Making an impact, but of a different kind : Visit of Mr Rio and the contradictions
- Sangai Express Editorial :: March 28, 2014 -

File Pix: Nephiu Rio campaigning for NPF candidates in Manipur's Hill districts :: January 21, 2012

He is certainly not a small man by any stretch of the imagination.

From being the Chief Minister of Nagaland for the third time on the trot to being the convenor of the North East Regional Parties Forum to now ready to step into National politics, a much bigger canvass, Mr Rio is certainly a towering political figure.

Yet at the same time there are bound to be questions raised over his vision.

He did make an impact when he landed at Mao to kickstart the election campaign of NPF candidate in Outer Manipur Parliamentary Constituency, Soso Lorho on March 26 but in the process he also contradicted himself on a number of points, which would not have missed the eyes and ears of the keen observers.

There was something grandiose in his announcement that the Naga People's Front is no longer an exclusive Naga party but is now a political party for the whole North East.

More than enough indication that Mr Rio made this observation or statement in his role and capacity as the convenor of the North East Regional Parties Forum, a conglomerate body of ten regional political organisations from the North East.

In a sense this may be right since the NPF has already crossed the boundary of Nagaland and made inroads into Manipur and is now eyeing Arunachal Pradesh.

But the failure to draw the fine dividing line between being the head of the NPF and convenor of the North East Regional Parties Forum became clear when he stated that the fundamental issue in the North East is the Naga issue and its solution.

Where does this leave the Bodos, the Kukis, the Assamese and the Meiteis, just to name four ethnic groups ? Are the issues concerning these ethnic groups secondary to the Naga issue ? Or is Mr Rio falling back on the cleverly coined phrase, 'Mother of all insurgencies' with reference to the Naga armed groups which dates back to the 50s and the 1951 Plebiscite ? The manner in which he contradicted himself is too obvious and it would not be wrong to conclude that in as much as he may be stepping into National politics, his seeming failure to get out of the Naga centric approach will not be missed on anyone who has some interest in the political developments of the region.

The Sangai Express is not an apologist for Mr Ibobi, for governance it at its pit and in his more than ten years in office, he could have done something much, much more than what is seen to the naked eye.

Was Mr Rio referring to Ibobi's failure to turn the massive mandate the Congress received into governance or was he referring to the Chief Minister of Manipur as enemy number I vis-a-vis some particular ethnic group/s ? It sounds more like the latter and we wonder whether this would not fall into the category of hate speech, pitting one man and by extension one community against another.

Perhaps the office of the Chief Electoral Officer should take note of this.

Again Mr Rio contradicted himself when he said that all the people of Nagaland are treated equally with opportunities made available to everyone.

For instance he took the example of the Kuki people who are settled there.

This is not only undesirable but also dangerous, dangerous in the sense that in stating this he was obliquely referring to Nagaland as the exclusive homeland of the Nagas.

No State or territory can be the sole 'property' of one ethnic group, though it may be named after the largest group of people settled there.

On the other hand, a gentle reminder may be in line here.

If all the citizens of Nagaland are treated equally, then why has a sizeable number of people raised the voice of a separate State under the banner of the Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation ? Mr Rio should first look at his own court yard before pointing fingers at others.

No doubt Mr Rio has outdone the other political leaders in Manipur, but has he really emerged as a leader of the region ? Judging from what he had to say at Mao on March 26, the answer would be a big no.

The bottom line is, he is yet to come out from his Naga centric approach.

The failure of the NPF to nominate its candidate in the Inner Manipur PC should tell a story of its own.