Manipur should play its card well : Abrogate SoO, call for NRC
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: January 15, 2024 -

Manipur should play and lay down its card well.

For this, the people and the place should have a clear cut objective of what it is that is of utmost priority.

Normalcy is still a far cry, and the silence of the gun or whatever one may call it, is but just the interrugnum, the proverbial lull before the storm and Manipur has been trundling from one such spell to the other, until the silence is broken by another set of cold blooded killing.

Such cases are invariably followed by the misinformation campaign, some of which have been lapped up by media based in other parts of the country, adding to the sense of divide, misunderstanding and hatred.

With no one less than the hand picked man by New Delhi, the Security Advisor to the Government of Manipur, openly admitting the involvement of Kuki armed groups in the recent series of attacks on security personnel at Moreh, the involvement of groups under the SoO pact with the Government should be an open and shut case.

This is where the people and the different civil society organisations should know how to play its card and pile the pressure on Imphal to raise the need to abrogate or at least review the SoO pact with New Delhi.

Such a move will certainly go a long way in placating the outraged sentiments of the people of Manipur.

The Security Advisor may have negated the talk of Myanmar based militants being involved in the attack on the security personnel, but the very fact that the chairperson of the Zomi Revolutionary Army is a former MP of Myanmar should more than underline the involvement of foreign hands in the ongoing conflict.

A former MP of Myanmar and a leader of an armed group with which the Government of India is involved in a dialogue and clearly the script is ready for foreign elements to have a hand in the ongoing violence.

This again should be an open and shut case. Does not really need rocket science technology to draw this logical conclusion.

Abrogate or review the SoO pact, highlight the foreign origin of the chairperson of an important armed group in the SoO camp and here is a case for Imphal to effectively highlight to New Delhi.

The civil society organisations should also grab this opportunity and see what steps may be taken up to renew the call to abrogate the SoO pact, a call which rang out loud and clear during the early days of the ongoing conflict.

Stay tuned to what is happening and take up steps accordingly is the suggestion that may be given to the different CSOs which have all emerged to bat for the understanding of Manipur.

The call to get the SoO pact abrogated should go hand in had with the call for a National Register of Citizens.

Imphal has more than indicated large scale influx from across the border and now is the time for the different CSOs to raise the call for an NRC a notch or two or three higher.

The rapid increase in the number of new settlements, the rise in the number of Kuki-Chin MLAs in the 60 Member Assembly are the red flags which should be highlighted.

The Government at Imphal should demonstrate that it has the capability to let its voice be heard in the corridors of power at New Delhi and this is the time to optimise the benefits of having a BJP led Government at Imphal too.

The trust and confidence that was reposed and reflected in the 2022 Assembly elections should not be brushed aside so non-chalantly.

Abrogate or review the SoO pact and conduct an NRC with the base year at 1952, as demanded by the civil society organisations.

Such measures can go a long way in putting Manipur on the track of normalcy.

The situation calls for some action and not just appeals and urgings to the people to ensure normalcy.

Many have died, many have been rendered homeless and hundreds of houses have been levelled to the ground and it is against this reality that Manipur will have to return to a state of normalcy and for that to happen some proactive course of action is needed.

Abrogate SoO and enforce an NRC here.

This should be the calling card of Manipur now.