Is insurgency only reason for Manipur’s backwardness?
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: February 16, 2022 -

UNARGUABLY, the BJP-led government at the centre has been doing everything at its disposal to accelerate the pace of development in the northeast region with the ultimate aim to weaken the insurgency movement afflicting some of the states.

While underdevelopment of the north-eastern states is being often cited as one of the factors for the insurgency groups waging war against the establishment, for Manipur the conflict situation could be inferred as expression of outright rejection of the forcible annexation of the erstwhile sovereign kingdom into the Indian Union.

Obviously, efforts to placate the active insurgency outfits and bring them to the negotiating table wouldn’t fructify overnight with mere developmental packages and infrastructural changes are unlikely to impress leaders of the active armed groups, which have been consistently asserting that nothing less than regaining the lost sovereignty would suffice.

Nevertheless, the incumbent Union government has demonstrated that it is not averse to holding talks to iron out the differences with any banned organisations as could be comprehended from defence minister Rajnath Singh declaring that the Centre is ready to talk with the insurgent groups of the northeast to resolve their issues.

The clarion call for shunning the path of violence and creating conducive environment to start the negotiation process might have been raised from a political platform, but Rajnath’s statement that the government always wants to end the violence permanently rung out the message that the Centre is open to discussing all outstanding issues so as to focus on taking the northeast to an era of peace, development and prosperity.

As stated by the defence minister the government is always prepared to talk with the rebel outfits for a lasting solution to the insurgency issues and to stop violence in Manipur and other north-eastern states permanently.

Along with exhorting the rebel outfits to come forward for holding talk with the government for resolving their problems, Rajnath stressed that violence must stop to facilitate developmental projects and welfare schemes take flight to benefit the people.

Among others, setting up a dedicated ministry for the northeast during the prime ministership of late Atal Bihari Vajpayee continues to be touted as a testament of the government’s commitment to expedite development in the region.

However, whenever the region faces issues pertaining to infrastructural development the national and state level leaders of BJP make it a point to refer to insurgency as the main deterrent.

Notably, the union minister acknowledged that ‘terror’ violence has been largely controlled in Manipur under the dynamic leadership of chief minister N Biren Singh, which in turn signifies that insurgency problem can’t be an excuse if the state remains bereft of development in the real sense.

If at all the government authorities believe that Manipur has been witnessing lesser number of insurgency related incidents with the coming of BJP government in the state then there seems to be no justifiable reason why Manipur should lag behind in development and continues to look up to the centre for funding almost every project and scheme deemed necessary to make all sections of the society live life with dignity.