To be or not to be over Sangai Fest Politics of normalcy
|
The politics of normalcy and this is becoming more and more visibly blatant, even as each day takes Manipur closer to the Sangai Festival. Scheduled to start from November 21 and to go on till November 30, a number of civil society organisations and most importantly the internally displaced persons have come out in the open to declare that this is not the time to hold such a festival with COCOMI having gone on record to state that what Manipur needs at the moment is not any tourism festival but normalcy, a situation wherein the displaced folks can go back to the place they once called home. Raj Bhavan on the other hand appears firm in its commitment to go ahead with the festival and it was along this line that BJP MLAs, all personalities who served as Ministers in the Biren Singh Government, were invited to the Raj Bhavan for a meeting, the details of which are not known. And even as Raj Bhavan seems bent on going forward with the preparations to hold the festival, the Chief of Army Staff, General Upendra Dwivedi held centre stage in announcing that situation in Manipur has improved, and to quote him, ‘with rays of hope and enthusiasm.’ The visit of the Prime Minister to Imphal and Chura-chandpur in September this year and obviously the silence of the guns after President’s Rule was imposed on February 13 this year, were trumped as reflections of normalcy returning to Manipur. The dot that connects the intent of the PR administration to hold the Sangai Festival and the ‘with rays of hope and enthusiasm’ quip of the Army chief cannot be missed but to the people who are still languishing in the different relief centres set up across the length and breadth of the State and the many CSOs which have risen to the challenges of the time, the normalcy quip is nothing but a ploy to portray the false message that things are fine in Manipur. And it this which they are against and this is where one can see can get a clearer picture of the politics that is being woven around the term normalcy. The politics of normalcy is indeed bewildering. And to Manipur and her people normalcy is not something that can be politicised for it is the ground reality that will say whether normalcy has dawned or not. The silence of the guns cannot and should not be equated with normalcy by any stretch of the imagination, more so for a place where free movement is still a mirage and thousands continue to languish in different relief centres. The Army chief may have spoken about the successful conduct of the Shirui Lily Festival, but Manipur still remembers the strong stand taken by the Tangkhul Naga Long to ensure free movement of all in Ukhrul district. The media too has not forgotten how the word Manipur was erased from the signage of the MST bus ferrying reporters to cover the opening day of the Shirui Lily Festival.
The interesting question is, what is the position of the BJP MLAs on the Sangai Festival. How about the different office bearers of the State BJP unit ? Where do they stand ? And what exactly was the purpose of the meeting between the Governor and the BJP MLAs at Raj Bhavan on November 17 ? Moreover how would the State BJP, as a political party, respond to the unfolding situation ? If the grapevine is to be believed, National BJP president JP Nadda is set to arrive in Manipur anytime in the coming days, and what if his visit co-incides with the Sangai Festival ? Will the State BJP, as a political party, roll out the red carpet for JP Nadda to have a glimpse of the Sangai Festival ? Questions at the moment and while no straight answer is expected from either BJP MLAs and the State unit of the BJP, it would not have blown over the consciousness of the BJP leaders that Raj Bhavan is planning to go ahead with the Sangai Festival with the backing of the Union Home Ministry. This brings one back to the line, ‘politics of normalcy,’ and Manipur will seriously need to deal with the question of whether it is good politics to rub Raj Bhavan and by extension the Union Home Ministry the wrong way over the question of holding a festival. No easy answers here and one will have to wait for newer developments to see.
The interesting question is, what is the position of the BJP MLAs on the Sangai Festival. How about the different office bearers of the State BJP unit ? Where do they stand ? And what exactly was the purpose of the meeting between the Governor and the BJP MLAs at Raj Bhavan on November 17 ? Moreover how would the State BJP, as a political party, respond to the unfolding situation ? If the grapevine is to be believed, National BJP president JP Nadda is set to arrive in Manipur anytime in the coming days, and what if his visit co-incides with the Sangai Festival ? Will the State BJP, as a political party, roll out the red carpet for JP Nadda to have a glimpse of the Sangai Festival ? Questions at the moment and while no straight answer is expected from either BJP MLAs and the State unit of the BJP, it would not have blown over the consciousness of the BJP leaders that Raj Bhavan is planning to go ahead with the Sangai Festival with the backing of the Union Home Ministry. This brings one back to the line, ‘politics of normalcy,’ and Manipur will seriously need to deal with the question of whether it is good politics to rub Raj Bhavan and by extension the Union Home Ministry the wrong way over the question of holding a festival. No easy answers here and one will have to wait for newer developments to see.