Breaking the impasse

Lt Gen Konsam Himalay Singh *

As the conflict situation in Manipur is completing fifteen months on 03 July, speculations are rife about possibility of stronger measures being contemplated by the Central leadership to bring about some breakthrough to the impasse. To most people, stronger measures could mean PR, more aggressive combing operations to recover illegal weapons, or even a review of the political climate.

The media did not report any such “stronger” measures in the aftermath of the recently concluded security meeting called by the HM and attended by the Army Chief and the Chief Designate, the Corps Commander, the Chief Secretary, the Security Advisor and others. The said meeting also generated much media debate about the reasons for the absence of the Chief Minister.

It is also believed that the 100 day program of the new Government will ensure a more proactive response from the Central leadership on the Manipur issue. Be that as it may, I do believe that a genuine effort to curb and possibly resolve the crisis should be expected soon, for it cannot be any other way.

Having reached the inflection point, we can ill afford any further delay in any genuine and truthful actions to regain some semblance of confidence in governance in the entire State. The slippery slopes of the path to any resolution in our area are well known to many serious observers and commentators today.

However, it is my firm belief that it is time to catch the bull by the horns. If such an action do create a few unwelcome short term ripples, so be it, as long as the future is safeguarded in the long run for all.

There could be two broad approach strategies towards any reconciliation among the affected parties. The first one will be for the authorities to assume that the beginning has to be from the two communities themselves aided by the Central authorities. This kind of thinking will possibly originate from people who look at the crisis from a straight line view such as communal or law and order prism.

It appears that this approach has been in force till now. The other approach could be that the Central leadership should act more proactively since the two communities involved have so far not been amenable to talk with each other even if the Central leadership has been nudging them to do so for quite some time now.

The second view is likely to be from people who look at the issues from a National security angle as well as from those who consider deep rooted and contested pasts and future of the State/the region. There is no clarity on which approach is being attempted by the authorities going by the media reports and the ground situation at large.

Conflict resolution mechanism in any situation is never a black and white strategy. Shades of grey exist amidst the complex interplay of historical and socio-economic maze. But political and National security angle should remain the primary interests of the authorities.

In my view, at the heart of the crisis is the narratives over the last two decades which give rise to a very serious challenge to the idea of Manipur, its historical legacy, the law of the land from the pre-merger times, post merger, and post Statehood periods. The cocktail also includes aspirations of all 34 ethnic groups, their identity and perceived threats thereof.

Now, therefore, time has indeed come to lay bare and analyze the historical facts (not the imagined or constructed), the laws of the land pre and post merger periods, with far more transparency, truthfulness and discuss issues on the table by the affected parties. The affected party here also includes the federal Government too since the issue is slowly inching towards a serious National security and border management issue as well.

It is no time to hide behind political compulsions, if there is any, and ride on unsubstantiated and manufactured claims and counter claims while hiding behind non existent history and laws. Let us lay bare the facts about the so called land issues, the forests rights, the records of populations of yore and till date across the table.

Let us also not run away from facing the realities of ill governance, corruptions at various levels at the costs of the common people, alleged unlawful activities by those who were tasked to make and enforce the law over the years due to which the present and future generations of all the ethnic groups are destined to bear the brunt.

If a law can be passed to prosecute cheating in exams and punish the culprits with long jail term, I don’t see any reason why massive looting, drug smugglers and their masters, massive bribery and corruptions which could potentially destroy communities, a State or threaten National security should not be tried expeditiously and jailed too.

There is a need for the Central Government to be more actively engaged in the process of peace making, sooner the better. A fresh peace committee with suitable composition is the need of the hour to begin with. The earlier composition of the peace committee comprising of over 50 members was considered to be cumbersome.

This committee should thoroughly examine the real or imaginary grievances from all sides to bring about commonality of approach towards a resolution of the conflict situation. A clear strategy and “end State” need to be communicated and understood by all the security agencies who are operating on the ground to allay any fears or suspicions among the groups.

While the security forces have done their job well in managing the conflict managements, there is a need now to act towards “conflict resolution” stage by the political authorities and security agencies. The stakes are too high for the people of the State. Any delay will seriously impact the regional and National security given the instability in the neighborhood.

The conflict resolution stage will need a very authentic, forceful yet lawful and humanitarian approach with a very high degree of Statecraft by the authorities involved. Disarming the illegal weapons in the hands of militant groups among both sides will be the key issue. I do believe that the Central agencies do have adequate leverage to make some of the leaders on both sides to agree to talk with each other to begin with.

Social media activists many of whom propagate hate and agenda driven visuals are one of the biggest culprits towards spreading and the continuation of the undesirable situation be restrained. Awareness of the ills of motivated social media related to the violence among the youth need to be taken up.

Suspicious nature of the people at large further complicate the matter where the common people find it difficult to separate the facts from the lies being spread. The envisaged peace committee will do well to bring out the truth for a better reconciliation approach. I don’t agree with a few who believe that the absolute truth of will be difficult to find.

The priority should be to resettle many thousands of displaced people from their homes, and restore their right to property wherever they may be. An accurate assessment of the actual socio-economic ground conditions of the forcefully displaced people should be initiated to ensure seamless assistance from the Government.

Religious or ethnic colour should be avoided while dealing with such sensitive matters no matter what the narratives from the anti-social elements are. Finally, it has to be a sincere and well intended move of the Govt approach (both State and Central) alongside the civil societies that can bring about a beginning to an end to the current impasse.