Similar stand, different agenda : Takes on the 6th Schedule
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 18, 2012 -
Similar stand but different agenda.
The United Naga Council has made it clear that the 6th Schedule will not be acceptable to the Nagas of Manipur.
The International Meitei Forum has also asserted that 6th Schedule for the hill districts of Manipur would be opposed tooth and nail.
Clearly the dire straits that Manipur finds herself in today cannot get clearer than this.
Both adopting the same stand but in the process exposing the deep divide that runs along ethnicity.
Take the Zalengam demand put forth by the Kuki State Demand Committee into consideration and the circle is complete. Alternative Arrangement, Kuki State, 6th Schedule, Meitei interest and a cutting edge definition has been given to the understanding of the term ‘Hot Seat.’
Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown and Chief Minister O Ibobi must clearly be a worried man today. With the political dialogue between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM) reportedly being at the ‘final settlement’ stage and with the Union Home Ministry issuing a written assurance that political dialogues with the SoO signatories will begin after the Winter session of Parliament, things can only get murkier in the coming days.
It is not necessary that all political lines of thought should run parallel to each other that there is no meeting point. The only hitch is whether all the stakeholders, the Meiteis, the Nagas, the Kukis and others can look beyond their immediate stand and study each others' position under the geo-political entity called Manipur.
No one, at least the common man, knows what form and shape the final settlement that is reportedly being worked out between Delhi and the NSCN (IM) is all about.
No one knows which direction the political dialogue between the Government of India and the SoO signatories will proceed.
No one seems to know what Alternative Arrangement would entail and no one knows what the 6th Schedule would mean to a place like Manipur which is unique in its own ways.
Can the 6th Schedule, as applied in the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District Council in Assam or Gorkha Hill Council in West Bengal work in a place like Manipur, where the hill districts comprise over 90 pc of the geographical area ?
A thought worth pondering over. All in the realm of speculation, but what has definitely moved out from the sphere of speculation and has become a reality is the deep divide along ethnic line.
This is what is worrying. Going back to the line of speculation, will Alternative Arrangement or 6th Schedule or Zalengam be the answer to the aspirations of the community pursuing these points ?
Will it really matter to the common man ?
Tough call but then it should be obvious to all that in pursuing these agenda, some people have managed to carve out a place for themselves under the Sun, never mind the fact that in the process, the hoi polloi have had to undergo severe inconveniences and sufferings.
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