For long years, women in Manipur have been playing a defining role in the state. They have made a significant contribution to addressing problems like human trafficking and the drug trade. But the conservative element is very strong there. The Keithel Fambi Apunba Lup is one such organisation which has been travelling around the state and imposing a moral code on young couples restraining their behaviour. It is committed to its own sense of outdated morality. The Manipur government prefers to leave the body alone. The Lup uses threats to young couples transgressing its code. It can even issue a diktat for forced marriage. No complaint is lodged against it with the police who say they can do nothing. The Lup is a kind of self-appointed moral police in Manipur. Its operations bring to light a crisis in the state’s governance. It is reported that thousands of Manipuris leave the state to seek fresh pastures with greater opportunities. A quarter of the state’s population is registered as unemployed. The state has one of the highest records of adult HIV infection in India. It is up against a vicious problem of opium production. And repeated economic blockades have created a rampant black market.
Besides, insurgency has been rife in Manipur for about three decades, sapping the economy and keeping the government preoccupied with the threat. However, political instability is no excuse for the spreading sense of crisis. Okram Ibobi Singh has pulled off a hat-trick and his party has won 42 out of 60 seats in the recent Assembly elections. He has the mandate to govern with a firm hand and win the trust of the people. His government should now go all out to demolish the moral dictatorship of an organisation like the Lup.
