The New York times dated 8 th May carried a news item related to the events in
Manipur which engulfed the state in an inferno not seen since its merger with
Indian Union in 1949. The news item mentioned about Christian minorities in
the state persecuted by the majority Hindus. I was appalled by the speed and
ferocity of the social media campaigns with very damaging perception of the
image of India as an emerging power, Manipur in particular and North East
India as Ashta Lakshmi . Allegations and counter allegations of various kinds
went viral as the violence spread like a wildfire. Not so well informed experts
also made it a ‘Tribal-non tribal” issue in national TV channels, some even went
to the extent of calling it ethnic cleansing by a particular group. Given the fact
that Christian denomination in the state ( including Meitei Christians) are
actually the majority in the state since only a little over half of the
approximately 16 lac meiteis follow Hinduism today while the Christian
population( including Meitei Christians ) are likely to be over 11 lac. In the
recent clashes most of the non –kuki tribals were clearly not involved in any
manner, thereby negating the tribal-non tribal narrative. The Imphal high
court verdict may have been one of the many triggers , but not by any stretch
of imagination, the cause of the violence which started on 3 may. The inquiry
commission will look into it soon. But the larger question is how do we
proceed from here?
Be that as it may, the loss of life and property of people belonging to Kukis and
meiteis are extremely sad and I strongly condemn any kind of violence
wherever it happened. The continuance of the violence for over a month now,
with the levels of violence raised to full fledged exchange of fire of
sophisticated automatic modern weapons by well trained cadres/so called
volunteers from both the sides, use of mortars, drones, snipers, IED s, walkie
Talkie sets, bullet proof jackets, well coordinated social media campaigns
make it no more a “ a case of communal clashes’ normally seen in other parts
of the country as some indicated. In short it is a situation where many fully
armed and trained to wage war against the established government of the day
are deeply involved. To a few , It is a classic case of a thin line between a “
Law and Order Issue “; ‘Counter- terror operations(CT)’ or ‘operations against
Anti National Elements’(ANE). Often , we are faced with such “ Grey Zones” in
any such scenarios in India or even the world over. The presence of a few
hundred weapons and even fewer cadres in the Kashmir Valley kept the
security forces on full alert for years. Here, in Manipur we have a situation
where many thousands of weapons and lacs of ammunition looted from
police armouries, , another few thousands of weapons already in circulation
among the Peace talks groups , SOO and Non SOO groups, including items
acquired well after the SOO in 2005-2008. In a highly fractured society, in
proximity to a highly unstable neighbourhood, the presence of such quantities
of dangerous weapons mostly in the hands of anti-national elements is
extremely dangerous and is a serious national security threat by all counts.
The drug-lords in the region, the terror groups ,other anti social elements and
inimical elements both within and outside India must be having the last laugh!
The short and long term effects, the tremors of the conflict will be felt for a
number of years if not a few decades. The costs in terms of lives and property
lost will be huge enough. The costs in terms of its effect on the psyche of the
young generations and children in particular will be in calculable indeed. Will
gun culture dominate the fragile minds of the younger generation? Education
of displaced students, healthcare, and other normal human activities will take
time to settle. Banning of internet is already affecting thousands of students
who were aspiring to pursue their education elsewhere in the country. What
will the future of these students be? Pillars of governance will take time even
to stitch up the wear and tear leave alone work towards a holistic and better
future of the people. It will take genuine leadership to refashion an entity like
the Manipur Police as an effective instrument of good governance. The
animosity, the suspicion among the affected communities will take time to
heal. Col James Johnstone, who was the political agent of the British empire in
Manipur during the period prior to the Anglo-Manipur war , an ardent well
wisher of Manipur , in his book ‘ Manipur and Naga Hills” described the
inhabitants of Manipur as-“ All natives of India are suspicious by nature but
this remark applies ten fold force to the Manipuris”. Suspicions bring more and
more rumours , particularly in the times of such a grave crisis. Claims and
counter claims of security machineries having taken sides will need careful
handling. The central security forces were the first and the only responders in
the first week and rescued, fed and took care of over 35,000 displaced people
and ensured that the situation was reasonably well taken care of till the
second phase of violence broke out by third week of the month. The less said
the better in terms of socio-economic costs . The news of three souls who died
in the burning of an ambulance yesterday is bound to grievously hurt the
sentiments for a lifetime to the affected party. And many more brutalities real
or imaginary have seeped into the psyche of the people. I wonder if these dark
memories are what we desire to leave behind for posterity. History will judge
us.
There are , however , hundreds and thousands of peace loving citizenry on
both sides who are presently involved in the welfare of the displaced
population and taking care of their needs, helping the weak and elderly. Many
in and outside of the Government are known to be making honest efforts
towards peace. Many more are also involved directly or indirectly in
perpetrating the violence, instigating violence as well in their false belief to
outdo the other, subdue the other physically and mentally or even taking
revenge as we saw the various waves of violence in recent days. Some do it
purely for their personal agendas by closing their eyes from the real issues or
running away from it, hoping that things will get sorted out on its own sooner
or later. Some are involved in strategizing for their future goals of land and
territory. Well, it is for us to ponder and deliberate whether these efforts to
change history, geography, social fabric and such like activities will fructify in
the future . We have now reached the rock bottom of distrust in all
directions!
The only way to bring about a better situation is dialogue, sanity , forgiveness,
and the will of the silent majority who desire peace. Shri Amit Shah , after
having consulted the state govt and all stake holders announced a series of
measures to begin with. Formation of Peace Committee, Judicial inquiry,
unified command, rehabilitation measures, possible combing operations,
actions to be taken against any violation of SOO agreements and so on. These
were meant to achieve short term objective of cooling down the tempers of
the public at large. The rumour mongers , however, are already spreading lies,
false narratives to nullify well- intentioned beginning of the process of healing
the wounds. It was a welcome change when I read the news of conditional
opening of NH-2 in the front page of Sangai Express dated June 05. I do hope
that a slow and steady positive response will come from all parties. Such a
complex situation, a legacy from 1826 onwards cannot be solved in a day. It
will take time. The Home Minister, after having assessed the ground situation
is expected to carry forward more mid and long term policy measures to bring
about normalcy in the state sooner than later. Balancing the aspirations of all
stake holders in the state is the key to this effort. Issues involved are far too
many and the common people are generally aware of some of these. The
complexities of demands by the ethnic groups are many. A zero sum
approach is unlikely to succeed. Give and take approach and flexibility of ideas
will be the key. People may have to accept reasonable issues without
compromising on the idea of Manipur and suggestions in keeping with
changing times, keeping the state/national interests in mind. All the ethnic
groups big or small are destined to live and survive together emotionally and
under the law of the land. The history and geography compels us to be
together. The effort to exert illegal or illegitimate authority, exert pressure or
control of resources by using illegal money, illegal weapons and such activities
in the garb of identity, self protection/ preservation will not cut ice in the long
run. Issues such as illegal immigrants, over yearly 30000 Cr worth illegal drugs
business , poppy cultivation, SOO activities, governance, land ownership and
developmental issues for all will have to be addressed and strict actions
against law breakers be taken without any delay. The authorities will have to
make it honest and sincere attempts to immediately curb the burning of (is no
alternative to a better all round governance in the long term. Don’t we deserve
it? As we await the unfolding of greater and more measures to bring peace
and take shape on the ground, in the coming days, let us all pray and work
together patiently without resorting to violence. For a Sana leibak where all
can prosper , not at the cost of the other. Each one of us have a stack in
bringing peace . For “ an eye for an eye, makes all of us blind”.
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