Beyond Spiritualism: The Need for the Professionalisation of Politics

It’s been more than a year since the ethnic cleansing war was waged upon the Kuki by the Meitei in Manipur. Despite the unprecedented cataclysmic event that has befallen us we have managed to survive and are still hopeful of a favourable political solution in the form of what we call ‘Separate Administration’ in one form or the other. By now it is clear without an iota of doubt the state government’s complicity in the  violence and the wilful disregard of the central government in ignoring what is happening. This is objectionable and unacceptable in a democratic country beyond measure. But this is our sad reality. There is only little we can do about them. Now that the initial violence has subsided; with more space to breathe, think and analyse dispassionately let us look within ourselves to find a way to win this complex political game. I opined that; we stop the over-spiritualisation of politics but rather move towards professionalisation of politics.

We over-spiritualise politics: Why?

One of the major reasons for the failures of our politics as I see is due to the over conflation of spirituality and politics. Spirituality here I mean what we generally call (Lhagao thu/Pathen Thu) in normal parlance. We have over-spiritualised everything including politics. This is why we see every problem and solution through the lens of spiritualism. Due to this conflation, we have misdiagnosed our political problem and subsequently, our hope for any political solutions is misplaced. Therefore, it is time to professionalise politics like any other field if we wish to see progress, and development and achieve our political goals.

In retrospect, we can see that at the incipient stage of the escalation of violence and until now our first social and political reflex was to pray and urge others to do the same-leaders and commoners alike. There are a lot of us who consider this war as something akin to what G.K. Chesterton called ‘God’s megaphone to rouse our spiritually deaf society’. Hence our solution has always been to set right with God and then the political solution will ensue. This appears to be a deep-seated systematic model imprinted in the mind of our society and in our leaders. But I suppose it is wrongly conceived taking into consideration the complexity and sophistication of the modern  political  game. This creates a huge chasm between our political aspiration, strategy and our current situation.

But I must admit, it was indeed a great comfort as a believer to see people lining along the highway, kneeling and praying to God though I am doubtful of its efficacy to keep that as the sole strategy in politics. Fortunately, or unfortunately, not only the common populace but even our top leaders have subscribed to this framework of analysing and diagnosing political problems through the lens of spirituality. The belief that the Kuki are ‘Manmasi, the lost tribe of Israel’, political leaders divinely anointed, political destiny divinely appointed, and political success divinely guaranteed are rampant and deeply engrained in our feeble minds. It might still be fresh in many people’s memory of the ‘Nampi Maicham’ held on 10 March 2011 at Old Mission Compound, Songpi under the self-style spiritual leadership of Nu Parchi and Nu Mawii of which the clamour of hope it roused which now fades with each passing day. Until today, social media is occasionally flooded with criticism of leaders in religious places engaging in spiritual activity while the nation is at the peak of violence and war. A situation that merits deeper contemplation.

Though  unpleasant  this  predicament  is,  our natural inclination and first resort to spirituality is understandable. Christianity has taken sway more than necessary in our social and political life. There is an imbalance in spiritual and political education. Our spiritual (religious) education and intelligence have far outweighed our political education and intelligence. To have a closer look, on average there are seven church services in a week, beyond that we have family devotion, bible studies, fasting prayer, bible competition, retreat, bible camp, conference, and a host of other spiritual activities. In all of these events, we are taught from the bible or inferences being drawn from the Bible. Even the most illiterate one in any village knows a lot more about the Bible, Jewish history, culture, and religion than we know about our history, society and politics for we all subscribe to the Judeo-Christian faith. But I must admit that reaching this level of indoctrinationby any measure is not an easy feat. Spirituality now serves as the bedrock of our cognitive-framework in almost every aspect of our lives.

Professionalise politics while keeping spirituality at its place:

We have invested an enormous amount of our mind,  energy,  time,  resources,  organisation and discussion on spiritual matters. While our investment in spirituality is plausible, we need to also think of the implication it has on our society and politics. The noble impact of spirituality in our society is indeed enormous. But we need not use this framework everywhere. We need to see the political problem as a technical problem that requires a technical solution. If we can look at it this way, we will see that politics requires technical skills, knowledge, and expertise  to solve the problem. Our political history as I see it is one replete with the death of many political opportunities and the wastage of political resources due to misdiagnoses of political problems due to the absence of political professionals. Political skills will generate possibilities and outcomes even in a complex situation. We need artful, skilful politicians, who are clear on the goal, with proper strategy, skills of negotiation, mobilization etc, especially in such a time as this.

Just to make an example out of someone in our current situation, Pu Paolienlal Haokip MLA from Saikot constituency seems to be the de-facto spokesperson for all of the politicians. This is due to his clear political vision, commitment to his people, his level of articulation, and his knack for understanding and providing suitable responses to complicated issues to his political issues and rivals. He has the knowledge and skills if not all to navigate these muddy waters of Manipur politics. We are all indeed happy to have him. Another aspiring politician that we can look up to is Dr. Lamtinthang Haokip. His famous Facebook post warning of imminent threat and danger in Manipur will forever be known as Cassandra’s prophecy for our society. We can only imagine and wonder how things could have turned out had we paid heed and responded to those well- informed warnings. They might not necessarily be the ideal for all of us but at this juncture, they are the type of political players we need to elect or select. Sadly, until today we have leaders who still look and believe in spiritual signs, symbols and prophecy to understand our political problems and for political solutions. Therefore, we need to move beyond spiritualism towards seeing and practising politics as a distinct field, an art form that requires specific knowledge, skills, and mindset. We need political professionals to head politics and the mass not to be spiritual bigots. The general mindset (philosophy/narrative) of the people also have to change. We need to change the way we diagnose political problems at all levels. For this, we need to invest as much if not more in terms of time, resources, energy, and mind as we do for the spiritual subject matters.

We need more space for a dispassionate discourse to understand our political problems, organise political conferences, generate ideas, develop strategy, skills, the art of narrative building, and rebuttal allegations without fear of any reprisal. By any stretch of imagination, we will all know by now that this conflict is not the end game, but the beginning of a protracted political battle. To achieve our political aspiration, with due respect our old ideas, leaders, strategies and institutions must give way to the rising new ones. Let’s professionalise politics.