Apart from the technical and routine proceedings, we do hope the full budget session of the 9th Manipur Legislative Assembly which begins tomorrow will shoulder the responsibility of putting the burning issue of the ADC election to rest. If resolving the issue immediately would prove too ambitious, at least it must put all records straight. Now that a clear ethnic divide has been created beyond repair, it is time to drop the veneer of false cordiality and do some straight talking. The allegation is, the ADC election in the hill districts is part of a valley agenda and that it is pushed by the “Meitei government”, whatever that means. As we understand it, in all likelihood, the average, educated, middle class Meitei would not know what the ADCs are exactly, apart from a vague cognizance that these are local self governance institutions which had become defunct for 20 years because of some politics, the exact hue of which not many would be able to recall. Except for one or two of them, none would have read the ADC Act 1971 or the amendments to it thereafter.

Beyond this relatively small and enlightened circle, in the larger Meitei rural society which is too engrossed in eking out a living in their paddy fields and petty professions, there would be practically none who have the time or inclination to know more than the faint consciousness that there is trouble in the hills. Of course, for whatever the reason or justification, the average Meitei antenna would spring up if there is even a hint of what they think can endanger the integrity of Manipur. Which is why the ADC strike, even when the economic blockade began over it on April 11, remained largely a non-issue for a majority of them till by coincidence or design, the matter was complicated by the faceoff over the Manipur government’s refusal to allow NSCN(IM) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah. Yet, the allegation that the ADC elections are basically a show of valley aggression refuses to go. The current Assembly should establish the facts on the ground. If the allegation has a basis, devise means to end the basis abruptly. If not, expose the drama.

The answer to the question however is somewhat obvious, now that Assembly records on the debates that went on in the Assembly on the ADC issue before the election decision was announced is available. Quite surprisingly, some of those who vociferously and passionately argued the ADC elections should be held without further delay, were some of the Naga MLAs who later after the government went ahead and announced the election decision, suffered from a bout of amnesia, forgot what they had demanded not so long ago, and resigned pleading unfair overruling of their voice against the election. All these should be made public now, not to do any witch hunting, but to equip the common people both in the valley and the hills with the right information so that they are not carried away by false and sinister political propagandas.

The other issue that the Assembly must consider is what the chief minister, Okram Ibobi, had time and again promised to do in his effort to pacify the sentiment of the ADC strikers. The House must study the ADC Act 1971 and the amendments made to it again, in particular the contested 2008 amendment, and reconsider if further changes need to be made to it, including dropping the amendment, of course with the assent of the Hill Area Committee, HAC. Perhaps because we are looking at these documents through a different lens, we must confess we fail to notice the dangers they pose to the hill districts and the hill communities as so many have sworn they contain. Maybe the powers they guarantee are deemed not adequate, but then can there ever be a limit to power to make it seem adequate for its wielders? In any case, let the HAC and government reconsider the matter, and do the needful. If the 2008 amendment needs to be dropped, the government must do so. If the ADC members need to be given more power, there is no reason why the government should not go ahead. The 6th Schedule is a state within a state, and this being the case it may arouse old apprehensions of the valley that it would ultimately pose a threat to the integrity of the state. But if there is a way to assure and convince everybody that this apprehension is misplaced, it could even consider allowing the ADCs to come under the schedule’s provisions. Sometimes, a headache just need to be got rid of so that everybody can get down to enjoy some quiet quality time away from all the cacophony.