Spawning deep ethnic divide : Worshipping false heroes
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: January 03, 2013 -

Look ahead. This is natural, stepping into a brand new year. But what to look ahead to ?

Seriously, can the people look forward to better governance and accountability of the people who helm the affairs of the State ?

The glass may be seen as half full or half empty but there are issues which will continue to dog the State in 2013 too.

Not very clear what the Alternative Arrangement for the Nagas of Manipur, pending a settlement to the Indo-Naga issue, is all about, but this is one issue which will crop up, probably before the Nagaland State Legislative Assembly election scheduled for some time in March this year.

Kuki State or greater autonomy for Kuki inhabited areas. This one too is not very clear as the Kuki National Organisation and United People's Front, the two umbrella organisations which are signatories to the Suspension of Operation pact with Delhi and Imphal, seem to have diverging viewpoints.

What however is abundantly clear is the fact that both do not want anything to do with the Government of Manipur.

The United Naga Council, which is spearheading the demand for an Alternative Arrangement has even gone to the extent of dubbing the Government of Manipur, communal and this is saying a lot, for this by itself means that it identifies the State Government with a particular community.

What is also clear is that the two appear to be heading on a collision course, with the maps telling significant stories.

On the other hand is of course, the majority Meiteis, who have made it clear that any effort to compromise with the identity of the geo-political entity called Manipur would not be tolerated.

The ethnic division indeed runs deep and disturbingly came to the fore on issues which should have united the people, cutting across ethnic affiliations, such as crimes against women.

The lessons from the fag end of 2012 should not go unheeded.

The days of street protests against the molestation of a film actress in Imphal, the bandh imposed in the hill areas shortly after, the tension that followed after two hunters were killed by cadres of an outlawed organisation, are all indicators of how a spark can ignite a cauldron and shake the foundation of the Manipur that we know.

Not a healthy trend by any yardstick. Not the time for sloganeering, which has since lost its appeal.

Time now for all right thinking people to come together and see how differences can be worked out without whipping up communal passion.

Not an easy task, but definitely not impossible either.

It should be clear to all that situation has come to such a pass because opportunities were provided to rabble rousers, whose only claim to fame would be to sow the seeds of distrust and discord.

Create an enemy, a foe and then magnify them as the biggest stumbling block to the supposed aspirations of the people. This is the formula that has been honed and perfected by these elements.

Throw in a Government to whom governance means clamping curfews and the perfect recipe is there to prepare a disaster that could spell doom not only for the people but for the place called Manipur.

To make 2013 meaningful and productive, these elements should be banished to the political wilderness.

Worshipping false heroes has been the bane of Manipur for too long.