Pending a solution to the issue
Rider to Alternative Arrangement
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: August 28, 2012 -

Pending a solution to the Indo-Naga political issue.

This is the rider to the demand for an Alternative Arrangement, by severing all ties with the Government of Manipur, put up by the United Naga Council.

It is another thing that the Government of Manipur is very much a party to the tripartite talk, which is scheduled to be held at New Delhi on September 1.

The driving force behind the demand for an Alternative Arrangement for the Nagas of Manipur is undoubtedly the unification of all Naga inhabited areas under one administrative unit and this has been made clear by the United Naga Council on more than one occasion.

True to its reputation, the State Government and the Union Home Ministry have been maintaining a posture of 'groping in the dark', claiming that they do not know what exactly the UNC is demanding by way of an Alternative Arrangement.

If Delhi and Imphal are under the impression that the best policy is to act dumb, then nothing would be further from the truth.

The demand for an Alternative Arrangement was raised during the Naga People's Convention at Senapati district headquarters on July 1, 2010, after the State Government put its foot down and said no to the proposed visit of NSCN (IM) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah to his birthplace, Somdal in Ukhrul district, in the first week of May, 2010.

The death of two students in police action at Mao in the stand off that followed also served as a rallying point for the UNC to raise the banner of Alternative Arrangement.

Feigning ignorance, that too after at least three rounds of talk have been held borders on the ludicrous and this is not going to be the answer to the demand raised by the UNC.

This is what should be clear to Delhi and Imphal.

It is plain and simple.

One does not negotiate on a matter or issue in which one does not have a proper understanding.

However according to the signals emanating from the State Government as well as the Centre, what the Alternative Arrangement actually stands for is not clear.

Or is it that the UNC has failed to put across its views and positions clearly to the Government? Unlikely so.

There is a lesson that the Ibobi Singh Government can learn from the Nephiu Rio Government at Nagaland.

Even as the Eastern Naga People's Organisation upped its demand for the bifurcation of Nagaland and make way for a new State comprising of four districts, Mr Rio made it clear to Delhi that geographical division of Nagaland was out of the question.

The demand for an Alternative Arrangement may not exactly come close to the demand for a separate State, but it comes somewhere near it.

What does a demand to formulate an alternative arrangement for some areas, by severing all ties with the State Government boil down to ? Hedging the issue is not the answer.

Delhi and Imphal should take a clear cut stand.

Creating an atmosphere of confusion can only lead to more suspicion and give room to conspiracy theories to fly thick and fast.