TODAY -
Failed state?
Times of India | TNN | Oct 16, 2011, 07.19AM IST
A crippling blockade lasting 68 days choked Manipur last year. One is on right now - it's in its 75th day even as we write about it. Can the state - wracked by insurgency and corruption, and agonized by the draconian AFSPA - ever return to normal? Jaideep Mazumdar reports from Imphal on the anxiety and alienation of a beautiful land
More than 30 militant groups that indulge in massive extortion have links with venal politicians who, in collusion with bureaucrats, pocket the lion's share of development funds while the common man, caught between insurgents and security forces engaged in counter-insurgency operations - and often accused by human rights groups of unspeakable excesses - is left battered and bruised.
The root cause of this mess lies in Manipur's history, its geography and its demography. It was once a prosperous kingdom; the royal chronicle, or 'Cheitharol Kumpaba', lists the kingdom's 74 rulers from 33 AD to 1891 when the British defeated Maharaja Kulachandra and appointed a political agent to rule while allowing the maharaja to remain a titular head.
Manipur became part of India on October 15 that year. This 'forced merger' still rankles many in Manipur and October 15 has been observed as 'Black Day' since the birth of militancy here more than three decades ago. Also, postmerger, the status of this erstwhile kingdom was reduced to that of a 'Part C' state ruled by a 'chief commissioner'. Only after decades of peaceful demand for full statehood did Manipur become a state in 1972. This perceived 'insult' riles Manipuris even today.
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* This Post is uploaded on October 16 2011
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