Delivering a political master stroke : Creating 7 new districts
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 10 2016 -

This is a political master stroke. Seven new districts and herein lies the most important political statement made by the Chief Minister and the Congress.

In one stroke, the man from Thoubal Assembly Constituency has asserted the point that it is administrative convenience that should guide the creation of districts and not ethnicity.

Herein lies the hollowness of the claim espoused by the United Naga Council and other Naga frontal organisations.

Just take a look at the reality. Tengnoupal in Chandel district has been carved out and upgraded to the status of a district.

The same line may be read in the creation of the other districts such as Kakching from Thoubal, Pherjawl from Churachandpur, Kamjong from Ukhrul, Noney from Tamenglong, Jiribam from Imphal East and Kangpokpi from Senapati.

The argument that the name Sadar is not indigenous to the land and the people has been given the grand burial by naming the district Kangpokpi, over which there is no argument.

Now that the State Government has gone ahead and named the seven new districts, what will be the response from the United Naga Council (UNC) and other like minded Naga frontal organisations ?

Will the economic blockade be intensified or will it die a natural death ?

Tough to say how things will develop, but the Congress has already delivered an important point.

And it is interesting to note here that Noney, one of the seven new districts, is the home town of UNC president Gaidon Kamei.

Have the people of Noney welcomed the decision of the State Government or not ? This is a question which the UNC should introspect.

As argued in this column earlier, districts should be created along administrative convenience and not on the basis of ethnicity.

Imphal East and Imphal West and the other valley districts are home to all and are not created along ethnicity.

None of the valley districts are home to the Meiteis alone.

This is a point which should be borne by all, particularly the UNC and other like minded Naga frontal organisations.

Nagaland which is geographically smaller than Manipur and has a lesser population has 11 administrative districts in Dimapur, Kiphire, Kohima, Longleng, Mokokchung, Mon, Peren, Phek, Tuensang, Wokha and Zunheboto.

Are these districts in Nagaland created along ethnicity ? Unlikely. Maybe UNC may give the answer.

The creation of the new seven districts is indeed a master stroke, but the question here is why it took the Congress Government such a long time to deliver this point.

Remember in the 2012 Assembly election, the Congress received such a mandate as never witnessed earlier by bagging 42 out of the 60 Assembly seats.

With such a massive mandate, why did the Congress Government take so long to take such a stand ?

It is here that the letter to the Editor written by a gentleman from Ukhrul and submitted to The Sangai Express and published on December 9 gains significance.

A master stroke has been delivered, no doubt, but this is something which could have been done a long time back and it is here that the timing of this decision becomes a bit questionable.