One Country, many Worlds..and a forgotten Manipur
As Manipur tries to sleep through the *60th night* of blockade…
…girls paint their bodies with World Cup slogans in far-away Moradabad…
…the top two “Most Read” news-items on Timesof India’s website are “Bride turns out to be a boy” and “Big B Wishes speedy recovery to SRK” (which reminds me, can we please request SrBachchan to put Manipur on the national agenda through his blogs/ tweets?)
…the top 2 “Most Shared” news item are “Five foods every woman must eat” and “Bride turns out to be a boy”…(can you please share the plight of Manipur and its sad story with at least one friend today?)
…HT says “don’t miss” the story of “Britney sexually harassed bodyguard” (I wish they had suggested “don’t miss” sparing a thought for the people of Manipur)
…and The Hindu’s Op-Ed asks the question: “Who cares?“
*** sigh ***
From my corner of the world, Good Night all…Try not to think too much (if you can). Tomorrow’ll be “just another day..for you and me in paradise” (with heartfelt gratitude to Phil Collins* and this moving video)
She calls out to the man on the street
“Sir, can you help me?
It’s cold and I’ve nowhere to sleep,
Is there somewhere you can tell me?”He walks on, doesn’t look back
He pretends he can’t hear her
Starts to whistle as he crosses the street
Seems embarrassed to be thereOh think twice, it’s another day for
You and me in paradise
Oh think twice, it’s just another day for you,
You and me in paradise
***
Manipur Image courtesy: Indiablooms.com; All website screenshots taken between 720 – 730pm IST.
Related Posts: Forget it…Too depressed and angry to think properly right now.
there is a road connecting silchar to manipur.why are the supplies not being routed through this road?
this info i got by seing the road map of the area.
any idea..
What the bloody hell these rascal politicians are doing sitting their at the top in Delhi. Are they just interested to warm the seat for a sissy to lead the country who has no opinions to issues in the country or vision for the same? These politicians are worse than demons. They live by drinking the blood of its citizens. Some one rightly said on twitter yesterday, the Company Raj has come back to haunt us.
The whole of India has been taken as an intellectual hostage by the News Media. They have been brainwashed.
Can we not sue the government for not acting on the manipur issue?
Dear Mr. Shantanu, you must be having a big following here on your blog. Can you not ask all to come together and stage a dharna. I live in mumbai and I am ready to participate. isn’t there a way to force the unwilling government to act??
It is totally ironic. North-east is just not in the radar for anyone. Be it politicians. Or Media. Or even the public at large. I challenge you to ask any kid in a CBSE school in any metro the names of all the north-eastern states and they will falter. If you go on to ask the capital cities of these states, it is a completely different story. That’s the problem with us. Bombay makes news. Pakistan makes news. Even Sania Mirza makes news despite her terrible performance in the sport. But the real news is never being told. We’re blind to our own country. But I must say on twitter there is some buzz on North-East.
I think we should write to Sachin/Amitabh/Sharukh and ask them to spead the word.
@ Ashwani: I believe alternative routes are being used but they cover a longer distance and are capacity constrained (remember we are in a mountainous region).
@ Madhusudan: I am not sure what would be the best way to force an unwilling government to act…but a few things that ALL of us can do..
1] Email ALL our friends, acquaintances etc and make them aware of this situation 2] Call at least one media channel and request them to cover this 3] If possible, ask your local MP for his/her support in raising this issue in Parliament.
@Vinod: You are right…there is a lot of ignorance, even worse, indifference. As you said, the real news is never being told. We’re blind to our own country.
Pl do whatever you can to spead the word. Thanks
No words to condemn!!! But then Gandhis would not care until they are out of power and those who vote them would not care either. What about the opposition? What about P A Sangma? Seriously, after seeing disasters like Jayram Ramesh getting nominated to Rajya Sabha, I feel that a US senate like structure where each state has two representatives would be a better idea. GoI should consider establish “seven sisters” as a separate nation if it does not have the capacity to govern them.
the irony of the situation is that manipur is a congi state.
@ Sid: Agree with you…but to hope that the present lot will *reform* the system is akin to asking them to cut their own feet (as I mentioned at one of my talks in Guwahati)..so any changes in the pol structure are necessarily predicated on a change in the fundamental system – and a different set of people at the helm.
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@ ashwani: Not only Manipur but Nagaland (through which the blockade is being coordinated) is ruled by Congress(I) too
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Dug up these two tweets from the 6th and 8th weeks of the blockade:
>As the media obsesses ’bout Gaza, the blockade in Manipur enters its 8th week. Wonder why North-East feels ignored.
>Thundering silence from the national media as the blockade of 110-kms of a “National Highway” enters its 6th week in “far-away” Manipur.
@ ashwani: I was wrong about Nagaland. It is ruled by DAN – Democratic Alliance of Nagaland although the CM was earlier with Congress(I)
does’nt matter sir,nagaland would be comfortable being in congi hands but manipuris need to think.
Very Sad. We are a big nation with few preferred states and a lot of neglected ones.
@Shantanu, Don’t know if you have read this.
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indus-calling/entry/why-should-manipur-remain-in
Jai Hind
>> GoI should consider establish “seven sisters†as a separate nation
Actually they will do that in a heartbeat in a few years once we are in complete slumber. But that separate nation will be Kingdom of GOD, a bigger version of “Nagalim for Christ”. The blockade, the terror, the hardship, the disconnect is all part of the bigger agenda. Unless the Italian Mafiosci clan is NOT thrown out of the country there is absolutely no hope. After that *may be*