[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Manipur lost



--------------8ABF1B8356BF124332D64704
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

MANIPUR LOST

The Delhi Age (New Delhi)
January 10, 2001

By Sanjoy Hazarika

At times, it may appear to people in other parts of the country that the
Northeast is a region which is unimaginably different from the rest of
the country. With the recent killings in Assam and the collapse of
government in Manipur, they may be forgiven for a sense of déjà vu: that
things are once again spinning out of control and demanding a tough
response.

Such a view maybe somewhat misplaced. Yet at one time, one was assailed
by a concern that Manipur was simply slipping away and that no one in
the rest of the country, especially in New Delhi, was bothered. Our
myopic metropolitan media with its focus on Iftar parties and the
Ayodhya mess could not care less, of course. What took the cake was the
Pioneer writing an editorial about Manipur and titling it:
"Kohimacalling". Kohima is the capital of Nagaland. Imphal is the
capital of Manipur.

If the press gets it wrong ? and it does so with unfailing consistency ?
can others be blamed for getting nothing right?

And if one is to look at these issues through a Northeastern periscope,
then what is one to make of a country where a strike by policemen in
distant Manipur, which brings the state government to its knees and
jeopardizes India's security, barely comes up for discussion in
Parliament and is dismissed in a few laconic sentences by the Union home
minister? Manipur is a place where the state has truly collapsed,
"withered away," if one was to borrow a good old leftist phrase.

There is no government worth the name in many parts of the state and the
capital of Imphal is deserted by nightfall. The government is restricted
to the perimeters of the city; there are no policemen manning a majority
of the state's police stations, outside of Imphal.

Manipur's slide into anarchy has been sure and steady. The hills of the
state, where a majority of its Nagas live, are dominated by one faction
or another of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland. Other groups
active there include the Kuki National Army. In the plains ?
essentially, the small and fertile Imphal valley ? live the majority
community, the Meiteis, who are Vaishnavite by faith. For all purposes,
the Meiteis are hemmed in on all sides by the hill groups. But here too
ethnic disparities are reflected in the insurgencies as well: the
Meiteis have their own fighting groups which demand independence,
including the United National Liberation Front and the People's
Liberation Army. The dominant Naga group accuses the UNLF of trying to
intimidate Nagas and apparently has its own Meitei front which has
targeted supporters of the UNLF.

Unending ethnic divisions and bitter rivalries have brought Manipur to
the brink of unmitigated disaster. The long-standing feuds between the
Kukis and Tangkhul Nagas resulted in killings and counter-killings in
the early Nineties, with the active participation of militants from both
sides.

The Nagas say that they are under-represented in the state bureaucracy.
The Meiteis say the opposite. But one thing is clear ? all sections of
government officers pay "tax", either willingly or otherwise, to the
different factions of the underground. Those working in the hills pay
their dues to the Nagas and Kukis; in the plains, the tithe goes to the
Meitei groups.

This situation has continued for years. Everyone is in the know and on
the make. Ministers in Manipur and Nagaland are known for their
associations with the underground groups, which support candidates in
the state Assembly and Parliament elections. At times, a combination of
diplomacy, good local contacts and a cool head helps those who do not
want to pay (especially members of the All-India services) out of sticky
situations.

Yet, it is widely believed that a slice of each major government
contract (it does not matter whether it is the government of India or
the state government) goes to the underground, of whichever hue, in
different geographical areas. It could therefore be facilely argued
that, through the huge funds that it sends out from Delhi to projects
which are never completed, the government of India is, in fact,
sustaining some of these insurgencies in the name of "development." The
common man and woman rarely find a place in the scheme of things
although everything is said to be done in his or her name!

People are fed up with the extortion and intimidation. But who do they
turn to when the government of the state, at virtually every level
appears to be in league with the "underground" or has abdicated its
basic responsibilities? After all, one pays taxes to a superior
authority. In the case of law abiding citizens, it is the government of
India and its myriad agencies. In Manipur, Nagaland and else-where in
the Northeast, many have bought peace and security for themselves and
their families (and who can blame them if the government of the day
cannot provide them protection?) by paying the underground. By
acquiescing in this illegality, the state governments and New Delhi have
conceded the moral high ground to the insurgents.

