Dust kicked up by border fencing : Important points to keep in mind
- Sangai Express Editorial :: October 23 , 2013 -

Tough talk. But this may not necessarily translate into tough stand or convey a no-nonsense message.

This is what Chief Minister O Ibobi must keep in mind, while referring to the dust that has been kicked up by the border fencing underway along the Manipur-Myanmar border at Moreh, covering a distance of 10 kms.

For the tough talk to have any tangible meaning certain points should be kept in mind. In the first place, the State Government cannot afford to commit a faux pas and dub the border fencing as a border dispute.

There is no dispute over here, for the fact stands that Hollenphai village has been bifurcated into two parts, one falling on the other side of the fence in Myanmar and the other on the side of India or Manipur.

Secondly, the issue is not between Myanmar and Manipur but between the Government of Manipur and the Central Government.

If not for anything else, then the official intimation sent by the Ministry of External Affairs to Chief Minister O Ibobi not to depute any official delegates to oversee the border fencing sometime in the early part of September, 2013, should be enough indication of where the pressure should be mounted so that Manipur does not lose her territory to a neighbouring country.

It is not a dispute between Myanmar and Manipur but should be interpreted and seen as a move by Delhi to go ahead with the Look East Policy at the cost of Manipur’s territory.

Was the State Government consulted when Delhi decided to demarcate the area where the border fencing would come up ? Does the present border fencing adhere to internationally accepted norms ?

If it does adhere to the internationally accepted norms, then where was the need for the MEA to instruct the State Government not to send any official delegates to study and scrutinise the border fencing ?

It should be obvious that these questions have hidden or obscured more than answering them. Traditional boundaries may not always fall in line with the modern, internationally accepted norms and procedures of demarcating international boundaries but yet at the same time it is also important to keep in mind that the traditional boundaries cannot be entirely done away with without consulting the people who stand to be directly affected.

Before the instructions from the MEA was received at the Chief Minister’s office here, the State Government did depute a team under the Principal Secretary (Home) Dr Suresh Babu to take stock of the situation.

That nothing concrete came out of it is there for all to see. On the contrary it only added to the apprehension of the people over the possible loss of the State’s territory, what with the officer dubbing the border fencing as nothing more than ‘security arrangements.’

Security fencing. It could not have got more absurd than this.

It is against this backdrop that an all party delegation led by the Deputy Chief Minister was deputed to over see the border fencing on October 22.

Till the time of penning down this editorial, nothing is yet known on the findings of the all party delegation.

At the risk of repeating what has already been said, Imphal should have its priority right. It is not a border dispute.

It is more like a case of Delhi willing to cede certain parts of Manipur to Myanmar at one point and then take some at other parts.

A question of give and take ? This cannot be accepted for international boundary cannot be demarcated along this line.

It cannot be reduced to a type of barter exchange.

Equally true and important is for the political leadership of Manipur and others to know where to put the pressure.

Not Myanmar certainly, for it is not a face off between Myanmar and Manipur, but about Delhi trying to win brownie points from Myanmar, with the LEP at the backdrop and of course to counter the moves initiated by China in a country which is under the process of massive political and social change.