Reading the stand of the Kuki CSO leader Half baked information
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‘Small Constitutional safeguard can end crisis. Demand does not necessarily mean breaking Manipur’. This from the leader of a Kuki civil society organisation and so many things can be read into this observation. A personal viewpoint or a line that has come after days of deliberation amongst some leaders of different Kuki CSOs ? A reflection of the reality hitting hard now that the Kukis have opened two ‘war fronts’, one against the Meiteis and the other against the Nagas ? Or a politics of softening one stand, guided by the principle, ‘Try to get 25 paise first for the targeted Re 1 can always be pursued later ?’ Or were these statements a reflection of the reality, a reality which says that a Separate Administration, in the form of a Union Territory, is not something which Delhi is ready to entertain or a reflection of the reality that opening two ‘war fronts’ has started to hit the Kuki people hard ? Or could it be a case of the Kuki people, the ordinary, everyday Kuki men and women, people who used to make a living selling the vegetables they grow or collect from the jungles at the keithels of Imphal or the fishes which always find ready takers amongst the Meiteis of Imphal and the other valley districts, mustering the needed guts to speak out against the hawkish stand ? The answer could be anything of this, but the question of greater importance is whether Manipur can afford to take the ‘opinion’ of the leader of a Kuki CSO at face level. For over three years Manipur has burnt and far from the situation getting better, the Nagas now have been dragged into the conflict and from a conflict between the Meiteis and the Kukis, today it is about a clash between the Meiteis and the Kukis and the Nagas and the Kukis. It is against this reality that the said Kuki CSO leader gave his stand, which may sound good to Manipur, but remember the issue today concerns not only the Meiteis as a community but also the Nagas. And the sense of brotherhood and camaraderie between the Nagas and the Meiteis can weigh heavily on the Kukis. The politics behind it all should not be lost on the people who matter and this is precisely one reason why the stand of the said Kuki CSO leader needs to be studied deeply and shared between the Nagas and the Meiteis. Today situation is such that any talk of normalcy should not be viewed only through the Kuki-Meitei binary and taking the stand of the Nagas into confidence is now indispensable. An all important point, which should not blow over the heads of anyone who has a say in the three year old conflict. Even as the need to deeply study what the Kuki CSO leader has said is important, it should be noted that this is the first time that such a line of thought has been articulated by anyone from the side of the Kuki community. To come back to an earlier question raised here, what has brought about the fundamental change in stand ? This is a question which should be studied deeply before anyone jumps the gun and come up with some fantabulous interpretation of what the Kuki CSO leader has had to say in an exclusive chat with The Sangai Express.
Even as the exclusive chat with the Kuki CSO leader greeted the readers of The Sangai Express first thing in the morning on July 10, came the news that the State police have arrested two accused in the abduction of 18 Naga people on May 13 at Leilon Vaiphei village. The arrest is acknowledged for here is a case of the State Government demonstrating that at least something is being done, but one wonders what stopped the police from going public with the full name of the two suspects rounded up. It is not uncommon of the police to give details of others arrested for things like drug smuggling or other crimes, such as detailing their names, the names of the father, their addresses etc, but this time the police merely mentioned two names, without their surnames. From the names disclosed, one of them appears to be a Meitei man, and this is where one is constrained to question why the surname has not been disclosed. In Meitei social practise giving the surname of anyone is necessary, even while writing down an invite to a religious or social do. It is the surname which helps to locate anyone in a leikai and one wonders why the police overlooked this crucial aspect. Or is this another exercise to just show that something is being done ? It is this half baked approach that will not convince anyone. How about the rest who accosted the 18 Naga people and handed them to the militants ?
Even as the exclusive chat with the Kuki CSO leader greeted the readers of The Sangai Express first thing in the morning on July 10, came the news that the State police have arrested two accused in the abduction of 18 Naga people on May 13 at Leilon Vaiphei village. The arrest is acknowledged for here is a case of the State Government demonstrating that at least something is being done, but one wonders what stopped the police from going public with the full name of the two suspects rounded up. It is not uncommon of the police to give details of others arrested for things like drug smuggling or other crimes, such as detailing their names, the names of the father, their addresses etc, but this time the police merely mentioned two names, without their surnames. From the names disclosed, one of them appears to be a Meitei man, and this is where one is constrained to question why the surname has not been disclosed. In Meitei social practise giving the surname of anyone is necessary, even while writing down an invite to a religious or social do. It is the surname which helps to locate anyone in a leikai and one wonders why the police overlooked this crucial aspect. Or is this another exercise to just show that something is being done ? It is this half baked approach that will not convince anyone. How about the rest who accosted the 18 Naga people and handed them to the militants ?