Equating SoO with free movement Killing two birds with one stone
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Many must be scratching their heads and wondering what is in it for Manipur ? Not so for the Delhi mandarins, for strictly viewing it from the lens of pure politics, it could mean coming close to the understanding of the phrase, ‘killing two birds with one stone.’ And it rhymes perfectly well with the anticipated visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, afterall the visit of the most important person in India should not go in vain. So it is that ahead of the anticipated visit of the Prime Minister, Delhi has announced the extension of the Suspension of Operation pact with the Kuki-Zo militants and the opening of the National Highways. The free movement from March 8 call of the Union Home Minister in the early part of 2025 has now come to this. Delhi has scored, but how about Manipur and her people ? Since when did free movement on the National Highways become a sort of a bargaining chip ? This is exactly what has been done and the more one thinks about it the more one is likely to scratch the head and keep wondering what has transpired ? Even as Delhi has announced the opening of the National Highways, the Churachandpur based Kuki-Zo Council has come out with a statement that is laden with such profundity that it would need not one but two hands to scratch the head ! Playing with words to confuse the people or just playing dumb is the line that comes to mind when one takes a closer look at the statement of the Kuki-Zo Council of Churachandpur. “We categorically reiterate that the Imphal-Dimapur NH-02 has never been closed or blocked. The NH-02 has consistently remained open for commuters and for the transportation of essential goods. Therefore the question of ‘reopening’ does not arise, contrary to certain media reports,” said KZC and went on to add that opening the highway must not be taken to mean ‘endorsement or unrestricted free movement across the buffer zones.’ Aptly sums up the understanding of talking in two tongues to confuse the people while delivering the point that what needs to be said has been said and the Kuki Zo Council seems to have perfectly mastered this art. It is this same art that has been used to such a degree to champion the false narratives that have been sold to some eager pen pushers across the length and breadth of the country. A stand which comes uncomfortably close to the one spelt out earlier with such conviction by the Zomi Council, wherein the call to open the National Highways was flatly rejected. This was on September 2 and like the Kuki-Zo Council, the Zomi Council too is Churachandpur based, the place from where the May 3, 2023 violence first started. A case of accommodating the interests of the more radical elements or a case of the more ‘inclusive Kuki-Zo Council’ toeing the line of the Zomi Council ? Only the people of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi, or better still, the leaders and members of ITLF and CoTU can answer this, but this development is significant and it would not have missed the observation of Delhi and its intelligence agencies.
The highway politics and suddenly the SoO groups have managed to take this to a new level. Open the highway but in the process ‘take our pound of flesh’ is the dictum that has come out on tops. Is Manipur ready to deal with such a type of politics, the politics of getting Delhi to agree with an unspoken but audible agenda ? The answer is anybody’s guess, but this is perhaps the right time for Manipur to ponder over why the war of narratives seems to have gone the way of the Kuki-Chin-Zo side from the day violence broke out. Why is it that all the so called liberal media in other parts of the country have fallen for the victim story so wonderfully dished out by the Kuki-Chin-Zo community, the best example being the report of the PUCL ? Questions which should have bothered the minds of those at the helm of Manipur, but it appears that many of these more prominent folks were and are satisfied with continuing to live in their echo chamber, a line so significantly used by a young Manipuri living abroad. So Delhi has announced the opening of the National Highways, but the Kuki-Zo Council has come out with its own deduction of opening the highway while tossing in its own interpretation of ‘buffer zones’. The issue which has been plaguing Manipur since May 3, 2023 continues to this day with some tweaks here and there.
The highway politics and suddenly the SoO groups have managed to take this to a new level. Open the highway but in the process ‘take our pound of flesh’ is the dictum that has come out on tops. Is Manipur ready to deal with such a type of politics, the politics of getting Delhi to agree with an unspoken but audible agenda ? The answer is anybody’s guess, but this is perhaps the right time for Manipur to ponder over why the war of narratives seems to have gone the way of the Kuki-Chin-Zo side from the day violence broke out. Why is it that all the so called liberal media in other parts of the country have fallen for the victim story so wonderfully dished out by the Kuki-Chin-Zo community, the best example being the report of the PUCL ? Questions which should have bothered the minds of those at the helm of Manipur, but it appears that many of these more prominent folks were and are satisfied with continuing to live in their echo chamber, a line so significantly used by a young Manipuri living abroad. So Delhi has announced the opening of the National Highways, but the Kuki-Zo Council has come out with its own deduction of opening the highway while tossing in its own interpretation of ‘buffer zones’. The issue which has been plaguing Manipur since May 3, 2023 continues to this day with some tweaks here and there.