Significant step post May 3, 2023 Eyes on Delhi dialogue

This could be the first step, that is if the dirty hands of politics do not stretch out and try to muddy the water. And credit should be given to the Union Home Ministry for initiating the process of letting the people’s representatives from both the Kuki-Zo and Meitei side to sit down and see how a path may be paved for Manipur to take her first step towards normalcy. Even as this is being penned down reports have come in that after Speaker Th Satyabrata and MLA Tongbram Robindro reached Delhi on October 13, eight MLAs including Ministers and the Rajya Sabha MP Leishemba Sanajaoba left Imphal for Delhi on October 14. The MLAs/Ministers who must be in Delhi now, even as this is being penned down include Y Khemchand, Kh Raghumani, Th Basanta, S Ranjan, Th Biswajit and Ibomcha. Of the three MLAs from the Naga community named to take part in the first round of negotiation, Awangbow Newmai and Losii Dikho have reportedly reached Delhi while it is still not very clear whether the third Naga MLA, Ram Muivah has reached Delhi or not. It is as yet not clear how many of the MLAs from the Kuki-Zo side have reached Delhi or how many of them would attend the meeting, but the import of the scheduled meet need not be overstressed and remember the meeting is being convened at the initiative of the Union Home Ministry. Imphal has nothing to do with organising the scheduled meeting and this is a point which should not be brushed aside. This is the first time that the Union Home Ministry has stepped in meaningfully but while this is a step in the right direction, Manipur is not oblivious of the fact that the talk will be held under the cloud of the Separate Administration call, whether this comes up for discussion or not. A call that was first sounded publicly by the ten Kuki-Zo MLAs, though it has also not blown over the consciousness of Imphal that the ten MLAs could have been parroting a line which they were ‘convinced’ to proclaim. The agenda of the scheduled meeting has not been spelt out but it does not need rocket science knowledge to work out that ‘peace and normalcy’ would be central to the meeting. Have the MLAs from either side been empowered to speak out on behalf of the community to which they belong or have they been called as they are the people’s representatives and represent the interests and aspirations of the people ? Were the MLAs specifically invited after the Union Home Ministry consulted the State Government on who should be invited to share their ideas and plans on how to take Manipur to the path of normalcy ? Only questions at the moment and while no immediate answer is expected, the efforts of the Centre to bring the two sides to the negotiating table is noted and appreciated. And this is what The Sangai Express had been expounding all this while, after Manipur went up in flames in the evening of May 3, 2023. An interesting point to note at the moment would be the fact that while the demand for a Separate Administration has been put forward from the side of the Kuki-Zo community as a fall out of the violence that erupted 17 months back, what is the demand of Manipur ?
Identify and give marching orders to all  the immigrants who came into Manipur after 1951 is one line that comes to mind, but how ? The National Register of Citizens seems to be the answer but so far New Delhi has not given the slightest hint that it is ready to conduct such an exercise. Plus the Assam experience with NRC does not give much comfort. What are the other alternatives then ? Difficult to say. ST demand for the Meiteis is another point that some may like to point out, but remember the demand for ST category predates May 3, 2023 and it was as long back as in 2013 that the Union Tribal Ministry had sought the ethnographic and socio-economic report of the Meiteis to consider the inclusion of the community in the Scheduled Tribe list. These are just two points that come to mind but it underlines the importance of knowing what cards to deal and play with and the State Government is expected to have lined up the points that ought to be laid down when the time for a dialogue comes. Just some points that come to mind, but it is important for all that sitting down at the negotiation table is the only way to settle the matter and while the October 15 meeting is the first such meet, one can expect a series of meetings to follow before things are taken to its logical conclusion. For now Manipur should keep its fingers crossed and hope for the best.