Delhi still in the dark after 2 years Letting time do the healing ?
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Time is the best healer and this is the line New Delhi and by extension Raj Bhavan have taken when one looks at the Manipur of today. And the Manipur of today should be seen within the time frame of post May 3, 2023. No more confrontations, no more killings and it is on this basis that the line ‘returning to normalcy’ is bandied about by the people who matter. So the guns going silent is being equated to normalcy and the Manipur of today does not actually paint a pretty picture at all. Even after more than 28 months of the violence erupting in all its ugliness, there is no indication that any of the Kuki-Chin-Zo people are in a position to return to the place they once called home at Imphal and the other valley districts. It is the same with the Meiteis too whose houses have been bulldozed and levelled to the ground at Churachandpur and burnt to cinders at Moreh and Kangpokpi. The National Highways are still off limits to the Meitei people and no Kuki-Chin-Zo people will feel safe to catch a flight from BT Airport. It is under this situation that the people of Manipur have been living since the morning of May 4, 2023, one day after violence erupted and it is baffling to see that nothing much has been done at the ground to take Manipur to the road of normalcy. If the guns going silent is equated to normalcy then such a mindset or reading of the situation can come only from someone who is not ready to acknowledge the reality. And no issue can be settled without taking cognizance of the reality. So what are the steps that have been taken so far to put Manipur on the road to normalcy, as normalcy is understood universally ? Only Delhi and Raj Bhavan can answer this question, but in the process Manipur continues to suffer. What is the way forward ? No easy answer and one wonders when the next round of talk or interaction would be hosted by the Union Home Ministry, as was done earlier. Or is it going to be a case of Delhi just waiting and hoping for time to do its bit and let time heal ? Either way it certainly does not speak well of the Government for here is a case of the Government having utterly failed to deal with a situation that has left the State and her people crippled for over two years. Failing to understand the situation is one thing, but the more important question is whether Delhi is sincerely looking to resolve the situation and take Manipur to the path of normalcy or not. This observation comes against the fact that it took the Prime Minister over two years to visit Manipur and the jury is still out on whether his visit went any way in addressing the issue or not.
In the last 28 months, Manipur saw it all, but has any lesson been learnt or not is the question. Over 260 people killed, thousands displaced and still languishing in different relief centres, buffer zones literally running across the length and breadth of the State, hundreds of homes levelled to the ground and it is amidst this reality that the popularly elected Government was given the marching order and in came President’s Rule. The question is whether this arrangement has had the desired impact or not. This may best be understood in the earlier observation that the guns going silent cannot and should not be equated with normalcy. This is the reality and this brings one back to the poser raised, what is the way forward ? What steps have been taken up to put Manipur on the road of normalcy ? No new answer here for Manipur is aware of the meetings convened by the Union Home Ministry at New Delhi earlier and if one looks at the present, then one may say that the meetings held so far have not yielded the desired results. This however should not be taken to mean that such meetings should not be held, but the need for Delhi to take another fresh look at how the meetings and interactions have been conducted cannot be over emphasised here. A new approach in holding the meetings may just be what the situation warrants, but what should the new approach be ? Make the agenda of such future meetings clear ? Spell it out in black and white ? Or play along with the different demands that have been raised by CSO leaders from either side of the clash divide ? The best option would be for Delhi to approach the issue sincerely, not clouded by the compulsion of geo-politics.
In the last 28 months, Manipur saw it all, but has any lesson been learnt or not is the question. Over 260 people killed, thousands displaced and still languishing in different relief centres, buffer zones literally running across the length and breadth of the State, hundreds of homes levelled to the ground and it is amidst this reality that the popularly elected Government was given the marching order and in came President’s Rule. The question is whether this arrangement has had the desired impact or not. This may best be understood in the earlier observation that the guns going silent cannot and should not be equated with normalcy. This is the reality and this brings one back to the poser raised, what is the way forward ? What steps have been taken up to put Manipur on the road of normalcy ? No new answer here for Manipur is aware of the meetings convened by the Union Home Ministry at New Delhi earlier and if one looks at the present, then one may say that the meetings held so far have not yielded the desired results. This however should not be taken to mean that such meetings should not be held, but the need for Delhi to take another fresh look at how the meetings and interactions have been conducted cannot be over emphasised here. A new approach in holding the meetings may just be what the situation warrants, but what should the new approach be ? Make the agenda of such future meetings clear ? Spell it out in black and white ? Or play along with the different demands that have been raised by CSO leaders from either side of the clash divide ? The best option would be for Delhi to approach the issue sincerely, not clouded by the compulsion of geo-politics.