To correct it will need much more than a dose of President's Rule,
necessary though it may be in Manipur.

What is needed is nothing less than the reinstatement of the rule of
law; the judiciary must regain its independence and firm action must be
taken against the corrupt and the inefficient. Funds must reach the
projects to which they have been allocated. And local governance,
through panchayats and traditional bodies, can act as watchdogs. Only
then will civil society, terrorized and traumtised by both sides, find
its voice and speak without fear or favour.

Transparent dialogues must take place between different ethnic groups to
bridege the deep and bitter divisions which have developed among
communities over these decades. This is a slow and difficult process.
But it is part of the road map that leaders of different groups and
organizations must chart if societies in places such as Manipur and
elsewhere in the Northeast are to survive and grow and not be brutally
fragmented. It is no longer a question of development but of simple
survival.

Common sense points us to this path. Respected figures from the literary
and creative arts, academics, non-government groups as well as the media
and human rights organizations can help chart this way forward with a
vision document for each state which could begin with a check list of
things to be done immediately, in the medium term and in the long term.

A wishlist of sorts exists as a vision document for Assam. A visionary
document can only be developed through an interactive process where
people are consulted and their voices find expression, not the jargon of
politicians or the glibness of bureaucrats.

How tough this road can be is to be seen in one simple fact: the press
itself has been under threat from different militant groups. In such
circumstances, who then will speak out? But if states like Manipur are
not to be lost, then there is no other road but this one. Other
solutions will only be ad hoc, piecemeal and short term.

