When an elected Govt is asked to surrender
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: December 08, 2023 -

MORE than any complex web of factors that are intricately related to control over land and resources or the protection of ethnic identities and its related demand for autonomy, which any Tom, Dick and Harry who care to spare some time to comment on the ongoing conflict between the Meitei/Meetei and Kuki-Chin communities in Manipur have been stressing, lack of a strong political will at the core the humanitarian crisis that has been needlessly allowed to grip the tiny northeastern Indian state for more than seven months now.

There should be no two-argument on this. The crisis that broke out on May 3 last after a Tribal Solidarity March taken out in the hill districts against the directive given by the High Court to the State Government for sending the required recommendation to the Centre for recognition of Meitei/Meetei as Scheduled Tribe (ST) turned violent in Churachandpur district and other Kuki-Chin dominated areas only, forcing the Meiteis/Meeteis in the valley to retaliate in the valley; has so far led to loss of hundreds of precious human lives and displacement of thousands of families on both sides of the clash divide, apart from the untold sufferings caused to people of all communities living in the multi-ethnic society.

Yet, there has been no indicative sign of the bloody ethnic clashes ending anytime soon.

In fact, far from resolution of the crisis, each passing day is bringing more horrifying tales of violence and brutal killings that are pale in comparison to the crimes committed even by the most hardened criminals known in the history of human civilisation.

A conflict that could have been nipped in the bud has today turned into a humanitarian crisis that would have serious repercussions in the geo-politics not just within Manipur and the northeast region but also beyond India's borders, all thanks to the lack of a strong political Will to bring the parties in conflict to the table for dialogue.

Amid the crisis that has deepened even more following the latest incident of thirteen people belonging to Meitei/Meetei community found killed in a Kuki-Chin dominated forested area not far away from the international border of India with Myanmar, where the pro-democracy rebel groups and forces of Military junta have been engaging in fierce fighting, the pitch of the Opposition party, both in the state and at the centre, for resolving the more than seven months long conflict between the Meitei/Meetei and Kuki-Chin communities Manipur has become high once again.

While the Manipur Pradesh Congress Party (MPCC) has exerted pressures on the MPs elected from the state for taking up the crisis in the Parliament and persuading Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak on the issue, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi is learnt to have given an Adjournment Motion Notice in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday demanding a discussion on the ethnic violence in Manipur, keeping in mind the "urgent need to review the current situation and discuss the roadmap for bringing back peace and normalcy in the region".

All these pressures have necessitated as the much-touted double-engine government of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is in power both at the centre and in the state has done nothing concrete to end the conflict.

The seemingly indifferent attitude of Prime Minister Narendra, who has not only remained conspicuously silent from expressing even some words of sorrow over the mounting deaths in Manipur but also refused to meet with leaders from Manipur, not to speak of any plan to visit the crisis-afflicted state, has only deepened the feeling of abandonment among the people of Manipur.

On the other hand, nothing has been seen that could convince the people that the Chief Minister N Biren Singh-led BjP government in Manipur is handling the situation effectively other than hearing him talking tough, when the chief of Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) and Chief Minister-elect Lalduhoma, who is yet to be sworn in as the executive head of administration in the neighbouring Mizoram, has already charted out plan for taking up the Manipur issue with the Centre.

It is this stark contrast in the attitude towards resolving the issue that the angry women vendors of Khwairamband Bazar have asked the state government to surrender if it cannot resolve the crisis so that the people could take up the onus of saving Manipur themselves.