Playing the SA card well : Camouflaged under SoO pact
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: October 10, 2024 -

The Kukis have laid their cards on the table-Separate Administration.

An aspiration well hidden under the cover of the Suspension of Operation pact and under which they have been receiving the needed ‘patronage’ of some Central security forces.

The mantra being parroted is the line, ‘We believe in the Constitution of India and what we are asking for is not anti-National,’ but Delhi cannot be blind to the ‘first take 25 paise and then later 50 paise and then 1 rupee will be there for the asking’ progress.

This is more so given the fact that the Tribal Solidarity Rally of May 3, 2023 was staged so well under the camouflage that it was against the directive of the High Court of Manipur to send the socio-economic and ethnographic report of the Meiteis to the Centre for consideration of the demand that the Meiteis be included in the Scheduled Tribe list of the Constitution, that even Union Home Minister Amit Shah parroted this line initially.

The violence that first broke out at Torbung then Churachandpur and which later spread to Kangpokpi and Moreh while the rally in the Naga dominated districts wounded up peacefully is there for the records.

Just like the dream of a Kukiland was camouflaged so expertly under the cover provided by the Suspension of Operation pact the rally too was well covered under the ‘against the ST for Meiteis demand.’

It also stands that the ‘indifference’ of New Delhi to the ongoing ethnic clash, the non-sensical declaration coming from some former and currently highly placed officials of the Assam Rifles and the Army, all tie up and point to a common agenda, the role of geo-politics.

Delhi has not been able to study the turmoil in Manipur in isolation of what is happening in Myanmar, the recent upheaval in Bangladesh and the global positioning of super powers like China and the USA in the region.

And herein arises the question of why Manipur should be bled dry in the topsy-turvy world of global politics.

Why is Delhi so committed to sticking to the SoO pact even though the Kuki armed groups have never been known to target the Indian security force ?

Manipur came on board the SoO pact only in 2008 even though the pact had been in force between the Centre and the Kuki militants since 2005.

Why has Delhi preferred not to honour the stand of the State Government to abrogate the pact with the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) and the Kuki National Army (KNA) ?

Question which only Delhi can answer but this should give substance to the growing accusation against the Assam Rifles of overlooking the offensives of the Kuki militants during the height of the conflict.

This is perhaps one reason why Delhi has never, ever questioned from where the guns and ammunition being used by the Kuki militants have come.

Amit Shah has already talked tough about the arms looted from the police armouries in the valley districts and while this is taking cognizance of the gravity of the situation, one wonders why not a word has been said about the guns and bombs that are used to fire at the Meitei settlements at the foothills.

From where have the guns come from ? Isn’t this also a question that should be raised ?

For over 17 months the clash has dragged on and it would not be overstating to surmise that it is now more a case of ‘being allowed to drag on’ rather than just dragging on.

There has to be a reason on how an ethnic clash can drag on for such a long period of time and the question is whether the political leadership at Imphal has ever raised this question ?

Is Imphal able to answer why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not deemed it fit to grant an audience to the political leaders of the State even now ?

During the initial period of the clash, the Prime Minister had stated that Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been tasked with the job of overseeing the issue in Manipur, but the fact that the clash has dragged on for more than 17 months should more than say that this approach has not worked.

So is there a Plan B ?

No one expects an answer but these are questions which Imphal should seriously study and raise before the mandarins of Delhi.

This is not the time to fall back on the line that border fencing has started (or has been promised), the Free Movement Regime has been suspended and the offensive from across the border has been acknowledged.

Manipur needs more than this.