Announced roadmap of Sept 17, 2024 Active, energetic Raj Bhavan
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It was back on September 17, 2024 that Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced for one and all to hear that a roadmap to resolve the situation in Manipur has been prepared. It was in line with this announcement that the first joint meeting of legislators drawn from the Naga, Kuki and Meitei communities was held at Delhi under the auspices of the Union Home Ministry on October 15, 2024 and while no one knows the points that were put across by the State Government, the Kuki-Zo MLAs came out with a statement that the demand for a Separate Administration should be the issue around which any talk should be held. This was what was conveyed to the Centre, the Kuki-Zo MLAs claimed, while no one knows what points were put across by the MLAs drawn from the Meitei community. Awangbow Newmai of the NPF who attended the meeting as a man from the Naga community did speak to reporters on his arrival at the airport here, stressing on the need for normalcy to prevail. This was in the few days after the Delhi summit of October 15 and even as Manipur was left clueless on what exactly happened during the October 15 meeting of 2024, Jiribam went up in flames and ended with the killing of six persons who had been taken captive by Kuki militants. The six persons killed after captivity included an 8 month old infant and two other children while the adults were all women. The Jiribam outrage came even as Delhi had worked out the roadmap to normalcy and one is left wondering whether this can be taken as a blip or reflects the hollowness of the roadmap to peace announcement. The interpretation is best left to the people, but it stands that normalcy continues to elude Manipur and the ethnic conflict has already crossed the 20 months mark. Twenty months means Manipur has been in flames for over 600 days and quickly marching towards the 730 days mark. Amid the tales of human tragedy being scripted on the soil of Manipur, in came former Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla as the new Governor of Manipur. That the new man in Raj Bhavan is intent on doing the job entrusted on him seriously could be gauged from the fact that soon after assuming office he chaired a high level security meeting complete with the Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh, DGP Rajiv Singh and top ranking officers of the Army and the Assam Rifles. The Governor did not stop at presiding over the security meeting but took it upon himself to proceed directly to Churachandpur where he is reported to have conveyed to the Kuki-Zo leaders that peace is a prerequisite to any dialogue or meaningful discussion. Next step was to call on the President, the Vice President and most crucially Union Home Minister Amit Shah where the case of Manipur was reportedly discussed minutely.
A refreshing change it is to see a kicking and active Raj Bhavan and calling on the Central leaders without much of a hassle, something which cannot be said of the Government of Manipur. How things proceed from here is anybody’s guess but the declaration of a roadmap being prepared seems to be falling in place if one goes by the manner in which the Governor has set about putting things in order. After the Governor came the appointment of the Chief Secretary with PK Singh tasked to occupy the all important post in the State Government. Much like the earlier appointments of the Security Advisor and the DGP, this time too it was Delhi which made the move with the State Government made to merely issue the appointment order. All men from Delhi, this is how the situation may be read and while it remains to be seen how things develop from here, it is gratifying to note that the new man at the Raj Bhavan has made it clear that peace should be the first priority without pre-conditions. Delhi has also moved to keep up with what one sees in Manipur in the last couple of days with officials of the Union Home Ministry talking to the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) leaders. More recently formed, the KZC is supposed to be the apex body of the Kuki-Zo community and this is where one is left wondering who the Centre or the Governor will reach out to if a dialogue is to be held with a body representing the Meiteis.
A refreshing change it is to see a kicking and active Raj Bhavan and calling on the Central leaders without much of a hassle, something which cannot be said of the Government of Manipur. How things proceed from here is anybody’s guess but the declaration of a roadmap being prepared seems to be falling in place if one goes by the manner in which the Governor has set about putting things in order. After the Governor came the appointment of the Chief Secretary with PK Singh tasked to occupy the all important post in the State Government. Much like the earlier appointments of the Security Advisor and the DGP, this time too it was Delhi which made the move with the State Government made to merely issue the appointment order. All men from Delhi, this is how the situation may be read and while it remains to be seen how things develop from here, it is gratifying to note that the new man at the Raj Bhavan has made it clear that peace should be the first priority without pre-conditions. Delhi has also moved to keep up with what one sees in Manipur in the last couple of days with officials of the Union Home Ministry talking to the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) leaders. More recently formed, the KZC is supposed to be the apex body of the Kuki-Zo community and this is where one is left wondering who the Centre or the Governor will reach out to if a dialogue is to be held with a body representing the Meiteis.