Manipur Crisis: Way Forward - Economic, Social and Political
- 28th June 2023 : Delhi Manipuri Society (DeMaS) -

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Panel Discussion 'Manipur Crisis: Way Forward - Economic, Social and Political' at Delhi :: 27th June 2023 .

A successful Panel Discussion was organized by Delhi Manipuri Society on Tuesday (27th June 2023) titled “Manipur Crisis: Way Forward - Economic, Social and Political” in which eminent speakers participated in the discussion.

The panel discussion included (Retd.) Lt. Gen. K Himalay Singh, Mr. Pradip Phanjoubam, Senior Journalist, Mr. Haorokcham Anil, Secretary, Manipur Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) and Mr. Khagemba Sanabam, Entrepreneur. The panel discussion was moderated by Mrs. Banita Devi Naorem, IRS.

During the discussion, talking about the current situation in Manipur and what is the way forward, (Retd.) Lt. Gen. K Himalay Singh, said, "This is about National Security. You know we have a porous border, we have more than 60 armed groups in our vicinity in the Northeast, mainly in Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram, but if you talk about Myanmar, there are more than 100 armed groups...and what about a geo-political game? Is China interested in this whole game? I don’t know, but what about the ‘Act East’ policy, and the Chinese-Myanmar corridor which is already operational."

Act East policy is still aspirational. So the connection with China is a very unstable neighborhood – very unstable internal security, he said.

"And, we are living in the center of all these. So what we do, can we implement or change the FMR (Free Movement Regime) or can we just implement it? Because we are not even implementing what the agreement is. Can we do the Act East Policy a little more aggressively? Will law & order improve if Act East Policy is taken in a progressive way? So these are the questions in the external environment," he said.

"So the solution to my mind in this current situation is, we have to be realistic, and that is – it is not the time for ‘Eye for an Eye’. It is about peace building, it's about conflict reservation, give and take with sit-down dialogue together," he said.

Panel Discussion 'Manipur Crisis: Way Forward - Economic, Social and Political' at Delhi :: 27th June 2023 .

Similarly, Rajat Sethi, Ex Advisor to Manipur Chief Minister said that in this scenario what is the solution and how to move forward.

"I hear on a lot of television news discussions that politicians are the problem. I understand part of the problem is politicized, but even the other part of the solution has to also come from politics only," Sethi said.

He further said, "In the last regime of N. Biren Singhji, it wasn’t a majority government, it was a minority government – taking support of Nagas, Kukis...everybody. For five years, there was not a single lathi charge over there. The state was moving at a double digit economic growth. We built so many roads. Look at the roads between Imphal and Moreh – fascinating 4 lane highway – not only within but also to Myanmar. And, right now the most unfortunate thing that I feel is that the same highway is being used for smuggling in weapons from across the border."

Mr. Haorokcham Anil, Secretary, MCCI, said that the State government as well as the government servants have to contribute for the relief of every section of the Society.

"Just imagine people are living in Relief Camps, their homes are completely burnt down and when normalcy comes back (which will), what would they do for their livelihoods? Their properties are gone, their surplus/ reserves are gone, but yet the continuity of life, they have to restart again and for that we need economic practices, we need certain modifications in terms of taxes – some relief, wave off for the entrepreneurs of Manipur including all government staff in Manipur," he said.

He said the State has limited capital and therefore, the policies/ plans need some tweaking once again, for the future.

The event was organized at the Constitution Club of India, New Delhi.

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