The Manipur government seems to be grappling with the menace of widespread extortion in the valley by different groups, both outlawed and yet to be outlawed. Besides the ‘regular’ group of outlawed organisations in the state, many more groups and factions had come up in recent years to fleece the general population particularly the well-to-do families and neo-rich besides the middle class including the entrepreneurs. The situation has become so dire that, Manipur police has come out with an action plan of a dedicated cell against extortion and had sought public cooperation.
While we wait for results, we have to consider the other menace of extortion in the form of illegal taxation on the highways of Manipur. The state’s link to the outside world is through four national highways out of which Imphal-Dimapur and Imphal-Silchar are most important. Both these highways passes through Kuki and Naga areas, and had most of the time hindered by blockades by Kuki and Naga blockades on a string of reasons. Some are political, but most of them were on petty matters based on local issues.
Many a times, regular traffic on the national highways have come to a grinding halt either due to blockades on various demands and every time, the State has failed in its mandate. Even though matters of law and order and security issues have been entrusted to the Security Advisor and DGP, the Chief Minister who is in charge of Home department cannot side-step the issue. He had tried to explain that, the personnel of two IRB battalions recruited specially for the purpose of providing highway security are under training in Assam and unavailable for now.
The recruitment of 10th and 11th IRB personnel was conducted before the BJP-led government during the Congress regime, but the results were announced only during the second term of Chief Minister N Biren Singh with all its controversies. Well, these two battalions were supposed to be dedicated forces for highway protection. But the state still has enough forces under its command to ensure a safe highway. Only thing lacking was the political will to perform its bounden duty. The trickle-down effect of state’s lack of political will had its influence on the security forces also who are somehow reluctant to enforce the rule of law and safety on the highways. And thus, the general public suffers while public properties are reduced to ashes.
The act of burning down rolls of Rs 30 lakh worth of newsprint besides other press materials at Kangpokpi by armed Kuki militants is the failure of state’s responsibility towards safeguarding public property and trouble-free passage of essential items in the highways of Manipur. It has become a habit for the state, both state and central government, to run away from its responsibilities as well as its bounden duty to ensure safe highways. The current blockade on the national highways is by Kuki CSOs, as an act of defiance to state authority and a demand for separate administration.
One of the main grievances of the truckers was that paramilitary forces escorting the convoy of essential commodities fled from the scene instead of confronting the attackers. They have so many other grievances and given the fact that they are ferrying petroleum products and goods in public interest keeping aside their own personal safety they should be given proper protection. The state government after taking into consideration several factors worked out a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which led to the agreement. Imphal-Dimapur road (NH 2) and Imphal-Jiribam road (NH 37) have always been a rallying point for politics by certain communities doting these national highways and a pressure point for raising of all kinds of demands and grievances.
Well, even as the courts had termed the blocking of traffic on highways as illegal, different groups continue to impose different kinds of bandhs and blockades, including economic blockades, and the state government is rather bent on politically dealing with such bandhs and blockades. In the recent press conference IGP Jayanta said that to ensure the safety of commuters and transporters along national highways, particularly those transporting essential goods, 16 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been deployed at strategic locations along Manipur's highways. Additionally, two CRPF companies have been assigned to escort transporters, he added. Question is, will they do their job?
