Resolutions to urge Centre Will Delhi listen is the question
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Like other Imphal based newspapers, The Sangai Express waited, waited and waited for any information on the meeting of the ruling MLAs convened by the Chief Minister on November 18, for the reading was, it would be crucial for at least the next few days. The wait for the MLAs to come out from the Chief Minister’s official residence proved futile, in the sense that The Sangai Express, like all newspapers across the world had to meet its deadline also and the reporters deputed to keep a watch for any MLAs that could be contacted had to ultimately return to the office emptyhanded. As the clock kept ticking away and since the wait for one news item could not keep the whole page, page 1 in this case blank, the other available, but crucially important news made it and whatever little information that could be gathered were quickly jotted down and while labour was being put in to make the little bits of information into a whole readable news item which would make sense to the readers the next day, the press release from the Chief Minister’s office was received at the office of this newspaper. By then it was already 11 pm. An 8 point resolution it was and the question of whether the decisions adopted would have cut ice with anyone or not is best left to the discretion of the people but it is clear that the decisions adopted would not have taken Manipur anywhere nearer to the road of normalcy. It should also be clear that many of the MLAs were not convinced to attend the meeting, a meeting called to discuss the latest explosion of violence and what Manipur should do next and this is where the biggest and most crucial question lies. Being out of station and hence could not make it to the meeting is a line that is acceptable and understandable but were all the MLAs who did not turn up for the meeting out of station ? No answer to this poser is expected but this would be of immense importance to the public, and the question still hangs, why weren’t all the MLAs present ? This apart, would the people be satisfied with the resolutions adopted at the end of the meeting ? Review the decision to reimpose AFSPA in areas under 6 police stations; start mass operations against the Kuki militants responsible for the kidnapping and killing of three women and three children; hand over the case of the murder of the three Meitei women and three Meitei children, the killing of one Hmar woman on November 7, the killing of one Meitei woman on November 9 to the National Investigation Agency; to declare the Kuki militant groups responsible for the kidnapping and killing of the three Meitei women and three Meitei children as unlawful organisations within one week; if the resolutions taken are not acted on positively then the MLAs would chart out their future course of action.
Keeping the reality in mind and it was in line with this that the resolutions adopted all centred on approaching New Delhi to do the needful. One wonders whether the Centre would take note of this or would continue with the posture it has adopted since the evening of May 3, 2023. Only time will tell, but the very fact that this question has been raised should reflect the reality that Imphal has now admitted that the ball is in the court of New Delhi and Kuki militants should be dealt by them. Promise to do away with the Free Movement Regime, promise to fence the Indo-Myanmar border are all good for the books, but what Manipur needs is a crackdown on the Kuki militants and this is something which the Centre is reluctant to do so. Manipur also still remembers how Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke his silence on the Manipur crisis by coming down harshly against the nude parade of two Kuki girls during the earlier stage of the ongoing conflict and how he has preferred to remain mute when three Meitei women and three Meitei children have been done to death, after they were kidnapped from a relief centre. Indifference of new Delhi and the failure of Imphal to present the story of Manipur effectively before the people who matter is what is writ large in the cases that have been cited and it is in the backdrop of this fact that the meeting of the ruling MLAs was called which was all about nudging Delhi to act. How the Centre responds remains to be seen.
Keeping the reality in mind and it was in line with this that the resolutions adopted all centred on approaching New Delhi to do the needful. One wonders whether the Centre would take note of this or would continue with the posture it has adopted since the evening of May 3, 2023. Only time will tell, but the very fact that this question has been raised should reflect the reality that Imphal has now admitted that the ball is in the court of New Delhi and Kuki militants should be dealt by them. Promise to do away with the Free Movement Regime, promise to fence the Indo-Myanmar border are all good for the books, but what Manipur needs is a crackdown on the Kuki militants and this is something which the Centre is reluctant to do so. Manipur also still remembers how Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke his silence on the Manipur crisis by coming down harshly against the nude parade of two Kuki girls during the earlier stage of the ongoing conflict and how he has preferred to remain mute when three Meitei women and three Meitei children have been done to death, after they were kidnapped from a relief centre. Indifference of new Delhi and the failure of Imphal to present the story of Manipur effectively before the people who matter is what is writ large in the cases that have been cited and it is in the backdrop of this fact that the meeting of the ruling MLAs was called which was all about nudging Delhi to act. How the Centre responds remains to be seen.