Biren should learn from Mamata Banerjee

Halley Nongmaithem *

CM N Biren at the 126th Patriots' Day at BT Park, Imphal on 13th August 2017 :: Pix - DIPR

There is no second opinion that the Gorkhas are known for their valour. What is discomfiting, however, is the way how they have chosen the path i.e. of violence and bloodshed to negotiate their demand of a separate Gorkhaland.

While the Bengali language and the ‘forceful’ compulsory implementation order in West Bengal schools in the hills may have sparked off their present furore, granting a statehood to the Gorkhas based on sporadic violence and coercion would set a bad precedence if at all the Govt.of India grant statehood to the Gorkhas just because they are causing nuisance and affecting normal lives.

India is a big country and there are many minorities who are at present demanding for statehood. Solution through political means and not through violence should be the way to go about it.

If it is politically viable, granting a statehood should go through all the political procedure and weigh the pros and cons and hence thereafter be taken up for consideration.

In this time of information age, when there are no longer barriers and when the whole nation celebrates and mourns a win or a defeat ,to again divide oneself based on the narrow criteria and thus shedding blood isn’t the way to a political solution and the Gorkhas should keep this in mind by now.

More importantly, the case of the Gorkhas’s demand and the Biren Singh’s resolution to safeguard the territorial integrity can be read together.

The Gorkhas are a minority in the state of West Bengal, likewise, numerous communities in Manipur are asking for a slice of the state to fulfill each of the minor aspirations for a cultural identity of their own.

While it is fair to demand a bigger role in the socio-cultural activities of the state by the lesser dominant communities, we can learn much from how the Mamata Baneerjee government put up the non-negotiable stand on the territorial integrity in the midst of a minority furore.

Although, it is a welcome move by the Biren Singh Government to uphold the territorial integrity of Manipur in the Assembly last month-a move to follow his predecessor- what is increasingly seen as uneasy from some quarters is whether the new government will succumb to the demand of further autonomy to the minorities in a move to appease them.

Also, with the recently concluded celebration of the 2nd anniversary of the Framework Agreement between the BJP-led central government and the NSCN-IM in Ukhrul, it is only fair to be perturbed by the silence of the Biren Singh Government on this issue.

The Framework Agreement is feared by many nationalist Manipuris and anxiously awaits a word of assurance from the BJP-led state government to come out strongly against any hints of dismantling the territorial integrity of Manipur.

In this time of action, what the people of Manipur need is a leadership of the kind of Mamata Baneerjee that can go against the will of the centre & other state and non-state actors to safeguard the territorial integrity of her state.

Thus, Biren Singh will gain much trust if he could learn something from the chief minister of West Bengal.