Manipur on the brink

Opposition parties in Manipur, along with some MLAs within the Ibobi Singh government, are now clamouring to reconvene the state assembly so that a resolution can be passed changing the status of Manipur as a “disturbed area”. The argument is that once this is done the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act would no longer be operative in the state. If such a unilateral move were indeed to take place, it would strike at the very integrity of the country besides seriously strengthening the numerous fissiparous forces within Manipur.

The fact is that Manipur is a disturbed territory today, with a nearly 40-year-old history of insurgency and at least 18 active militant groups, many of whom are pitted against each other. They are driven by almost primordial loyalties to ethnic, sub-ethnic and tribal groups. The faultlines are numerous: the mountain versus valley, the Nagas versus the Meiteis, the Kukis versus the Paites divides, to name just three. Fear now informs the very texture of life, with ordinary Manipuris being caught in the crossfire between the competing interests of these warring groups, who keep themselves financed through a flourishing trade in drugs and arms. The Indian army’s presence in the state was intended as a stabilisation and anti-insurgency measure. But the ham-handed, and sometimes downright repressive, measures resorted to by the army have perpetrated enormous damage. The brutal rape and murder of Manorama Devi, allegedly by jawans of the Assam Rifles, is a case in point. It has — not unexpectedly — fuelled the current cycle of tension. Political parties across the board have seized this tragedy as an opportunity to gain a profile and competitive politics is steadily driving the state to the brink.

The home ministry should have responded far more urgently to the crisis in the state than it has. Today, there is widespread sense of alienation in Manipur, which the Centre has done little to dispel. For instance, while New Delhi — both under the earlier NDA dispensation and the present one — having made much of its peace process vis-a-vis the Nagas, has systematically ignored claims that Manipur has to a similar process of reconciliation. Developmental efforts, too, have failed miserably. Many of those who swell the ranks of insurgent outfits are unemployed youth, driven to violence because of a hopelessness about their future. Manipur then calls for a multi-layered intervention. But before long term strategies are considered, the Centre must address the immediate cause for the present flare-up. It should signal that it is serious about ensuring justice in the Manorama Devi case and in cracking down on army excesses.