Onus definitely on PM to restore peace in state
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: March 22, 2024 -

WITH exception of consoling people directly affected by the ethnic conflict and assuring to deliver justice to the victims, there is remote chance of the opposition INDIA bloc able to bring an end to the violence in Manipur.

Nevertheless, it is heartening that an MP team of the INDIA alliance partners had visited the state during the peak of the violence last year and interacted with the internally displaced people to assess their plight and gravity of the situation, and they, as well as the BjP central leaders, are most likely to be visible and audible again as the Lok Sabha election is round the corner.

Having met with a number of violence-affected people taking shelter in relief centres in the Kuki-populated Churachandpur district and in the valley districts, the political elites are certain to have had at-least an inkling about the devastation caused to both lives and properties due to the clashes and continuous tension.

Among others, Congress parliamentarian Gaurav Gogoi from Assam, while sympathising with plight of the displaced people staying in relief camps in Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts, emphasised on restoration of normalcy so as to enable the displaced people return to the their ancestral homes at the earliest possible, which till this day seems infeasible as there has been no respite from attacks and counter-attacks in the peripheral valley and hill villages.

The fact that a shooting incident occurred soon after the MP team crossed overto Bishnupur district from Churachandpur testified firm resolve of at-least one of the parties in conflict to exert pressure on the centre to cede to its demands, which is separate administration for the Chin-Kuki communities and imposition of President's Rule in Manipur or resignation of chief minister N Bi-ren, who the Kukis continue to allege is orchestrating the violence perpetrated by the Meeteis, contrary to Kuki civil societies and village leaders calling the chief minister as pro-tribal administrator, as could be comprehended from making it a point to invite him for cultural festivals and institutional events held even in remote and far-flung villages in the state prior to outbreak of the violence in May 2023.

However, such affection and fondness of N Biren among the Kuki-Chin communities totally dissipated as the chief minister launched vigorous campaigns against poppy plantation and eviction of encroachers from protected and reserved forest areas in Kuki-populated hill areas.

The first few years of the aforementioned campaigns even evoked positive response as many chiefs of Kuki villages exchanged pleasantries with the chief minister and pledged to prohibit poppy cultivation in areas under their respective jurisdiction.

Thus, among other reasons the anti-Biren narrative deepens the suspicion that the large-scale poppy decimation drive has hit hard the drug cartel consequently inciting Kuki miscreants as well as armed organisations to target the Meetei people with the obvious objective to exert pressure on the chief minister to rethink his anti-drug campaign.

Amid such deeply polarised and complex situation Manipur is passing through, Gaurav Gogoi had rightly said that the onus to stop the violence in the state rest on Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with conceding that the most that the opposition parties could do to highlight the turmoil in the state is to create ruckus in the parliament, that too at the risk of seeing its alliance members marshalled out of the house on disciplinary ground.

However, observing the ground reality of digging trenches in the peripheral villages, setting up of bunkers and frequent attacks and counter-attacks becoming the new normal in the state, it is unlikely that even the stringiest of warning by PM Modi to the warring communities to refrain from acts of violence would see de-escalation of tension unless the centre could work out a solution acceptable to both the parties in dispute or issue firm instruction to security forces operating in the state to act as per the law of the land, but most importantly without any signs of complicity.

There is even more urgency to resolve the humanitarian crisis in the state especially with the ensuing Lok Sabha elections having the potential to widen the rift as the political class have the tendency to exploit socio-political instability in any region.