Growing voice for a popular Govt Is a roadmap in place ?
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Will the return of a popular Government take Manipur anywhere nearer to a state of normalcy ? This question is relevant in the context of the growing talks doing the round that something new, read on the political front, may be expected in August. The next month is still a few good days away and given the topsy turvy world associated with politics, anything may happen, but the question whether the State political leaderships have been able to work out a roadmap to normalcy still remains to be answered. The focus of the political leaders appears to be fixated on the question of when the present President’s Rule regime will come to an end rather than spelling out anything that could be read and understood as a roadmap to take Manipur to the path of normalcy. Or will it be a question of giving a more forceful boost to the Delhi dialogue that has been ongoing with members of civil society organisations of both sides sitting down with officials of the Union Home Ministry ? A step that ideally should have been taken up way back, say in 2023 itself, but better late than never and it remains to be seen if the return of a popularly elected Government will be able to give further boost to the Delhi sponsored and hosted talks. And this is where the question of whether the return of a popular Government will be able to do anything given the fact that there was such a Government for close to two years when Manipur literally burnt. It also stands that the Manipur of February 2025 may not necessarily be the same of the Manipur of July or August of 2025 and there might have been changes or political developments that could have been worked out, points that cannot be spelt out in the present context. The benefits of doubt may be given to the political leaders and political parties backing the call for the return of a popular Government, but it is important that for such a situation to sound positive for the people, a roadmap, acceptable to all should be worked out, however tentatively it may be. Other than the task of taking Manipur to normalcy, the State Government will have to deal with the voice of protest that has been rung out by the Foothills Naga Co-ordination Committee (FNCC), against the purported infamous Tiger-German Road that seeks to connect Kangpokpi with Churachandpur crossing through what they say are lands of the Nagas. Is Raj Bhavan aware of the situation and the current that runs beneath, especially in the backdrop of the assault of the chief of Konsakhul village by Kuki militants in April this year. This came even as the Naga community erupted in protest after a Rongmei woman was assaulted by Kuki militants at the same village in January this year.
The emerging pattern must be clear or made clear to Raj Bhavan and a report reflecting this reality must be sent to Delhi. Land grab, distorting history etc are all reasons for the stiff opposition put up by the FNCC against the coming up of the so called Tiger-German Road, for there is no guarantee that the same road would one day be claimed as the ancestral land of the Kuki-Chin-Zo community. The innate ties that the Nagas have with the land passed down to them through the generations, dating back to thousands of years, should be respected. This is where timely intervention of Raj Bhavan is called for. All indications that not everything is fine with Manipur and even as demands for the installation or return of a popular Government have been raised from different directions, it should not be forgotten that addressing the points raised by FNCC should also concern all political parties for it could well be a tinder box. On paper a road connecting Churachandpur with Kangpokpi sounds good but this is on paper and the real reason why a sense of urgency to make such a road should be studied and understood. This is where it needs to be studied why the drug trail seems to have shifted to States neighbouring Manipur. There was a reason why the War on Drugs campaign was launched by the then BJP led Government at Imphal. And why news of drugs being seized on the Moreh route have dropped drastically in the last two years. Connect the dots and the pattern that emerges should not be missed. This is important.
The emerging pattern must be clear or made clear to Raj Bhavan and a report reflecting this reality must be sent to Delhi. Land grab, distorting history etc are all reasons for the stiff opposition put up by the FNCC against the coming up of the so called Tiger-German Road, for there is no guarantee that the same road would one day be claimed as the ancestral land of the Kuki-Chin-Zo community. The innate ties that the Nagas have with the land passed down to them through the generations, dating back to thousands of years, should be respected. This is where timely intervention of Raj Bhavan is called for. All indications that not everything is fine with Manipur and even as demands for the installation or return of a popular Government have been raised from different directions, it should not be forgotten that addressing the points raised by FNCC should also concern all political parties for it could well be a tinder box. On paper a road connecting Churachandpur with Kangpokpi sounds good but this is on paper and the real reason why a sense of urgency to make such a road should be studied and understood. This is where it needs to be studied why the drug trail seems to have shifted to States neighbouring Manipur. There was a reason why the War on Drugs campaign was launched by the then BJP led Government at Imphal. And why news of drugs being seized on the Moreh route have dropped drastically in the last two years. Connect the dots and the pattern that emerges should not be missed. This is important.