Unacceptable points spelt out : What will be acceptable ?
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 11 2018 -

What will be acceptable ?

This has not been spelt out in black and white while what is not acceptable has been spelt out succinctly and this is - The final agreement inked between the NSCN (IM) and the Government should not impinge on the interests of Manipur in any manner and this includes the territorial integrity of the State and the identity of Manipur as a full fledged State of the Union of India.

Explicit in this stand is the point that any sort of autonomy on the basis of ethnicity will not be tolerated.

These points have been spelt out for years now and one just has to recall the people’s uproar back in 2001 when the Bangkok Declaration inserted the words ‘without territorial limits’ in the cease fire agreement between India and the NSCN (IM).

Without territorial limits meant that the cease fire will be enforced in all areas where the NSCN (IM) holds sway and this in a way was giving the thumbs up signal to the demand of the Naga outfit to unite all Naga inhabited areas under one administrative unit, thereby dismembering the territories of the neighbouring States.

And it stands that of the three States which stand to be affected, Manipur will bear the brunt.

It is against this design to appease a particular armed outfit, representing a particular ethnic group that the All Manipur United Clubs Organisation (AMUCO) and United Committee, Manipur have made it clear that they will oppose any ethnic based pact or agreement that seeks to please any particularly ethnic group at the cost of Manipur as a socio-political reality.

The highly secretive nature of the Framework Agreement has only added to the anxiety of the people and it is because of this why voices of apprehension continue to reverberate despite the assurance of the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister earlier.

Now with the Great June Uprising, Unity Day fast approaching, one can expect to hear more from the people who stand by the idea of Manipur as a social-political reality.

With talks doing the round that the final agreement may be signed any time in the near future, there will be more apprehension with each passing day.

It is here that the Congress too has been mobilising the opinion of the people with a series of meeting not so long back.

The pressure on the BJP led Government at Imphal can be imagined and the question is whether it can effectively use its office to convey the stand of the people to the Centre.

On the other hand, something has to be given to the NSCN (IM) or else the meaning of the peace talk which has dragged on for nearly twenty years now will fall flat on its face and the Government of India certainly cannot afford to have the talks getting derailed.

The interesting question is, what is that something that will be acceptable to the people of Manipur ?

Tough to say for this is something which has not been explicitly spelt out, but it would be in the interest of all not to let rabble rousers come into the limelight in the coming days.

This is a crucial period and everyone need to think coolly and study what may be acceptable for what is unacceptable has already been spelt out many times earlier.