Interesting emerging patternReady for the high profile visit
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The pattern in the emerging reality is interesting. It could be a series of coin- cidences or it could be something which have been crafted or drawn up by some of the best brains in the business of drawing up chess moves, which only a certified grandmaster would have the mental resources to do so and this is what is significant. Back in November, Chief of the Army Staff, General Upendra Dwivedi stressed on the point of normalcy returning to Manipur and topped this off with the more than subtle hint that President Drou-padi Murmu may visit Manipur. Then came the move of Raj Bhavan to organise the State level Sangai Festival, a festival which had been given the miss in 2023 and 2024, though it ended in a sort of a fiasco, following the call to boycott the festival from IDPs who were and are still languishing in different relief centres set up across the length and breadth of Manipur. Then came the much publicised and much appreciated move of MLA Yumnam Khemchand to visit a relief centre opened for displaced Kuki people and this looks set to be rounded off with the visit of President Droupadi Murmu. If one goes back to November 17 when the COAS hinted at the likely visit of the President to Manipur, it came qualified with the term, ‘if peace prevails/continues’. And that if is today no longer a prefix to the visit of the President, for Manipur is all set to roll out the red carpet for the high profile visit. The strategy at work seems to be neatly falling into a pattern, a pattern which would help in making the world understand that Manipur has taken steps nearer to the understanding of normalcy and Delhi seems to have set the whizboys to brainstorm and work this out. True to the seat or position of the President, nothing is expected to be heard on the state of uncertainty prevailing in Manipur, but the very fact that the President is set to touch down here on a two day visit will ring out the right chord, a line which Delhi is intent on strumming. To actuate the walk towards normalcy, the Government will obviously need to study how to take the visit of Yumnam Khem-chand to the Kuki relief centre to the next level. Sit and talk, as suggested by a Kuki chief, the interview of which has been shared widely on the social media, should be taken as one of the most practical suggestions ever mooted. It remains to be seen whether Raj Bhavan or the people who matter in the PR regime have taken note of the observation of the Kuki chief, but such a line has been spoken out and the visit of the President is prehaps the right time to see how Manipur can proceed from this suggestion. Talk-this should precede the march towards normalcy for dialogue is the roadmap towards normalcy. It says something profound that the need to talk has been sounded not by any of the political leaders of the day, not by the different champions on either side of the clash divide, but a village chief.
No magic formula in place to restore normalcy, but a talk, a dialogue is perhaps the most feasible first step towards normalcy and this would not have blown over the head of New Delhi and the PR regime in Manipur. And while the scheduled visit of the President falls in place with the line that situation has improved and is improving, Delhi will need to do more than ensure high profile visits to the State. This much is clear but ultimately for normalcy to become a reality the first meaningful step should come from the stakeholders, the people of Manipur. Yumnam Khemchand has taken the first meaningful step towards breaking the ice and one wonders why not one single BJP MLA has come forward to publicly acknowledge the initiative of the Singjamei AC MLA. Or is it a case of better politics to maintain a selective silence on the matter and study how things progress from the visit ? Whatever the case maybe, the visit was significant and one only hopes that it is the beginning of something better. Holding the Sangai Festival despite the strong opposition, the visit of Khemchand to a relief centre opened for Kuki IDPs, the scheduled visit of the President of India, all fit neatly into a package and whether this package is being scripted or not, one cannot help but note the developments that have emerged in the last few days. And to come back to line suggested by the said Kuki chief, a dialogue is the need of the hour.
No magic formula in place to restore normalcy, but a talk, a dialogue is perhaps the most feasible first step towards normalcy and this would not have blown over the head of New Delhi and the PR regime in Manipur. And while the scheduled visit of the President falls in place with the line that situation has improved and is improving, Delhi will need to do more than ensure high profile visits to the State. This much is clear but ultimately for normalcy to become a reality the first meaningful step should come from the stakeholders, the people of Manipur. Yumnam Khemchand has taken the first meaningful step towards breaking the ice and one wonders why not one single BJP MLA has come forward to publicly acknowledge the initiative of the Singjamei AC MLA. Or is it a case of better politics to maintain a selective silence on the matter and study how things progress from the visit ? Whatever the case maybe, the visit was significant and one only hopes that it is the beginning of something better. Holding the Sangai Festival despite the strong opposition, the visit of Khemchand to a relief centre opened for Kuki IDPs, the scheduled visit of the President of India, all fit neatly into a package and whether this package is being scripted or not, one cannot help but note the developments that have emerged in the last few days. And to come back to line suggested by the said Kuki chief, a dialogue is the need of the hour.