Politics of opening up Highway : Look beyond the obvious
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 06, 2023 -
The highway or blockade politics.
Manipur has seen it all and it is important for all, particularly those who have been at the receiving end of this type of politics, to get a full grasp of the game that is being played out right now.
Taking into consideration the deep concern expressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to restore peace and harmony in the State, is one prominent point mentioned by the United People’s Front (UPF) and the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) in deciding to roll back the blockade along the Imphal-Dimapur highway at Kangpokpi.
Alleviate the plight of the people in general is added to the reasons for lifting the blockade, but this comes as something like an addendum, an add on and this is where it would help to look beyond the obvious and try to understand why the blockade has been called off after 60 days.
Read between the lines, could be the one line statement necessitated by the need to look beyond the immediate and try to understand each and every step keeping in mind the Manipur of say one or two years hence.
One has to give it to the two umbrella organisations of the Kuki armed outfits of having demonstrated political maturity keeping in mind the interest of the people who they claim to represent, the Kukis.
It is also important to note that the decision to lift the highway blockade was announced not by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) or the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), but the two armed organisations and this needs to be understood within the context of what happened earlier when CoTU announced the partial relaxation of the blockade and now best exemplified by the act of setting on fire the residence of the spokesman of the KNO at Churachandpur.
Despite this, as the KNO spokesman said, the decision to lift the blockade stands, and this is where one would need to understand the stake in the backdrop of the demand put up by the 10 Kuki-Chin MLAs as well as the aspiration of the SoO groups.
And it is according to this that the State Government and all those who have been demanding that the understanding of Manipur should not be diluted should be on the alert and plan their next steps.
Look beyond the ongoing ethnic clash and all things will move beyond the number of casualties on either side and what ultimately matters in the end would be something of a bigger dimension than the ongoing clash.
Other than the obvious that it is the SoO groups which have been orchestrating the blockade and by logical deduction sowed the first seeds of the violence on May 3 at Torbung, it is crucial for everyone to study and try to understand the politics behind the decision to lift the blockade.
Don’t rub Delhi the wrong way and perhaps the first step should be to lift the blockade, is obviously the line of thinking adopted by the SoO groups.
All this is obviously done under the belief that the reaction of the Meiteis to the first case of arson at Torbung was the push needed to take them closer to the dream of a Zalengam.
The development since then should underline this point.
Pen down the wrong narratives depicting the Kukis as the hapless, tribal minority group who have been ‘butchered’ and rendered homeless by the marauding Meiteis.
Cook up stories such as ‘Thousands of Kukis forced to survive in the forests after fleeing their homes’, with the addendum that the Kukis, who are Christians are at the receiving end of the Hindu Meiteis and make it go viral and earn the sympathy of the Western world, which is predominantly Christian.
And then come up with what the SoO groups think is the trump card ‘demand for a separate administration’.
The steps thus taken up should be understood.
Manipur would need to look beyond the ongoing clashes and try to understand the politics at play for this is something which can impact on the understanding of the place as a distinct geo-political reality.
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