June 18 : More than territorial integrity : Pressure of pulls and pushes
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 18, 2012 -

The Great June Uprising Day Observation :: June 18 2011

Territorial integrity of Manipur is central to the idea of taking June 18 to the realm of an annual calendar event. This much is true.

However the real significance of the day extends beyond territoriality and has come to mean something much more profound than mere land, which in its ultimate analysis is nothing much more than the six feet by six feet area that is normally associated with the space that a man or a woman is entitled to once their journey on earth is completed.

The need to address the intense pressure of pulls and pushes that has emerged between different communities perhaps sums up the significance of this observation aptly.

Ever since the NSCN (IM) floated the idea of a Greater Lim and after the then BJP led NDA Government gave the go ahead signal to incorporate the phrase, 'without territorial limit' in the ceasefire agreement between the Naga rebel group and the Government of India, on June 14, 2001, the idea of Manipur as a social and political entity has come under severe strain.

Manipur can never be understood only through the prism of an intact territory.

It goes beyond this and encapsulates the lofty ideal of all communities living together in a spirit of bonhomie and cordiality. Observing June 18 sans the idea of social harmony and peaceful co-existence would be blasphemy to the very idea and existence of Manipur.

Ignoring this vital point would amount to playing into the hands of the forces which are inimical to the interest of the people and the land. Manipur has never been the same since the June 18 uprising and if 2001 gave a new dimension to the call for protecting the territorial integrity of Manipur, latter instances have also gone on to demonstrate how the call for a Greater Lim has undergone different avatars and impacted on the lives of the common people.

From a stand that was understood and seen as being espoused by an armed group, the NSCN (IM), the baton for a Greater Lim has gradually passed onto the civil society organisations, ostensibly representing the interests of the Naga people of Manipur.

And so it was that in 2005 Manipur experienced one of her first marathon economic blockades of 52 days imposed by the All Naga Association, Manipur to protest the decision of the State Government to declare a general holiday on June 18 the same year under the theme 'Integrity Day'.

This was followed by the 63 days economic blockade in 2010 and even as preparations have been finalised to observe June 18 this year, the 48 hours bandh called by the United Naga Council to demand an Alternative Arrangement for the Nagas of Manipur has entered its second day.

The polarisation that the Lim demand has spawned is indeed deep and from a political demand put forward by a rebel outfit in dialogue with the Government of India, it has today seeped into the civil and social space.

June 18 should be a day to deliberate on how to blunt the challenges that are being hurled in the direction of Manipur.

If the Lim divide is deep then June 18 should be the filler to bridge the divide.

This fundamental idea should not be lost on the people who believe and swear by the idea of Manipur as a social and political entity.

Paying respect to the departed souls should ideally translate into strengthening the oneness of the people, without losing sight of the unique diversity of each and every single community.