Making peace pacts infamous : Flouting the ground rules
- Sangai Express Editorial :: June 25, 2013 -

Ceasefire pact. Cessation of hostility. Suspension of Operation.

Terms which have become more or less infamous.

Infamous because these terms have come to the fore more for its violations than its adherence. The K Songlung encounter, in which six cadres of the Khaplang faction of the NSCN were slain by security forces of the 10 Assam Rifles and 73 Loktak Brigade is a case in point.

Technically the cease fire pact inked between the NSCN (K) and the Government of India is not in force on the soil of Manipur.

Seen from this perspective nothing much may be read into the confrontation that led to the death of the six cadres of the said outfit.

But there is the need to look beyond the geography of the cease fire pact. A need to look at the framework within which the ceasefire is supposed to be observed and adhered to.

This is where the question of how cadres of the outfit and ostensibly armed to the teeth were found moving around in an area that does not come under the ambit of the ceasefire agreement.

It is a given that any agreement or pact signed between any two entities should be within a framework, a framework, which lays down the basics.

In the context of the numerous pacts signed between different outfits and Delhi in the past few years, this framework has taken on the term, ground rules.

It is for this very reason why there are Ceasefire Monitoring Cells, of both the rebel groups and the Government.

It is here that focus needs to be shifted to the ground rules in the face of the K Songlung encounter.

The bare understanding of ground rules, as seen today, entails setting up designated camps, depositing all the arms at a marked place where the keys and locks are in the possession of both the rebels and the Government agencies, restricting the movement of the cadres, especially with arms etc.

How sincerely and religiously have these bare minimum ground rules been followed, is the natural question that follows.

It is not only about the NSCN (K), but about all the other groups which have agreed to engage with the Government.

The one day bandh called at Dimapur just a few days back to protest the ‘taxes’ imposed by different players, read underground outfits which are in peace pacts with the Government, indicated just the tip of the iceberg of extortion networks run by these outfits.

The ‘taxes’ levied on the National Highways, the cuts from contract works, the taxes imposed on the salaries of Government employees and of course the chit of paper or letter heads of these outfits delivered at the gate of the traders and businessmen, quoting figures to be coughed up, are all indications of the farce that has been passed off as the ground rules.

Just a few days back, the SP of Imphal West issued a statement explaining that some cadres of the URF, who have come to the negotiating table, were arrested on extortion charges.

This is not merely a statement issued by the police, but is reflective of how the peace process with some of the armed groups has been proceeding.

A sharp reminder that the quest for peace does not start and end with the signing of a peace pact or ceasing hostility.

If the real understanding of peace or peace process is to percolate down to the people, then it is time for the men who matter to sit down and get down to the business of making sense of the ground rules of all the pacts inked with the armed groups.