Sanjor Hazarika is associated with the Centre for Policy Research, New
Delhi



--------------8ABF1B8356BF124332D64704
Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
<html>
<b><font size=+3>MANIPUR LOST</font></b>
<p>The Delhi Age (New Delhi)
<br>January 10, 2001
<p>By <b>Sanjoy Hazarika</b>
<p><b><font size=+2>A</font></b>t times, it may appear to people in other
parts of the country that the Northeast is a region which is unimaginably
different from the rest of the country. With the recent killings in Assam
and the collapse of government in Manipur, they may be forgiven for a sense
of d&eacute;j&agrave; vu: that things are once again spinning out of control
and demanding a tough response.
<p>Such a view maybe somewhat misplaced. Yet at one time, one was assailed
by a concern that Manipur was simply slipping away and that no one in the
rest of the country, especially in New Delhi, was bothered. Our myopic
metropolitan media with its focus on Iftar parties and the Ayodhya mess
could not care less, of course. What took the cake was the Pioneer writing
an editorial about Manipur and titling it: "Kohimacalling". Kohima is the
capital of Nagaland. Imphal is the capital of Manipur.
<p>If the press gets it wrong ? and it does so with unfailing consistency
? can others be blamed for getting nothing right?
<p>And if one is to look at these issues through a Northeastern periscope,
then what is one to make of a country where a strike by policemen in distant
Manipur, which brings the state government to its knees and jeopardizes
India's security, barely comes up for discussion in Parliament and is dismissed
in a few laconic sentences by the Union home minister? Manipur is a place
where the state has truly collapsed, "withered away," if one was to borrow
a good old leftist phrase.
<p>There is no government worth the name in many parts of the state and
the capital of Imphal is deserted by nightfall. The government is restricted
to the perimeters of the city; there are no policemen manning a majority
of the state's police stations, outside of Imphal.
<p>Manipur's slide into anarchy has been sure and steady. The hills of
the state, where a majority of its Nagas live, are dominated by one faction
or another of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland. Other groups
active there include the Kuki National Army. In the plains ? essentially,
the small and fertile Imphal valley ? live the majority community, the
Meiteis, who are Vaishnavite by faith. For all purposes, the Meiteis are
hemmed in on all sides by the hill groups. But here too ethnic disparities
are reflected in the insurgencies as well: the Meiteis have their own fighting
groups which demand independence, including the United National Liberation
Front and the People's Liberation Army. The dominant Naga group accuses
the UNLF of trying to intimidate Nagas and apparently has its own Meitei
front which has targeted supporters of the UNLF.
<p>Unending ethnic divisions and bitter rivalries have brought Manipur
to the brink of unmitigated disaster. The long-standing feuds between the
Kukis and Tangkhul Nagas resulted in killings and counter-killings in the
early Nineties, with the active participation of militants from both sides.
<p>The Nagas say that they are under-represented in the state bureaucracy.
The Meiteis say the opposite. But one thing is clear ? all sections of
government officers pay "tax", either willingly or otherwise, to the different
factions of the underground. Those working in the hills pay their dues
to the Nagas and Kukis; in the plains, the tithe goes to the Meitei groups.
<p><b><font size=+2>T</font></b>his situation has continued for years.
Everyone is in the know and on the make. Ministers in Manipur and Nagaland
are known for their associations with the underground groups, which support
candidates in the state Assembly and Parliament elections. At times, a
combination of diplomacy, good local contacts and a cool head helps those
who do not want to pay (especially members of the All-India services) out
of sticky situations.
<p>Yet, it is widely believed that a slice of each major government contract
(it does not matter whether it is the government of India or the state
government) goes to the underground, of whichever hue, in different geographical
areas. It could therefore be facilely argued that, through the huge funds
that it sends out from Delhi to projects&nbsp; which are never completed,
the government of India is, in fact, sustaining some of these insurgencies
in the name of "development." The common man and woman rarely find a place
in the scheme of things although everything is said to be done in his or
her name!
<p>People are fed up with the extortion and intimidation. But who do they
turn to when the government of the state, at virtually every level appears
to be in league with the "underground" or has abdicated its basic responsibilities?
After all, one pays taxes to a superior authority. In the case of law abiding
citizens, it is the government of India and its myriad agencies. In Manipur,
Nagaland and else-where in the Northeast, many have bought peace and security
for themselves and their families (and who can blame them if the government
of the day cannot provide them protection?) by paying the underground.
By acquiescing in this illegality, the state governments and New Delhi
have conceded the moral high ground to the insurgents.
<p>To correct it will need much more than a dose of President's Rule, necessary
though it may be in Manipur.
<p>What is needed is nothing less than the reinstatement of the rule of
law; the judiciary must regain its independence and firm action must be
taken against the corrupt and the inefficient. Funds must reach the projects
to which they have been allocated. And local governance, through panchayats
and traditional bodies, can act as watchdogs. Only then will civil society,
terrorized and traumtised by both sides, find its voice and speak without
fear or favour.
<p><b><font size=+2>T</font></b>ransparent dialogues must take place between
different ethnic groups to bridege the deep and bitter divisions which
have developed among communities over these decades. This is a slow and
difficult process. But it is part of the road map that leaders of different
groups and organizations must chart if societies in places such as Manipur
and elsewhere in the Northeast are to survive and grow and not be brutally
fragmented. It is no longer a question of development but of simple survival.
<p>Common sense points us to this path. Respected figures from the literary
and creative arts, academics, non-government groups as well as the media
and human rights organizations can help chart this way forward with a vision
document for each state which could begin with a check list of things to
be done immediately, in the medium term and in the long term.
<p>A wishlist of sorts exists as a vision document for Assam. A visionary
document can only be developed through an interactive process where people
are consulted and their voices find expression, not the jargon of politicians
or the glibness of bureaucrats.
<p>How tough this road can be is to be seen in one simple fact: the press
itself has been under threat from different militant groups. In such circumstances,
who then will speak out? But if states like Manipur are not to be lost,
then there is no other road but this one. Other solutions will only be
ad hoc, piecemeal and short term.
<p><b>Sanjor Hazarika </b>is associated with the<b> Centre for Policy Research,
</b>New
Delhi
<br>&nbsp;
<br>&nbsp;</html>

--------------8ABF1B8356BF124332D64704--