Movement Impossible

Hejang Misao *

An Insurgent Outfit from Manipur in 2009 : Pix - TSE

When North East India is mention in any discussion two things always transpire: natural beauty and insur-gency. The former becomes a boon but the latter as bane if the global competition for economic growth is to be taken into consideration, which also is the cornerstone for the overall development. Among the north east states with the exception of Sikkim, the lone brother of the seven sisters, the rest are affected by insurgency movement in one form or the other, the intensity and gravity differ though.

One knows the region either by its natural beauties (flora, fauna and greenery landscape) or the infamous insurgency or both. There is always a mixed response by the outsider to the North East India – admire or fear, or both. People, all and sundry, industries, companies and the likes are in fact attracted by its beauties both natural and cultural, and rich minerals deposit but dare not to venture out here and invest. Tourists avoid the region fearing lost of lives, as a results money inflow has been diverted to others. Its beauties, rich resources and the opportunity to develop at par with other states of India perhaps are sabotage by the so called insurgency movement.

The saddest thing is the government’s development failures or systems ineffectiveness, insurgency be- comes the scapegoat and the end result is the region lags far behind in development, ultimately the common people are the one who bore the brunt.

The most enduring threat of insurgency, without any controversy, is damage to human potentials and growth especially the youth. Besides the natural beauties and the colourful cultures, North East is galore with talented youth which is left unexplored and untapped. The irony is these talented youths hardly find space to grow optimally.

The insurgent outfits in the North-East region of India can be categorised into four kinds depending on their purposes/demand. They are
(i) Secessionist outfits,
(ii) Outfits demanding separate State,
(iii) Outfits demanding Autonomous District Councils (ADCs)
(iv) outfits for reunification of the tribe and protection from being overruled by others tribe.

No doubt they stand for the people and the movement big or small is for the people, less by the people though. In the process of the movement varied strategies are applied and series of agitations are being carried out to make their voice loud and clear to those in power. The tragic thing is that lots of collateral damages haves been done which are perhaps beyond healing.

The movements are noble indeed, but I called it movement impossible because any movement sans the masses is bound to fail. Revolutionary leaders in the north east need to look back the history of successful movements where even kings, emperors etc. are topple down and replaced with people centre government. Mr. Gandhi is a stark example, keep aside those movements abroad. The notion that power lies in the barrel has been proven wrong umpteen time and it will be folly from any person to keep on believing it. The real power lies in the masses.

What I have seen in the north east is that most of the movements (not all), so far, are the movements of the underground groups (outlaw) and there is hardly any sense of ownership by the people rather they live in continuous fear and insecurity. The negative fallout is the sharp division among the communities with high communal feeling leading to a close community. For every incident is followed by bandh or strike that hamper every day activities. Sadly plans cannot be made, bandh always cripple life.

Movement impossible can become movement (im)possible when the letter I is deleted and replace with WE, and when the letter M becomes MASS, in simple word when one man movement turns into mass movement. Nothing on earth can stop us from achieving our goals when we stand together and fight in unison.

The bottom line is how? Let this question be left for the revolutionary leaders to answer.

Another way of Movement Possible is One Movement for the whole North East by shedding off pride, prejudice, lion share and domination mentality, where all communities and their underground groups stand together and fight unitedly with an agreement that every community needs will be taken care of once the goal is achieve.

Or stop fighting at all against Indian government or cease anti-India movements and support all the development activities for the best growth and development of the region and communities. At the same time let the Indian government also stop her further divide and rule policy in the north east region and work with love for all communities equally. For as much as the live of the other Indians is valued, so should be to the live of the northeastern people because they are bonafide Indians.

Choose which way to go. Everybody is fed up with the life difficulties in the region.