One thing is certain, there are elements among us and also in the gallery who want the Manipur conflict to continue. Looking back at the pattern of events and incidents in the year gone by, the hatred and animosity has gone too deep with little hope of reversal or of internally displaced people returning home to build a new life. The governments seem to have forgotten that it is their bounden duty to keep the peace and engineer a sort of truce to bring the main stakeholders to the negotiating table and thrash out the issues. In this, the Manipur government had not taken an initiative worth noticing so far while the central government still continues to maintain a distance either due to elections or geo-political considerations of the region.
Well, the Kuki side is braying for Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s head on a platter before any meaningful sit-downs to commence while certain sections within the Meitei community say giving in to such a demand is like surrendering to the other side. On the other hand, the BJP leadership in New Delhi is in a dilemma. They are not ready to sacrifice one of their prima donnas in the Northeast nor are they willing to cut off relations with the Kukis entirely as they constitute a sizeable vote-bank.
Moreover, the Kuki militants are useful in countering the moves of the Naga and Meitei insurgency. They might put up walls or fences on the borderline and suspend the free movement regime, but it is not going to stop the Kuki-Chin people from crossing over. The work of border fencing would take years altogether to complete and when it is completed, Manipur would already be swamped with illegal infiltrators. In Churachandpur, the new arrivals have already ousted the original Kuki-Zo population from the power equation and it is the new arrivals who are actually dictating terms.
Chief Minister N Biren Singh exuded confidence and seemed quite content with the recent decisions of the central government. He said he would be ready to leave politics if the decisions on border fencing, free movement regime, change of guard along the border and NRC are implemented. But mind you, this is what one calls ‘playing to the gallery’ and a political gimmick at best. The powers that be in New Delhi play with both hands and sadly not in tandem.
The demand for termination of SoO with Kuki militants and of a broad-based plan or process for bringing back normalcy in the state is simply absent. Although the SoO agreement with the Kuki groups lapsed on February 29, it is still uncertain whether the central government is extending it further or not. It is quite well known that many in the Indian security establishment are opposed to terminating the SoO agreement as it has a proven record of keeping in check both Naga and Meitei insurgency.
Now, Lok Sabha elections are over and Kukis have more or less abstained from participating or putting up candidates in the elections. Who knows what might happen in the coming days as the Centre dithers in taking a decision. The time for playing both sides is long gone.
(The views expressed are personal)
