Harping on the core issues : Imphal should be coherent
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: August 12, 2024 -

In a way it is baffling and one is left wondering whether there is a design in the abject failure to address what steps Manipur should first take to start walking the road to normalcy.

The validity of this question should be clear in the backdrop of the fact that Imphal seems to be stumbling from one point to the other, primarily the manner in which the root cause of the offensives launched against Manipur was pointed as an uprising against the War on Drugs campaign involving the destruction of large tracts of poppy plantation, the eviction of encroachers from Reserved and Protected Forests to the mother of it all, the ruling of the Manipur High Court which asked the State Government to send the socio-economic report of the Meiteis to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, as asked back in 2013.

Add to this, the video clip which shows well armed Kuki militants taking part in the Tribal Solidarity March of May 3, 2023 and marching towards Torbung and wreaking havoc, forcing many people to flee for their lives, a video clip which did the round in June/July of 2023 and which today has gone viral on the social media and one is left wondering whether this answers the question of what next ?

Put the confusion on the status of the Suspension of Operation pact, with the Chief Minister maintaining that while the pact has not been extended it still stands and one is left wondering where this leaves the understanding of the validity of anything having expired.

One obviously cannot entertain the hope of travelling on a passport whose validity period has expired, and one certainly cannot go around brandishing a driving license the validity of which has not been renewed and this leaves the question of whether the SoO pact has been extended on the sly by Delhi without making it public, hanging in the air.

Maybe it is because of this that Central security forces, particularly the Assam Rifles, have been giving a free hand to the SoO group, the Kuki National Front (KNF) in this case, to flex their muscle on the highways, best exemplified by the fact that a truck of newsprint meant for this newspaper was impounded and set ablaze in front of a gate near Gamgiphai, Motbung on August 7.

The act of arson happened in broad daylight and the sense of immunity demonstrated by the KNF cadres as well as the inaction shown by the uniformed and booted security personnel could have come only from some unstated reasons and this is where one is reminded of the not extended, but ‘SoO agreement stands,’ uttering of the Chief Minister.

Imphal must be very clear on certain points.

The core issue at the moment is to explore ways and means to put Manipur on the track of normalcy and certainly giving confusing and at times contradictory narratives on how the clash started is not the way to go about it.

This is the time the ruling BJP and the Opposition, particularly the Congress must be pooling in their thoughts and exploring all possible means to look ahead.

And it should also be obvious to all, particularly Imphal that it is important for Delhi to step in more proactively and see how it can start the ball rolling for normalcy to step in.

This is not the time to set down agenda solely dictated by political agenda, for the question is about Manipur and her people.

Fifteen months is a pretty long time and it may be in line to again remind Imphal that no Meiteis can travel along the Imphal-Dimapur stretch of the National Highway, while no Kuki would feel safe to return to Imphal and the other valley districts to the place they once called home.

Encroachers should be evicted, the War on Drugs should continue but with more substance such as exposing the big fishes but ultimately what Manipur needs now is ‘not heroics but healing, not nostrums but normalcy,’ to quote G Harding.