TODAY -
New Delhi immobilized by Manipur blockade
Nagaland Post | Bangalore, Oct 6 (Agencies)
According to Open magazine, between 2004 and 2007, Manipur experienced 110 bandhs and 234 economic blockades, the total loss of which was around US$ 268 million - 40% of Manipur’s budget for 2006-07. Over the past 15 years, NH 39 has been blockaded an average of six times per year and each of the blockades have lasted around five days. Losses due to the ongoing economic blockades have been pegged at around $51 million so far.
The inaction of governments in Delhi and Manipur to break the blockades has evoked an angry response among Manipuris. They want the government to use force to end the standoffs.
“India doesn’t hesitate to use force to quell peaceful protest by Manipuris,” a Manipuri student in Bangalore told Asia Times Online. “Why is it reluctant to use the security forces to force an end to the two-month-long blockade,” he asked, pointing out that “an entire state was being held hostage to bullying by Naga and Kuki groups”.
India’s reluctance to use force to break the blockade is widely attributed in Manipur to Delhi’s “excessive sensitivity to Naga sentiments”.
“Imaginative and creative solutions are available,” observes political commentator B G Varghese. “Some already exist; others can be enabled by constitutional amendment.” Delhi needs to draw on these creative solutions rather than persist with an approach that has kept the region restive.
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* This Post is uploaded on October 07 2011
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