"Separate administration will open Pandora's Box"
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, February 02 2025: Lok Sabha MP Dr Angomcha Bimol Akoijam described the ongoing crisis in Manipur as a "normalised abnormality", emphasising that the Indian state has failed to assert its authority.

He said the conflict should not be framed merely as an inter-community issue between the Meeteis and the Kukis but as a constitutional crisis where the state's monopoly on legitimate force has been challenged by armed groups.

Dr Bimol also addressed the political ramifications of the crisis, particularly the demand for separate administration or Union Territory status for a particular ethnic group.

He warned that entertaining such demands would set a dangerous precedent.

Lok Sabha MP Dr Angomcha Bimol Akoijam

"If you allow separate administration or a Union Territory for a particular tribal ethno-nationalist mobilisation, will you allow that in this country, you will open a Pandora's box," he said, cautioning against undermining India's unity.

He referenced the 1956 State Reorganization Commission, which had explicitly warned against organising states purely along linguistic or ethnic lines, as it could lead to further fragmentation.

He drew parallels with the two-nation theory that led to Partition, warning that granting special administrative status on ethnic lines could have similar consequences.

"Partition was based on that logic - that two religious groups have different destinies and cannot live together.

Will you allow this to happen again?" he asked.

In an exclusive interview with The New Indian Express, Dr Bimol criticised the Indian state for allowing the situation to fester, stating that no other communal conflict of this magnitude has been permitted to persist in such a manner.

"You have never, ever seen communal violence of this scale in this fashion.

And what is unique is the manner in which the Indian state has allowed it to happen," he said, adding that despite being the world's fourth-strongest military power, the government has failed to curb armed groups operating like military units.

The first time MP rejected the narrative that the crisis is merely a divide between communities and argued that the real issue is the erosion of state authority.

"If the Indian state was functioning as a proper state, this problem could be handled.

But what we see in Manipur is a situation where the authority of the state is not intact," he said, citing Max Weber's definition of a state as an entity that monopolises the legitimate use of force within its territory.

He likened Manipur's situation to that of a failed state like Afghanistan, where warlords control different regions.

The MP also expressed frustration over the central government's inaction despite his repeated calls for intervention, including in Parliament.

"Was there any progress? No," Dr Bimol said, pointing out that even before contesting elections, he had questioned who was in charge of Manipur.

He highlighted that law and order, a state subject, has been completely undermined.

He pointed to chief minister N Biren's public admission that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), a body under his jurisdiction, had not reported to him for 15 months.

"How is it possible that a chief minister and home minister of a state says that the police department does not report to him?" he wondered.

Dr Bimol underscored the constitutional breakdown, citing reports of the army preventing the police from operating in certain areas and security agencies working at cross-purposes.

"It is not about the divide between two communities but a larger issue of governance, constitutional authority, and law and order," he said, calling the situation an "extra-constitutional subversion" by both the central and state governments.

Dr Bimol condemned the hypocrisy of celebrating 75 years of the Constitution while its principles were being openly subverted.

On the question of addressing hatred between the two communities, he contended that resolving communal mistrust should not be prioritised over restoring the authority of the state.

"Do you think there is no mistrust and hatred among Hindus and Muslims in this country?" he asked, pointing to instances of past communal violence, including the Gujarat riots, where brutal killings occurred.

"But it was not allowed to continue at this scale because the state took action.

The state must take action first".

He criticised the tendency to frame the Manipur conflict as an inevitable ethnic divide rather than a consequence of failed governance.

"When a riot happens, you don't begin by saying the two communities should sit down together and talk.

That only happens after the state has restored order," he stressed, rejecting comparisons of the conflict to international ethnic wars.

"India is not a UN peacekeeping mission in Manipur.

It is its own state, and its authority must be asserted".

The MP also criticised the central government's ambiguous stance on the crisis.

"The union home minister has said that Kukis and Meeteis should talk, as if this is a peace mediation between warring factions.

This is not a war between two foreign groups - it is a breakdown of the Indian state's authority," he pointed out.

He accused political leaders, journalists, and scholars of misrepresenting the conflict by 'es-sentialising' ethnic differences instead of recognising the role of state failure.

"Just as western narratives misrepresented the Rwandan crisis by portraying it as an age-old tribal hatred, we are seeing a similar flawed portrayal of Manipur today," he said, calling for a shift in focus toward restoring governance.

Dr Bimol stated that the resolution of Manipur's crisis lies not in inter-community dialogues but in the Indian state reclaiming its authority.

"It is for the Indian state to decide whether such demands for separate administration can be entertained.

What happens to this country? What are our constitutional principles? If the government fails to uphold them in Manipur, then we must ask�does it even consider Manipur a part of India?" he said.