Non-Ceasing activism and issues piling Manipur
Source: Hueiyen News Service / Newmai News Network

Imphal, March 13 2013: Non-ceasing activism and piles of issues to be addressed.

That is the case of Manipur for the past 15 years now.

Currently, menu of the households talks is the drug trafficking.

Streets of Imphal are now littered with protestors in one form or the other demanding from the government to do away of drug traffickings from the state.

The prevailing scene in the state has been triggered by the recent drug haul in the Imphal-Moreh road where the police had seized drugs worth over Rs 20 crore involving a colonel of the Army, followed by another arrest of a senior Congress MLA's son in connection with the drug trafficking.

The boiling Kuki state demand talk was overshadowed by the series of drug seizure.

Otherwise, it was the now-on-now-off Kuki State Demand Committee (KSDC)'s activism that had been the banner news for the local newspapers.

The Kuki state demand issue was briefly choked by the Manipuri film actress alleged assault case involving an NSCN-IM cadre.

Manipur was literally on fire with the civil organisations in the valley districts supporting the Film Forum Manipur (FFM) agitation demanding the arrested of NSCN-IM cadre Livingstone.

Christmas mood was totally ruined by that agitation which also resulted in the death of a journalist in the police firing.

It is worth pointing out that since 1997, the Naga issue and the AFSPA have been the mother of all issues in Manipur.

Occasionally social unrest crops up in the state but in between smaller issues have been sand-wiching the gap.

Recalling the events in sequence, the August 4, 1997 Manipur integration rally organised by All Manipur United Clubs Organisation (AMUCO) still stands out.

That rally was done when NSCN-IM first signed cease-fire with the government of India.

Since then, the Naga political issue has been dominating the state scene till these days.

The 2001 anti-cease fire extension agitation; the reservation norm protest of 2003 by the tribal students; the 2004 unrest against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) triggered by the killing of Thangjam Manorama Devi by the Assam Rifles raping her.

The All Naga Students Association, Manipur (ANSAM) economic blockade of 2005 for 52 days had sparked off serious tension in Manipur.

That blockade was in protest against the Ibobi government's decision to declare June 18 as State Holiday while observing the anniversary of the "2001 June Uprising" as 'state integrity day'.

The 2005 ANSAM blockade incident was followed by the school affiliation issue of 2006-2007 where students from the private schools in the four districts of Tamenglong, Ukhrul, Chandel and Senapati had enrolled themselves in the Nagaland Board of Secondary Education (NBSE).

The issue was again spearheaded by ANSAM.

The issue of child soldier recruitment by militant outfits; child trafficking issue, rampant vehicle thief racket, etc., etc., also figured in Manipur scene in 2008.But Manipur witnessed an extremely charged scenerio when NSCN-IM cadres led by one of its cadres Hopeson Ningshen murdered a bureaucrat Dr Thingnam Kishan and his two subordinate staff in early 2009.Curfew was imposed for several days in the valley districts of Manipur by the state administration as the social unrest became to volatile to be contained.

Then in 2010, there were two major cases of social unrest in Manipur.

The Autonomous District Council (ADC) polls and the NSCN-IM leader Th Muivah's planned visit to his native village in Ukhrul district of Manipur.

Under the United Naga Council (UNC), the Nagas had boycotted the polls to the ADCs in Naga areas saying it was a powerless body.

The UNC demanded that unless the ADC Act was amended, it would not allow the ADC polls to take place in the Naga areas of Manipur.

On the other hand, the state government of Manipur was going ahead of its plan to conduct the poll.

Violent incidents were witnessed in the Naga areas.

The same year also witnessed major communal tension in Manipur when the state government of Manipur barred Thuingaleng Muivah from visiting Somdal, the NSCM-IM's birth place.

The state government's move was backed by valley based civil organisations.

In the police firing at Mao Gate, the Nagaland-Manipur border, two Naga students were killed in that event.

Mild tension cropped up again 2011 when the entry of Naga People's Front (NPF) in Manipur was opposed by Manipur government and the some civil organisations based in Manipur valley.

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