Drawing from the past : The foundation of a Lim
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: November 25 2011 -
The indications are uncomfortable and if allowed to fester then it can become dangerous and detrimental to the interest of all stakeholders.
Like any other movement, the Naga movement too has drawn its strength from the past and while the NSCN (IM) inherited the banner of Naga rebellion from the NNC on the premise of the Plebiscite of 1951, the belief that the lands of the Nagas were never a part of India etc, the present call for a Greater Lim too draws heavily from the past.
However as in everything that has got to do with the past, the danger of looking back to the past subjectively is always there and hence the question arises whether the IM group has been able to steer clear from the danger of the past and subsequently the present.
During the period of the bush war, the target of the Naga rebels was Delhi, but once political dialogue gave way to bush war, once drawing up ambush or battle plans gave way to putting up one's political view points across the negotiating table, the shift in target too became an obvious fall out.
In one swift stroke the target shifted from Delhi to Imphal and while it was the Plebiscite and the history of the Naga people as an independent people that sustained the movement for sovereignty from Delhi, the hegemony of Imphal and by extension the major community of Manipur became the grease to keep the wheel of the Naga movement churning.
This is where the dangerous part becomes prominent.
The fall out of such an approach is there to see in the deepening divide between the people on either side of the Lim divide and while the ongoing economic blockade appears to be a means put to use in pursuit of a demand it is important to understand that in the process the target has become the people belonging to the major community and nothing can be more unfortunate than this.
In as much as divergent and opposing views on the idea of Manipur as a political and social entity may be allowed, given the fact that Manipur is a part of the largest democracy in the world, it should also stand true that diametrically opposing viewpoints too should be allowed over the idea of a Greater Lim.
It cannot be a case of ‘I can differ, but you cannot differ’. The ongoing economic blockade comes very near to such a climate of intolerance and where the freedom of pursuing one's political aspirations comes to be dictated by a group of people.
Alternative Arrangement is the political pursuit behind the very act of choking off the lifelines of over 25 lakhs of people and while this is a demand that has been raised within the ambit of the Constitution of India, there is nothing Constitutional in the very act of cutting off the lifelines of a people for months.
A legitimate demand can never be justified by using illegitimate means. This is a point which has been conveniently overlooked by the blockade sponsors. Politics of hate and revenge can only last for a time and it will not cut ice after a certain period of time.
The sense of aura that surrounds the personality of a rebel leader like Th Muivah today stands dangerously close to getting eroded to an extent that the aura is totally written off.
Meitei bashing will not result in Greater Lim. Likewise Naga bashing will not ensure the sanctity of the territorial integrity of Manipur. This should be thumb rule of all movement, whether it is for Naga integration or for preserving the territorial integrity of Manipur.
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