BL Santosh and Sambit Patra came here, met BJP leaders and office bearers of the saffron party, interacted with the IDPs, visited Senapati and Churachandpur, and are now at Delhi. What can Manipur expect from the visit of the two leaders ? Tough to say, but significant to note that all the BJP MLAs were united in one stand and that is the return of the popularly elected Government. It remains to be seen how Delhi would entertain the line struck by the BJP MLAs here, but other than the call for the return of a popular Government what Manipur desperately needs at the moment is normalcy, as universally understood. And this normalcy should be understood in the context of the fact that even after more than two years, thousands continue to languish in different relief centres set up across the length and breadth of the State. The term buffer zones may or may not be officially used, but the National Highways remain off limits for the Meiteis and no Kuki-Zo folk would feel it safe or practical to return to the place they once called home at Imphal and the other valley districts. Were these points put up before BL Santosh and Sambit Patra ? Or would the return of a popularly elected Government help resolve the points raised here ? Did the BJP MLAs spell out any roadmap to normalcy before BL Santosh and Sambit Patra ? Not much is known on this front but what is clear is the call for the return of the popularly elected Government. Should the return of a popular Government precede the return to normalcy as universally understood ? The answer should lie with the people, but no one would have missed the fact that confrontations or gun fights between the two communities no longer hog prime space on the pages of the Imphal based newspapers. A number of illegal arms have also been returned or surrendered to the Government within the time frame set by the PR administration, under the initiative of Raj Bhavan. This is a positive development for Manipur has already experienced how it is like to live under a highly weaponised society. In as much as the BJP MLAs have not openly come out with a roadmap to take Manipur to the understanding of normalcy, it also remains that Delhi too is still batting in the dark. Apart from the meetings held now and then at Delhi with civil society organisations of the two communities ‘at war’, no other step is visible and this is what is disturbing. A case of the Government not sincere enough in addressing the core issues or still not clear on what the core issues are ? It also stands that changing the narratives on how the violence started has only gone to add more confusion amongst the people. The narrative for Manipur should be clear and there should be no question of changing the narrative.
As repeatedly pointed out in this column, Manipur should stick to the narrative of why Meitei civilians were picked out and attacked at Torbung and Churachandpur on May 3, 2023. The Tribal Solidarity March was ostensibly against the ruling of the High Court of Manipur (which has since been withdrawn) to the State Government to send the ethnographic and socio-economic report of the Meiteis to consider the demand for its inclusion in the ST list of the Constitution of India. India and ATSUM know that it is not the job of the Judiciary to decide which community fits the bill to be included in the ST list and even if the Solidarity March was against the ruling of the High Court why were members of a community targeted ? Manipur has seen many protests in the past against the policies and programmes of the Government but not once have members of any community been targeted. Why were the Meiteis targeted at Churachandpur and Torbung on May 3, 2023 ? This is the question that should be consistently raised and it is this narrative that should be conveyed to the Central leaders. Not clear if these points were sought be delivered to BL Santosh and Sambit Patra for the focus seemed to be more on the return of a popular Government. Early days yet but to the people the number one priority is the return of normalcy and elected members are expected to air the concerns of the people.