Hosting foreign rebel groups Interestingly intriguing
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Interesting as well as intriguing and dangerously so for the North Eastern States, particularly Manipur which has been reeling under an ethnic violence for 22 months now. Even as Union Home Minister Amit Shah issued strict instructions to ensure free movement on all roads from March 8 during a high level security meeting held at New Delhi just a few days back, the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) has come out with a strong stand that no such movement would be allowed, until and unless the demand for a Separate Administration in the form of a Union Territory is addressed to. And even as Manipur is caught up with the question of whether the security forces would be able to secure the Imphal-Dimapur Highway and ensure free movement of all, came the news that Mizoram Chief Minister Laduhoma hosted a pact signing deal of Chin rebel groups at Aizawl recently. The question is whether the Chief Minister of a State of the Indian Union would have been in the position to host a meeting of rebel groups from a neighbouring country and oversee the inking of a pact that unified all Chin rebel groups, without the knowledge of New Delhi. This question is all that more important given the fact that the Chins share close filial ties with the Kukis in India and more so for a State like Manipur, where a strong demand for a Separate Administration for the Kuki-Chin tribes has been raised by the Churachandpur based Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) and the Kangpokpi based CoTU. Connect the dots between what happened at Mizoram just a few days ago and what is happening in Manipur and the ongoing civil war in Myanmar and a pattern emerges. Throw in the Act East Policy and India’s efforts to gain a strong footing in South East Asia illustrated by the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP), a trade route between India and Myanmar that connects the seaport of Kolkata to the Sittwe seaport in Myanmar and so many things can be read into the latest developments. The compulsion of geo-politics and this is where one may read into the importance of the SoO pact, in so far as New Delhi is concerned and the unproclaimed but obvious long rope given to the Kuki armed groups under the SoO pact will become clearer. This is what Manipur must be aware of and accordingly gear up to meet any challenges that may come in the coming days. Experts or folks with a fair knowledge of the political reality and the emerging scenario may pool in their heads together and see what steps may be taken up to blunt any developments that are likely to come by in the near future. The recent developments in Mizoram and the coming together of the CM of a State of the Indian Union with Chin rebel groups which share close ties with the Kuki militants of Manipur may be linked to the defiant stand adopted by CoTU against the directive of Amit Shah to ensure free movement on all roads of Manipur.
The politics at play is dangerous and makes for a heady cocktail. Looking at what has been happening in Manipur since the evening of May 3, 2023, it should be more than clear from where the guns used by the Kuki militants have come. This could be one reason why the Union Home Minister seemed to be concerned only with the guns looted from the police armouries in Imphal and the valley districts while turning a blind eye to the guns used to attack Meitei settlements at the foothills. Moreover the Government has not said anything about the arms that were put on full display, dangling from the shoulders, while some Kuki bravehearts played football at Kangpokpi some time back. Information that some of the Kuki youths have been pulled up has come in, but not a word has been said about the arms put on full display for public consumption. Given the reality here, people in Imphal will surely read more than the coming together of some Chin rebel groups, the pact for which was inked at Aizawl, but will juxtapose it with what has been happening in Manipur and the defiant stand adopted by CoTU in the face of the directive issued by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The politics at play is dangerous and makes for a heady cocktail. Looking at what has been happening in Manipur since the evening of May 3, 2023, it should be more than clear from where the guns used by the Kuki militants have come. This could be one reason why the Union Home Minister seemed to be concerned only with the guns looted from the police armouries in Imphal and the valley districts while turning a blind eye to the guns used to attack Meitei settlements at the foothills. Moreover the Government has not said anything about the arms that were put on full display, dangling from the shoulders, while some Kuki bravehearts played football at Kangpokpi some time back. Information that some of the Kuki youths have been pulled up has come in, but not a word has been said about the arms put on full display for public consumption. Given the reality here, people in Imphal will surely read more than the coming together of some Chin rebel groups, the pact for which was inked at Aizawl, but will juxtapose it with what has been happening in Manipur and the defiant stand adopted by CoTU in the face of the directive issued by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.