Framing surrender schemes : Understanding the road map to peace
- Sangai Express Editorial :: August 03, 2013 -

Surrender and rehabilitation scheme for militants.

This is the mantra that Delhi seems to be banking on if the formulation of a special scheme for surrender-cum-rehabilitation of militants in the State is anything to go by.

A road map to peace ?

Perhaps Delhi and the political establishment in Manipur would like to trump this as one, but it would not harm anyone’s interest to remind all the stake holders that the road to peace will be dotted with treacherous terrain.

Something which will prove much more difficult than using dynamites and bull dozers to make a motorable stretch of road along the Imphal-Jiribam stretch of National Highway-37.

This is just an analogy, but an attempt to illustrate that the road map to peace will need something much more concrete than framing surrender policies along with the addendum of rehabilitating the militants.

Delhi and Imphal need to seriously study how successfully it can take the people along with the idea of peace that has been peddled around the theme of surrender and rehabilitation.

Peace, obviously this is something which everyone in Manipur, who have been at the receiving end of the unacknowledged conflict situation here, would crave for.

However the important point is how committed is the political leadership of the land to take the people along with the idea of peace that has been bandied around.

If the understanding of peace does not move beyond the question of holding surrender ceremonies and rehabilitation schemes then be sure that the idea of peace would stand defeated.

As things have unfolded, with each group that surrenders, there arises a splinter group or a new group under a new nomenclature claiming that there is no question of laying down arms.

A sure sign that what is palatable to some may not be so to others.

There is also the all important question of whether the groups which have come forward have actually agreed to talk under the conviction that political dialogue is the only way out, or because they have no choice.

If it is the latter, then the road map to peace will pass through more treacherous terrain.

The situation is complex, more so in the presence of so many competing forces, each with their own agenda.

This is where Delhi and Imphal will need to tread cautiously and at the risk of repeating a point that has been raised more than once here, on whose behalf are the groups going to negotiate with the Government ?

Spin doctors, Delhi and to an extent, Imphal, have them in plenty. But it should be kept in mind that slogans and propaganda can have only have a limited appeal and impact.

Other than the surrender and rehabilitation schemes that have been worked out, what other steps is Delhi preparing to hold meaningful political dialogues with the militant groups which have agreed to talk.

More importantly, how does it propose to approach the other groups which have stoically refused to come to the negotiating table ?

In addressing this question, it is important to keep in mind that the groups in Manipur which have refused to come to the negotiating table are perceived by the people and the establishment as the major groups, their influence reaching down to the grass root level.

Go ahead with the surrender-cum-rehabilitation schemes and programmes, but mistaking this as the sole road map to peace in Manipur would be missing the trees for the woods.

Tackle and address the political issues which in the first place led to the formation of these armed groups. This is where the litmus test lies.

This is where political sincerity, coupled with the conviction that there is something more than just the armed movement, is needed.

Maybe a leaf may be taken out from the observation of former Union Home Secretary GK Pillai, wherein he said that an apology from the Government of India to the people of Manipur is in line.

A blunt but bold statement that blunders have been committed in the past.

That Delhi has not responded or even given the indication that it has acknowledged the observation of Mr Pillai is pregnant with meaning.