Action speaks louder than words

Ngaranmi Shimray *

Mr GK Pillai in a lecture at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA) had stated that when politicians from Manipur come to the Delhi, including the Chief Minister, they never discuss the problems of Manipur, but ask for funds for various things and when they get it they are very happy and go back to the State. He stated that he has not seen any significant discussion on any issue.

He mentioned few cases of Central interventions sought by Manipur Government which are fire fighting issues in nature relating to highway blockade and Mr Th Muivah’s visit to his village, but never for discussions on real issues.

He further stated that the Centre is not very worried as long as ten or twenty people are killed in a year and extortion is of minor nature and that is the political perspective of the Central Government. Basically, it may be inferred that the Central Government will tolerate the law and order situation upto a certain extent and may intervene only if the situation gets out of control.

Mr Pillai is considered one of the few bureaucrats who understood the problems of the North Eastern region, especially the problem of insurgency in Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. He gained extensive insight into the psyche of the leaders, politicians and people of these States in his numerous engagements with them when he worked in the Ministry of Home Affairs for many years.

He hit the nail in the head in the one minute sound bite and is absolutely right when he stated that politicians have nothing in their head other than money. He implied that Manipur politicians have not broached contentious issues, but are worried only for funds. Contentious issues could include the Sixth Schedule demand for Hill Areas and Indo-Naga Peace talks and their ramification in respect of Manipur.

These issues are not raised by Manipur politicians and are swept under the carpet as the approach of the dominant community of Manipur is to oppose and deny the demands of the tribes so long as they can do that. Their objective is never to discuss the demands and face the consequences come what may. The unspoken objective of the dominant community who control the Government is to keep the tribals suppressed.

Mr Pillai pointed out another weakness of the people of Manipur which is greed for money. The politicians of Manipur feel that everything will be fine if money is given to the State. The mentality that everything can be solved with money and is the panacea to all ills is embeded in the minds of not only some politicians, but with many people in the society.

If money is pumped in by the Central Government, many of the leaders and people will bury the hatchet to make hay while the sun shines and wait to fight another day. Procrastination is an art and it has been used successfully by politicians of Manipur to dodge fundamental issues for discussion and wait for resolution for another day.

The phrase 'Actions Speak Louder than Words' means that what you do is more significant than what you say. Don't tell me how to do this; show me the outcome. Take for instance the demand of the tribes living in the Hill Areas of Manipur for extension of the Sixth Schedule.

The Manipur Government forwarded a recommendation to the Central Government for extension of the Sixth Schedule to the Hill Areas with conditionality and when asked to clarify what it meant by conditionality, the State Government never bothered to reply to it.

What is troublesome right now for Manipur is not the need for funds which will come later when situation is conducive for implementation on the ground, but the sincerity of the State Government in resolving outstanding issues and one of them is for empowerment of the Hill Areas of Manipur under Article 244-A.

One of the solutions for the current Manipur conflict between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo could be to grant territorial council under Article 244-A to the tribes of Manipur, i.e. the Kuki-Zo and the Nagas too, and a simple recommendation from the State Government to the Central Government is sufficient to start the ball rolling.

However, the Meitei dominated State Government will hang on to this bargaining chip to deny what the hill tribes are seeking till they feel sufficiently threatened by break-up of the State. Even when they are cornered, they will negotiate to squeeze out the best bargain for themselves before they concede to the demand.

As GK Pillai seems to allude in the lecture, politicians will ultimately settle for a huge amount of funds, partly in the form of projects and rest in untied funds, before nodding their heads.

Like Mizoram, which is an island of peace after the implementation of Mizoram Accord, the people of Manipur would wish for a peaceful settlement within the territorial boundary of the State. But things are changing fast. The dominant community is worried that they may soon find themselves reduced to minority population on account of rapid population growth of the tribes.

This fear is not unfounded as the tribes are still very backward and their poverty and reliance on labour intensive income has spurred higher population growth. The implementation of NRC (National Register of Citizens) may reduce the number of tribal population to a few extent, but not significantly to impact the tribal vs non-tribal population equation.

Further, NRC is a complicated process which will take years before actual deportation of foreigners/immigrants take place.

However, as a consequence of the backwardness of the Hill Areas inhabited by the improvised tribes, it is feared that tribal population will continue to grow at a pace higher than the population growth in the valley districts and this situation will certainly result in changing the demography equation of Manipur in a few decades.

Under such evolving situation the question that comes to mind is the need for prudence on the part of the dominant community as to whether it will be wise to keep on opposing the demand of the tribes for extension of the Sixth Schedule in the Hill Areas and risk fragmentation of Manipur or whether it may serve them better for the long run cordial relationship by exercising the option of dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues with the tribes now.

The latter approach will obviate the risk of acrimonious relationship intensifying and result in a more harmonious relationship amongst all communities of the State.

Actions speak louder than words. The tribes are keenly watching the strategy likely to be adopted by the dominant community and their action now may decide the destiny of Manipur.

Truth is like a surgery.
It hurts,
but it heals.
A lie is like a painkiller.
It gives instant relief,
but has side effects
forever.