Manipur Challenge
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Centre must work harder to end the punishing economic blockade imposed by UNC
With the Election Commission
announcing the dates for assembly elections in five states, the focus
now shifts to the challenges of actually conducting the polls. And one
poll-bound state that might prove tricky is Manipur. The latter has been
experiencing a punishing economic blockade imposed by the United Naga
Council (UNC) since the beginning of November. This in turn sparked off
counter-blockades by Meitei groups. All of this has meant increasing
hardship for the ordinary people as supply of essentials has been
severely curtailed. Manipur has been experiencing periodic blockades
and violence for the past two years now. It all started with an
agitation for an Inner Line Permit (ILP) system for Manipur, to restrict
entry of `outsiders' to the state. It was under pressure from
valley-based organisations that the Manipur government passed three
anti-migrant bills that encapsulated the ILP demand. However, these
bills were viewed by Manipur's hill tribes like the Nagas as tools to
marginalise them.
It was precisely to protest against these bills that the UNC had launched the latest economic blockade.
This intensified further when the Manipur government announced the creation of seven new districts by bifurcating existing ones all hill districts were affected. Nagas believe the bifurcation is a clear ploy to divide them by appropriating Naga villages and merging them with non-Naga areas. They also accuse chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh of Congress of using such methods to win a fourth consecutive term. Singh's calculations are simple if the Meiteis vote for him en masse and if he can win over some hill tribes like the Kukis as insurance, it will be a winning formula.
Correspondingly , the Nagas have increasingly come to be viewed as having the support of the BJP-led central government, something that was accentuated by the Centre's signing of a peace accord with the NSCN (I-M) Naga insurgent outfit in 2015. Add to this BJP's poaching of some big Manipur Congress leaders and there are indications that the party is trying to do an Assam or an Arunachal Pradesh on Manipur.But especially given the state's geographical position, the Centre has a special responsibility to ensure it isn't periodically cut off from the rest of the country . Elections of course will demand open and safe thoroughfares. Even otherwise, it's unacceptable that the people of Manipur are repeatedly held hostage to crushing blockade politics.
Source: Times of India, 06-01-2017Ma
It was precisely to protest against these bills that the UNC had launched the latest economic blockade.
This intensified further when the Manipur government announced the creation of seven new districts by bifurcating existing ones all hill districts were affected. Nagas believe the bifurcation is a clear ploy to divide them by appropriating Naga villages and merging them with non-Naga areas. They also accuse chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh of Congress of using such methods to win a fourth consecutive term. Singh's calculations are simple if the Meiteis vote for him en masse and if he can win over some hill tribes like the Kukis as insurance, it will be a winning formula.
Correspondingly , the Nagas have increasingly come to be viewed as having the support of the BJP-led central government, something that was accentuated by the Centre's signing of a peace accord with the NSCN (I-M) Naga insurgent outfit in 2015. Add to this BJP's poaching of some big Manipur Congress leaders and there are indications that the party is trying to do an Assam or an Arunachal Pradesh on Manipur.But especially given the state's geographical position, the Centre has a special responsibility to ensure it isn't periodically cut off from the rest of the country . Elections of course will demand open and safe thoroughfares. Even otherwise, it's unacceptable that the people of Manipur are repeatedly held hostage to crushing blockade politics.
Source: Times of India, 06-01-2017Ma
