL, Mar 2 : Reiterating its earlier stand, the Democratic Students’ Alliance of Manipur has submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister O Ibobi urging him to relax the upper age limit of the candidates for the forthcoming MCS/MPS and allied services to be conducted by the MPSC from August 3.

Putting its case in lucid terms, the student body said that the recruitment examination for Manipur Civil Services, Manipur Police Service and allied services has not been conducted regularly and that only two examinations were conducted in the last 15 years.

The student body also pointed out that in the last 35 years, the MPSC has conducted only 7 examinations to recruit MCS/MPS officers with the last exam conducted in 2005. In all the examinations held so far, the upper age limit for general category was 35, 38 for OBC and 40 for ST/SC.

In fact the upper age limit for general categories in many States of India is 35 with admissible relaxations, pointed out DESAM.

Giving a true picture of the academic atmosphere in the State, DESAM said that a student general takes 4/5 years to complete his/her degree course, thanks to the academic calendar, and by the time of graduation the student has already attained the age of 26.

Job opportunities are limited in Manipur, said the memorandum and added that Govt employment is the only option for many educated, unemployed youth.

However restricting the upper age limit to 30 would rob many of the opportunity, it asserted.

Keeping in view the facts and figures, DESAM urged the Chief Minister to relax the upper age limit for social justice and added that despite their earnest appeal, MPSC is still issuing the application forms.

Making its stand clear, the student body said that is necessary step is not taken then they would be constrained to start democratic movements and agitations and the Government should be held responsible for any outcome.

TSE