Adapting to the reality of the timeSurviving Manipur

Surviving Manipur. Adapting to the new reality of the time and this is the condition under which the people of Manipur have had to live for over 15 months now. Normalcy is still a far cry away and the absence of gun shots and confrontations cannot come anywhere near the understanding of  normalcy and it is the state of uncertainty which has today become the new normal. Reminds one of those days when the world was reeling under the pandemic and people had to adapt to the new normal, a style of living in order to survive and not be infected by the virus that caused Covid. Fast forward to 2023 and 2024 and the new normal for people on either side of the clash divide is to exist without stepping beyond the lakhsman rekha, the line that has been drawn as unsafe for people to venture beyond, depending on which ethnic group one belongs to. So for the Meiteis any move beyond Kanglatongbi on National Highway 2 would be deemed a gross misadventure that could lead to one’s inclusion in the list of missing persons and for those belonging to the Kuki-Zo group it would mean not crossing the line and proceed towards Sekmai side. It is the same along the Imphal-Churachandpur line, along the Imphal-Moreh line where lines have been drawn and security personnel have been put on round the clock surveillance to push back anyone seeking to cross the line. In between, Manipur has seen Imphal desperately trying to cover the seeming indifference of the Prime Minister by asserting that he has spoken on Manipur at least three times in the last 15 months or so. Nothing to be faulted here, for the Prime Minister did mention Manipur at least three times, but whether these mentions had anything to do with resolving with the issue or not is best left to the people to decide. In a way Manipur did speak out against the seeming indifference of the Prime Minister in ensuring the sound defeat of the BJP candidate in the Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency in the last Lok Sabha elections as well as in ensuring the defeat of the candidate who the BJP had backed in the Outer Parliamentary Constituency. Apart from mentioning Manipur thrice in the last 15 months, the other question doing the round is why the Prime Minister has not deemed it fit to visit the trouble torn State even once in the last 15 months ? A point which has been picked and used to prick the conscience of the Prime Minister by none less than the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
The other question doing the round is when the Prime Minister would feel the moral obligation to meet political leaders of Manipur to discuss the Manipur issue. Chief Minister N Biren may be under the impression that blunting the charge of the Opposition with the line, ‘The Prime Minister has spoken, not once but at least thrice’ is enough to take the ball to the court of the Congress or the Opposition, but this does not answer the question of why the Prime Minister still has not deemed it fit to meet anyone from Manipur over the ongoing ethnic clash. Place this against the fact that in N Biren the Centre has a BJP Chief Minister and one is left wondering where Delhi actually stands or more importantly where Manipur stands in the scheme of things of Delhi. Isn’t this a question which Manipur should be raising now ? The Government at Imphal has obviously deemed it better to keep this poser aside but this certainly would not have gone down well with the people and one day or the other the BJP would have to face the question why its leadership was unable to meet the Prime Minister even once when the place burned for over a year. How the saffron party goes about addressing this poser remains to be seen but this is a question which will be raised and not be buried. To repeat a question which has been raised many times in this column, what is the way forward ? Delhi should intervene, is the one line answer that comes to mind. Invite the leaders of either side to the National capital. Let them talk things over and this would be the first and most practical thing to do now. Ensure that the National Highways are opened, a line of instruction which Governor LP Acharya has already given to the DGP. What is needed is sincerity of purpose from Delhi.