Editorial: SOS from Manipur

The BJP is in power both at the Centre and in Manipur but there is a total collapse of political leadership

It is high time Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke his silence on Manipur mayhem as the north-eastern State continues to burn, claiming over 100 lives and displacing more than 50,000 people so far. The law and order appears to have completely collapsed as mobs are having a free run and the efforts of the central and State governments to restore peace and normalcy have failed. In continued arson and vandalism, the mobs have torched the private residence of Union Minister Rajkumar Ranjan Singh using petrol bombs and then set afire a warehouse of a retired civil servant. This is the second time in three weeks that the junior external affairs minister”s house has been targeted. The BJP is in power both at the Centre and in Manipur but there is a total collapse of political leadership and the ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ governance model in the midst of raging ethnic violence. The recent visit of Home Minister Amit Shah to the trouble-torn State had raised hopes of a cessation of hostilities between the warring Meiteis and Kukis amid the deployment of Army and paramilitary personnel. However, there has been no let-up in violence a month and a half after clashes broke out during a protest march against the Meiteis’ demand for Scheduled Tribe status. The north-eastern States – wedged between Bangladesh, China and Myanmar – are a patchwork of ethnic groups battling a contested history and frequent frictions. The Centre recently set up a peace committee, chaired by Governor Anusuiya Uikey, to facilitate the peace-making process among various ethnic groups in the State.

However, it ran into rough weather at the beginning itself with a prominent Meitei civil society organisation refusing to join the panel, while an apex Kuki body objected to the inclusion of Chief Minister N Biren Singh in it. The Centre needs to urgently review the panel’s composition and make changes that are acceptable to various stakeholders. The much-hyped ‘double-engine’ government must crack down on militant groups that are exploiting the volatile situation. Disarming militants is a prerequisite for creating an environment conducive for holding negotiations. Sincere efforts must be made to bridge the trust deficit not only between the warring groups and those in power but also among the communities themselves. Continued tensions in the sensitive region have exposed chinks in the BJP’s much-touted strategy of forging unity among various ethnic groups. The two communities have been embroiled in a fight since March following the Manipur High Court’s direction to the State to consider including the Meiteis, who are largely Hindus, in the Scheduled Tribes list. The Kukis, mostly Christians, feel threatened as the move would pave the path for Meiteis to own land in the forest and hill areas. The long-standing disputes between migrants and indigenous people have further exacerbated the crisis.

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