By KC Pau
PM Modi must have come full circle to understand the wisdom of the former PM Manmohan Singh’s silence. That the baton of political taunts and media ridiculing of a silent Prime Minister can be passed on from one to another and more so aggravating when it is supposed to be powered by a double engine government machinery leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
The state of Manipur is gradually withering like the freshly cut Shirui Lily that adorned the extravaganza of Miss India glitz a few months ago. It has become hard to make out head from tail in the current socio-political atmosphere. Whichever thread of narrative one follows, there seems to be no end to the debate and the rhetoric that is churned out from both the camps serves little purpose except to move the needle on the TRPs of national media houses.
The common cry from both the warring sides is ‘peace’ and that is the same thing the country wants for Manipur. What can be seen from reports is, both sides have preset conditions for peace. The tribals want President’s Rule to be imposed so that the central forces can rein in the toxic mix of; state forces, valley- based insurgent groups, armed associations and conniving women groups, all of which have colluded and interlaced into a cohesive unit.
On the other hand, the societies that are residing in the valley of Manipur, too want peace, however, it is hard to understand and make out what it is they exactly want, besides the ST demand. The society seems to be fragmented with no clear leadership and motive, when not clashing with the tribals, they resort to attacking their own elected representatives’ homes, blockade central investigation agencies and most recently impeded on the central forces to secure the release of a dreaded militant with the blood of an Indian Army personnel in his hand.
What we are witnessing in the valley of Manipur is the dissipating faith of the public in the Indian constitutional machinery, more so exacerbated by events when state forces and armed associations on a wrecking spree are contained by central forces. The feeling of loss and powerlessness in a state which they presume they own – a government which they control is unable to wiggle and unleash the might of the state against a rabble of tribal volunteers.
This gave rise to a new insecurity among the public. Loss of direction and action, have made them lean towards harbouring proscribed Meitei militant groups for protecting their interests. The power vacuum is getting fuelled and recent examples can attribute to the emergence of various seditious groups with xenophobic dislike for the tribals, and that animosity preludes the current mayhem when both communities could still live together, now to imagine, that future looks bleak.
This power shift will revive the era of the 90’s of Manipur. The desire for tribalism should not let the society regress to what it has achieved as one of the fastest growing states in the Northeast of India; Skill, Sports and Academia. If history were to repeat itself with an upgrade, Manipur will become India’s new Kashmir with many things in play and among them, an unstable Myanmar and subversive interests that lies beyond the banks of the river Mekong.
Enter the snake charmer, a politician with no ideology, who chameleons between branches whichever have more greens to offer. This form of jhumming is short selling one’s career and comes with no loyalty base in the long run. At a political youth of sixty, Biren Singh knows that and once a minister under Congress and now a chief minister under BJP, he too has learnt how and when political winds of change takes place.
Biren’s search for ideology has made him turn to his ethnic identity as a Meitei; his practice of Sanamahism found popularity among those advocating for a resurgent Kangleipak;, his patronage and role in the so-called cultural organisations like Arambai Tengol and Meitei Leepun has provided him a pedestal and a fan base, at the level of a deity. He is viewed and lionized by his kin as a protector of Meitei interests and a champion of racial supremacy in Manipur.
Manipur was steadily recovering from decades of insurgency and impoverishment, fortune had favoured Biren, he came at a time of uninterrupted power supply, broadband internet was changing life in small towns, brands like Reliance were setting shops in the interior of the state. Massive highway expansion was taking place in Manipur, from the border in the north with Nagaland to her southern neighbour with Mizoram. Biren had garnered adulation so much so that one of his tribal advisers anointed him, “the second missionary” in Manipur, supposedly after the pioneering missionary Watkin Roberts.
In his first term as Chief Minister of Manipur, Biren Singh tried to shed his communal colours by appeasing the tribals, using funds and functions. However, in his second innings, his snakes grew impatient, employing fear-mongering instruments and catapulting narratives that the majority community is under threat, viz. employment loss, diminishing land holdings, population replacement, immigrants’ influx and social peril from the drug cartel, all leading to a charged-up society waiting for a spark, with finger pointing to one community. That hysteria has resulted in a ruthless purge and mass exodus. The black mambas have scored, albeit not for long.
When the secessionist militants failed to achieve sovereignty by covert means, the majoritarian politicians are doing so in letter and spirit, the introduction of ILP, ST demand and now NRC, to root out all they consider alien to them. If the alleged territory of the then Maharaja of Manipur of 700 sq miles as per the Instrument of Accession is true, then no wonder the rush to claim new territory by finding or placing new relics, ambiguous legislations and distorting history which have no local relevance.
The current state of affairs in Manipur is far from what the chief minister would have envisaged. There’s loss of face at the national level, a non-starter Peace Commission, a divided community, an unruly mob in the heart of the capital and his support base tapering off as days pass. Add to that the silence of the Prime Minister, thereby rubbing salt to his wounds and being schooled by the Union Home Minister for his ineptitude and demoting his accountability to the valley of Manipur only.
All quiet on the southern front of Manipur, a temporary relief, while those in Imphal have bigger houses to burn. It is in the nation’s interest that there should be separate administration for the tribals. One region must not suffer for the sake of the other, it is only a matter of time before those broods of vipers spread their fangs in the whole of the state and the country witnesses another episode, purportedly at a colossal scale.
To conclude, in the words of Hillary Clinton “you can’t keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbours. Eventually those snakes are going to turn on whoever has them in the backyard”