Alert meetings and mass prayers: The Lim divide continues

    23-Oct-2019
Statewide alert meetings under the aegis of COCOMI, the umbrella body of AMUCO, CCSK, HERICOUN, LIPUL and UCM. Mass prayers in all Naga areas for a positive outcome to the peace talk that has been going on for the past 22 years between the NSCN (IM) and the Government of India. Members of the Naga National Front (NPF) attending the all political parties meeting convened by Chief Minister N Biren to discuss the ongoing peace talk, which is at its final stage, and later NPF rebutting the claim of the Chief Minister’s Office that the meeting resolved to protect the territorial integrity of Manipur and send a delegation to the Centre to convey the same message. A clear indication that the Lim divide continues to run deep and people on either side of the divide continue to have opposing aspirations. It is under this climate of reality that all eyes will be on the much awaited October 24 meeting between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM). Not yet clear where the meeting will be held, but given the air of uncertainty dogging the peace talk in recent days, the October 24 meeting will be watched with keen interest by all concerned. Enough has been written on the slippery ground on which the peace process between the NSCN (IM) and the Government now stands, and this is all the more reason why the October 24 meeting will elicit so much interest, at least in this part of the country. On the other hand, the Centre has more than indicated that the truce pact with the NSCN (IM) will not probably be extended after October 31, the date when the final pact is likely to be inked, presumably between the seven outfits which make up the NNPGs and the Centre, but a big question mark continues to hang over with the NSCN (IM).
So it is that while the peace process between New Delhi and the NSCN (IM) continues to be uncertain, the Naga areas held prayer meetings all over the place while in other parts of Manipur, it was a series of alert meetings everywhere. Tough to say how the difference over the Lim question will ever be addressed but it stands that the NSCN (IM) has been very, very successful in awakening the people on either side of the divide and the disturbing part is ‘awakening’ need not necessarily be seen or understood as gaining knowledge but more about how to view the ‘other’ with suspicion in this case. Let this be an important lesson for all concerned. A peace process which has so far managed to only deepen the sense of divide and not make them come closer to the fact that the hill and valley people have a common future, which no one can deny.  In fact the hills and the valley need to be understood much beyond the term ‘neighbours.’ This is something which even the top leadership of the NSCN (IM) will not refute. The fate of the peace talk still hangs on the balance and this is the reason why the meeting scheduled on October 24 has captured the interest of everyone and not only the Nagas. Whatever the outcome, let this also be the time for all to reach out to each other and see why the future journey cannot be trekked together.