Fear shrouds elections in Manipur, India's dark jewel

Reuters | Frank Jack Daniel | Fri Jan 27, 2012 1:45pm IST |Imphal :

(Reuters) - Thrown face down in an open drain by a grenade blast, Maisnam Ratan's bloodied corpse was the latest reminder of the lingering insurgency in Manipur, which elects a state legislature on Saturday.

Manipur, which neighbours Myanmar, is called the Jewel of India for its paddy fields, lakes and green hills. But it has been plagued for decades by a low-intensity war, blamed by authorities on rebels sheltering in Myanmar as well as a stream of drugs and guns seeping through the porous border.

At night, the run-down capital, Imphal, is often lit only by candles and burning garbage because of a chronic electricity shortage. Fearful of threats by rebels who see India as a colonial power, cinemas do not show Bollywood movies and cable television blocks out programmes in Hindi, the country's most widely spoken language.

Ratan was visiting the house of a senior politician from the ruling Congress party on Sunday when the blast went off. It was a relatively small explosion, but tore open his leg and ripped chunks from a wall where long ago somebody had neatly written: "We want peace and harmony."

Neither seems likely in the near future.

Manipur has the highest rates of HIV and drug addiction in the country and young people are migrating in droves.

India's policy-makers are loath to loosen the emergency shoot-to-kill powers imposed in 1958 in Manipur and other northeastern states for fear of giving oxygen to rebel movements in a region that also borders Bangladesh and China.

Perhaps for the same reason, and despite a drop-off in violence that has killed 3,000 in a decade, India has dallied on plans to turn Manipur into a serious trading corridor with Southeast Asia and Myanmar, which is shaking off decades of isolation and welcoming new investment.

Manipur has a direct road link through winding hills with the town of Tamu in Myanmar. It was along this road that Japanese forces attacked India in World War Two before being turned back in battles around Imphal.

The Myanmar army has recently launched offensives against Indian rebel camps on its territory, but several groups are still believed to shelter in the hilly terrain there.

Manipur's security woes, its potholed roads and irregular power supply do not encourage investment in the state, fuelling unemployment that is close to 25 percent.

Last year, protesters calling for more power for the Naga tribe blocked highways into the landlocked state for nearly three months, causing fuel and food scarcity and soaring prices.

"As an economist I see a very dark future. The central government has failed to invest in infrastructure," said N. Mohindro, an expert on trade in the state.

Speaking in their neat wood and bamboo stilt house on the edge of Churanchandpur, an hour's drive from Imphal, pregnant Niangbai Lian said many of their friends were also infected but struck an optimistic note.

"I love Manipur," said Lian, who is taking anti-retrovirals for her illness and hopes to join the state's large police force after her baby is born.

"I was born here and there is hope for the young, as long as they struggle and work."