Clear all roads instruction Date with March 8
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8th March, 2025. To many this will be more than just a date on the calendar for this has been marked by no one less than Union Home Minister Amit Shah to ensure free movement of all the people in Manipur. This is also perhaps the first time that Manipur has seen a Kuki frontal organisation throwing down the gauntlet before the Union Home Minister in proclaiming that no free movement would be allowed in areas that come under its jurisdiction. And in announcing this proclamation, the Kang-pokpi based Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) has pulled up its sleeves and managed to get the Village Volunteers- Eastern Zone to ring out a strong stand against any attempt to traverse through their area freely without first addressing the demand for a Separate Administration. The call for Separate Administration comes complete with the demand for a separate legislature in the form of a Union Territory. Likewise another Churchandpur based organisation has also come out with a strong statement against any measure to ensure free movement of the people across the length and breadth of Manipur. And in response to the call of the Union Home Minister, the Federation of Civil Society Organisations (FOCS) has spelt out its agenda to go all the way right upto Senapati, passing through Kangpokpi and possibly proceed upto Mao if time permits ! The battleline seems to have been drawn up and Raj Bhavan must already be working overtime to see how to navigate through the contrasting stands taken up on either side of the clash divide. Not yet clear how things will unfold, but certain points are clear. Kuki-Zo centric organisations like CoTU have been emboldened to such an extent that today they are more than ready to throw down the gauntlet before the Union Home Minister and to think that this is the same organisation and the womenfolk under it which rolled out the red carpet when the Union Home Minister came calling in 2023 and the politics at play cannot be missed. With CoTU and other Kangpokpi based organisations ringing out the message that they can and will continue to hold the National Highway to ransom, security must have been beefed up if the flag marches organised across the State on March 6 are any indication. The question is, whether the Kuki organisations and its womenfolk will be ready to take the fight against the Central security forces, especially the Assam Rifles and this question should be considered in the backdrop of the close bonhomie the womenfolk shared with the security forces just the other day ! Beefing up security along the National Highway could be just a part of the overall scheme of things to come, and the question is what steps has the Union Home Ministry taken up to ensure free movement of the people, other than just the announcement after the high level security meeting at Delhi some days back.
The announcement has been made, but it would be interesting to see what back up plans are in store to meet the opposition to the announcement. This is perhaps where the sincerity of New Delhi will be tested, for come to think of it, the National Highway could have been cleared in the first few days after May 3, 2023 if the Centre had set its mind on ensuring free movement of the people. Far from it, what Manipur saw were the buffer zones which criss crossed the length and breadth of Manipur so effectively that many mischievous Kuki organisations and individuals came to the conclusion that the separation of Manipur was complete, a line that was parroted to give more credence to their demand for a Separate Administration. Obvious that the instruction from Home Minister Amit Shah runs counter to this false narrative which the spin wizards of CoTU have perfected to an art form and this is one primary reason for putting up the strong opposition to open the National Highways. In many ways such a situation could not have been possible if the Meiteis had been allowed to settle in the hills and this is where Imphal would need to seriously take a fresh look at the ST for Meiteis demand and send the report to New Delhi as sought back in 2013.
The announcement has been made, but it would be interesting to see what back up plans are in store to meet the opposition to the announcement. This is perhaps where the sincerity of New Delhi will be tested, for come to think of it, the National Highway could have been cleared in the first few days after May 3, 2023 if the Centre had set its mind on ensuring free movement of the people. Far from it, what Manipur saw were the buffer zones which criss crossed the length and breadth of Manipur so effectively that many mischievous Kuki organisations and individuals came to the conclusion that the separation of Manipur was complete, a line that was parroted to give more credence to their demand for a Separate Administration. Obvious that the instruction from Home Minister Amit Shah runs counter to this false narrative which the spin wizards of CoTU have perfected to an art form and this is one primary reason for putting up the strong opposition to open the National Highways. In many ways such a situation could not have been possible if the Meiteis had been allowed to settle in the hills and this is where Imphal would need to seriously take a fresh look at the ST for Meiteis demand and send the report to New Delhi as sought back in 2013.