A new type of terrorism
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: May 11, 2024 -

SINCE there is no definite political description of terrorism nor has been legally defined uniformly in all jurisdictions, the ethnic conflict that has been going on in the tiny northeastern Indian state of Manipur since May 3, 2023 after people of Kuki-Chin community clashed with the Meetei/Meitei, few days after a ruling by the High Court of Manipur pertaining to demand for granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Meetei/Meitei community, may not be terrorism as Union Home Minister Amit Shah has stated.

But the meticulous planning and calculated use of violence by the armed Kuki-Chin militants in the ongoing conflict with an eye on achieving their political goal of 'Zalengam' is something that the government of India, and more particularly, its home ministry, would be ill-advised to overlook.

From initially opposing the ST demand of Meitei/Meetei to demanding a separate administration for the Kuki-Chin people, which was first raised by 10 sitting MLAs from the Kuki-Chin community within days of outbreak of the conflict, and then pushing for the creation of a Kuki state or union territory under Article 3 of the Constitution of India; Kuki-Chin organisations are today launching a global campaign for "creation of a country for the Kukis by integrating all Kuki-Chin territories of Chin state (Myanmar/Burma), Chittagong Hill Tracts (Bangladesh) and Mizoram (India) and Kuki hills in Outer Manipur" in accordance to GA Grierson's Linguistic Survey of India, 1904, Volume 3, Part-Ill and under United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Right to self-determination, Autonomy, Self-Governance and Indigenous Institutions".

They have been making strenuous effort to realise their Zalengam dream by internationalising the current humanitarian crisis in Manipur at every possible forum including sending despatches to the President of USA and the Prime Minister of Israel as well as petitioning the United Nations.

In fact, they had even succeeded in influencing the Parliament of European Union to adopt a resolution in connection with the violence in Manipur, which the government of India had denounced as undue interference in the "internal matter" of the country.

Moreover, let's not forget the fact that the danger, posed by militant groups from across the international border who are conniving with some inimical elements to stoke the ongoing conflict in Manipur had been spelled out by none other than Union Home Minister Amit Shah himself on the floor of Indian Parliament on more than one occasion and the same had been reaffirmed by Union Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar at various international forum.

As a matter of fact, the Union Home Ministry had even roped in the service of National Investigating Agency (NIA), the specialised counter-terrorism law enforcement agency of the country, to probe into activities of some militant groups including those under the Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement with the government.

So, after taking all these into consideration, it appears that Union Home Minister Amit Shah is only trying to downplay the seriousness of the issue after he and his government failed to resolve the now over one year long ethnic crisis in Manipur.

If it is a simple issue that could have been resolved by bridging the differences between the two warring communities through 'dialogue and empathy', then why he and his double-engine government, which is in power both in the state and at the centre, have allowed the conflict to go on for so long at the cost of hundreds of precious human lives and rendering homeless thousands of families on both sides of the clash divide?

Even as the insensibility of Union Home Minister to the prolonged humanitarian crisis in Manipur has been exposed when he said, "It will be our priority after elections that we hold discussions with both the sides and come up with an amicable solution," we have been prompted to ask whether the people of Manipur have to now deal with a new type of terrorism which is even more pernicious when he dismissed involvement of "groomed and paid" terror groups and their acts of terrorism in the Manipur crisis.