Governor sets Lup, New Delhi on talks track

As the delegation from Manipur prepares to return in triumph to Imphal on Sunday, it can only marvel at the difference that two months &#151...

As the delegation from Manipur prepares to return in triumph to Imphal on Sunday, it can only marvel at the difference that two months — and one man — can make. This time there were no fingers in the water and no egg on anyone’s face as even Home Minister Shivraj Patil went along with moves to review the much-hated Armed Forces Special Powers’ Act.

When he visited Imphal in September, Patil had refused to make any concessions on this score. The key to the change seems to lie in the briefings that the Centre has received from Imphal’s Raj Bhavan, and the minor matter of table manners.

Two months back, Apunba Lup, the banner organisation of 32 social groups from Manipur, had described their meeting with Patil as a ‘‘waste of time”. ‘‘He dipped his finger into a glass of water and started flicking droplets around,” said one delegate. ‘‘Some of us felt that was rude. Then he said many more people had died in Kashmir compared to Manipur. ’’

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This time around, the contrast was stark. ‘‘The Centre appeared better informed about our concerns and how strongly Manipuris feel about the Armed Forces Special Powers’ Act,’’ said Lokendra Arambam, one of the delegates.

Historian and theatre personality Lokendra, who also met the PM, said the Governor had made the change possible. ‘‘Since S.S. Sidhu took over (in early August), he has been reaching out to different sections of people and trying to get a fix on their concerns.”

When contacted, Sidhu only recalled his first journey to Raj Bhawan, made in eerie silence as the town was in curfew. Since then, he said, he had held a series of meetings with the Lup. ‘‘Basically, I am accessible,” said the former Civil Aviation secretary.

These meetings made it clear that before holding any talk, Manipur’s deep distrust of the Act had to be addressed. At the same time he tried to explain to the Lup that national security concerns could not be wished away. ‘‘We are not going into the issue of whether or not Manorama Devi was an insurgent,” said Lokendra. ‘‘We only say that security forces should not be allowed to hide behind an Act.”