Charting out roadmap to normalcy Make position of CM clear

“All that we have to do is bring both sides (Meiteis and Kuki-Zos) to the table for discussions, it shouldn’t be about a new State, not about driving out people. It has to be about co-existence and the Chief Minister will have to do it,” is the line reported by NDTV, while quoting an unnamed BJP leader. Sounds logical but how far would the words, ‘shouldn’t be about a new State, not about driving out people,’ in the face of the Separate Administration call issued by the ten Kuki-Zo MLAs and fully backed by Kuki CSOs such as the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) and Kuki Inpi, Manipur (KIM) and the stand of the State Assembly to enforce the National Register of Citizens (NRC), a demand first raised by the different CSOs of Manipur particularly the Co-ordination Committee on Manipur Integrity, go with the points raised from either side of the clash divide ? Moreover how acceptable would the Chief Minister be to the Kuki-Zo community, given the fact that the Peace Committee named in the early part of the clash was a non-starter as the Kuki-Zos had opposed it on the ground that they cannot be a party to any group which has the Chief Minister ? This poser should be seen in the context of the line, ‘The Chief Minister will have to do it.’ These are some points which need serious deliberations and while the input from the unnamed BJP leader is welcome, the ground realities will have to be taken into consideration. The ‘bring both sides to the (Meiteis and Kuki-Zos) to the table for discussion,’ should be also viewed and studied in the context of the line, ‘Solution First, Peace Later’ maintained and championed by the ITLF and CoTU. And moreover the observation of the BJP leader seems to hand over the responsibility of negotiating the peace process entirely to Manipur, bypassing Delhi, particularly the Prime Minister. It is not yet clear whether the line that came from the BJP leader has been presented to the Chief Minister and leaders of the Kuki-Zo community but it should be clear that initiatives for any process to start the dialogue ball rolling need to come from Delhi. And who is better placed than the Prime Minister ? This is a question which Delhi has been avoiding ever since Manipur went up in flames on May 3, 2023 and the tragedy is Imphal too seems to be satisfied with toeing the line that the Prime Minister has spoken on the Manipur issue at least three times, twice in Parliament and the other on August 15 in 2023. The BJP leader was also quoted as stating that the ‘PM has categorically communicated to the State party leaders that he does not want any blame game, but time-bound peace agenda.’
If one goes by what the unnamed BJP leader has had to say then Delhi has conveyed what it wants in no uncertain terms. The only point is whether Imphal has taken it up from there and started putting in efforts to work towards peace and normalcy. So far nothing towards this has been made public from the side of the State Government, but a rough path has been laid down and this is where one is left wondering when this instruction will be put into action. Or better still is whether this instruction is another indication that Delhi prefers to keep aloof and let the State Government do the spadework for it to come on board only when it thinks the time is right ? One may look at this in two ways. One is, the matter is something which the State Government can handle but when the onus is put on the Chief Minister to make the move, then shouldn’t his position be also made clear ? Indications in the last few months say something different. For instance in many of the cases, one gets to see concerned parties focusing on meeting the Governor to address their plight, most notably the recent stand off at DM University or when parents of the two missing youths, Linthoingambi Hijam and Phijam Hemanjit put forward their demands and positions before the Governor and not the Chief Minister. Yet here is a BJP leader making it known, ‘It has to be about co-existence and the Chief Minister will have to do it.’ This is where it becomes necessary for Delhi to put its card on the table and see how things proceed. Saying something and doing something else does not exactly give confidence to the people and in such a climate of uncertainty, doubt and confusion, peace will continue to be illusionary.