SOS from Manipur
Source: IE
If the Northeast has occupied the farthest nook of mainland India’s consciousness, the state of Manipur has been given the tiniest toehold on that nook. That is why the rest of the nation, as a rule, doesn’t think of the eight states (including Sikkim) beyond the chicken’s neck, except for news of death and gore. But gory news is largely and thankfully past, and tales from the Northeast, except about Chinese eyes on Arunachal, hardly arrest our attention. Imagine then Manipur, compromised by geography and demographics, located literally at the farthest end of the Union and fractured by ethnic divisions. Imagine this state, covering the last stretches of two national highways — the NH 39 and NH 53 — and those two blockaded, with the population deprived of everyday essentials. (The third, NH 150, is so roundabout that nobody ever wants to use it for supplies.) The trouble had begun with the state government’s decision to hold district council polls, including in the Naga-dominated districts; it came to a crisis with Manipur’s refusal to let National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) leader Thuingaleng Muivah visit his ancestral village in Ukhrul. When NH 39, Manipur’s lifeline, was blockaded by Nagas first on April 11, Manipuris believed that, as always, a settlement would be reached soon. It is still on and people are paying as much as Rs 150 for a litre of petrol or nearly Rs 2000 for an LPG cylinder in the blackmarket. The diversion of some trucks through the longer and less-preferred NH 53 brought in under escort some supplies a few days ago; but with counter-blockades threatened to block goods from the Imphal valley to the Naga hills, Manipur’s crisis could jeopardise the Northeast.
The Centre must act to rescue the crippled state and prevent an escalation of the confrontationist attitudes into a full confrontation. Manipur being blocked out does not evoke an automatic response because of the zero impact it has on the rest of the country. That unconcern is inhuman. Moreover, the political basis of the trouble must be resolved for a permanent peace in the region, and that cannot happen unless the Centre settles with the NSCN and brings them into the mainstream.
If the Northeast has occupied the farthest nook of mainland India’s consciousness, the state of Manipur has been given the tiniest toehold on that nook. That is why the rest of the nation, as a rule, doesn’t think of the eight states (including Sikkim) beyond the chicken’s neck, except for news of death and gore. But gory news is largely and thankfully past, and tales from the Northeast, except about Chinese eyes on Arunachal, hardly arrest our attention. Imagine then Manipur, compromised by geography and demographics, located literally at the farthest end of the Union and fractured by ethnic divisions. Imagine this state, covering the last stretches of two national highways — the NH 39 and NH 53 — and those two blockaded, with the population deprived of everyday essentials. (The third, NH 150, is so roundabout that nobody ever wants to use it for supplies.) The trouble had begun with the state government’s decision to hold district council polls, including in the Naga-dominated districts; it came to a crisis with Manipur’s refusal to let National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) leader Thuingaleng Muivah visit his ancestral village in Ukhrul. When NH 39, Manipur’s lifeline, was blockaded by Nagas first on April 11, Manipuris believed that, as always, a settlement would be reached soon. It is still on and people are paying as much as Rs 150 for a litre of petrol or nearly Rs 2000 for an LPG cylinder in the blackmarket. The diversion of some trucks through the longer and less-preferred NH 53 brought in under escort some supplies a few days ago; but with counter-blockades threatened to block goods from the Imphal valley to the Naga hills, Manipur’s crisis could jeopardise the Northeast.
The Centre must act to rescue the crippled state and prevent an escalation of the confrontationist attitudes into a full confrontation. Manipur being blocked out does not evoke an automatic response because of the zero impact it has on the rest of the country. That unconcern is inhuman. Moreover, the political basis of the trouble must be resolved for a permanent peace in the region, and that cannot happen unless the Centre settles with the NSCN and brings them into the mainstream.
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