Bandying the CF ground rules : Matter of convenience
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: April 26, 2012 -

A gate at Camp Hebron of the NSCN (IM) :: Pix - TSE

The situation was grave, no doubt about it, but what was interestingly amusing was to see the manner in which the ceasefire ground rules was bandied about when the stand off between the Assam Rifles and the NSCN (IM) began to hit the headlines of the newspapers published in Nagaland and Manipur.

That the impasse petered off with the Assam Troops withdrawing its troops from the vicinity of the rebel camps, including Camp Hebron, its General Headquarters, underlines the earlier 'muscle flexing' exercise observation made in this column.

It was during the course of this muscle flexing exercise, not amounting to much more than fire and brimstone, that suddenly the term, ceasefire ground rules, began to enter the lexicon of either side and many others.

It did not matter at all when armed men from the rebel group went around imposing their writs and diktats on the people.

Not a whimper of a protest or denunciation for violating the ground rules of the cease fire pact was raised when seven persons were killed inside a polling station at Chandel Assembly Constituency during the recently held election to the 10th Manipur Legislative Assembly on January 28 and it was a case of damn the cease fire ground rules when a couple was shot dead in Ukhrul district only last year.

It did not matter to the people concerned, when the convoy of the late MLA Wungnaoshang Keishing was ambushed.

The cease fire ground rules had no meaning, either to the Assam Rifles or the NSCN (IM) cadres, when Dr Th Kishan and two of his subordinates were bludgeoned to death some years back and it certainly does not matter when 'taxes' are imposed wilfully on trucks plying on the National Highways and when a certain percentage is deducted from the salary and pay of Government employees where the writ and diktats of the rebel outfit runs large.

The amusing part is the sudden realisation that there is something called the cease fire ground rules when the Assam Rifles started deploying its troops around the camps of the rebel group in Nagaland and Manipur.

To the Assam Rifles too, the cease fire ground rules became a handy tool to justify the arrest and confiscation of the arms from 13 NSCN (IM) cadres in Nagaland sometime back and it did not register in their mind at all when some of its men approached Camp Hebron, leading to the detention of six AR personnel including an officer of the rank of Major.

Fortunately for the common people, the manner in which the cease fire ground rules was bandied about resulted in the withdrawal of the Assam Rifles troops, but the selective use of ground rules is what sucks.

If the matter was not so serious, it would have surely elicited guffaws from all over, and maybe it was not only the gravity of the situation that stopped some people from grinning ear to ear, but more out of fear for any repurcussion.

Make no mistake about it, the cease fire ground rules exist only on paper and they are used at the convenience of one's sake and nothing more.

Even as the allegations and counter allegations of violating the cease fire ground rules were lobbed around, 'taxes' continued to be collected and with a sense of impunity.

The 'taken note' of the camps of the rebel group on the soil of Manipur is another telling example of how the understanding of the cease fire ground rules have been flouted all these years and in the process cocking a snook at everyone.

Selective use of the ground rules can mean only one thing and that is there are quite a number of people out there who have been occupying the public podium under the shadow of the cease fire pact and no we are not talking about the cadres or top ranking leaders of the rebel outfit here.

To the Assam Rifles too, the cease fire ground rules become relevant only when it involves their personnel or when their ego is insulted and not when the people are at the receiving end.

When was the last time that the Assam Rifles authority or the Army authority talked about the cease fire ground rules in the nearly 15 years long of the negotiation between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM) ?

The whole thing stinks.

If at all there is a situation to aptly suit the description of the term hypocrisy and double standard, then it was the recent stand off between the Assam Rifles and the NSCN (IM).

The manner in which the cease fire ground rules has been bandied about to the convenience of either side is a reflection of how the common people have been exposed to the uglier truth of the peace process currently underway.