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| Naga Talks: Manipur Fears Disintegration | |
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by Kh. Anil Singh | |
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There were bursts of protest in Manipur after the NSCN-IM leaders, General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and Chairman Isak Chishi Swu, who came to India recently for holding talks with the Indian Government, categorically stated that their demand for a ‘Greater Nagaland’ cannot be compromised. The Nagas had been only claiming the land of their ‘natural habitation’. Muivah added: "I live in Ukhrul (a Naga-dominated district town in Manipur). I was born there, my forefathers were born and lived there. This land belongs to us. We are not living in the land of Meiteis." Such statements have convinced the Manipuris that the NSCN-IM was still bent on fulfilling its dream of a ‘Greater Nagaland’ by integrating the Naga-inhabited areas into a single politico-administrative unit. On the night of January 16, 2003, when the United Committee of Manipur, an apex group of political, social and student organisations launched a mass protest, thousands of Manipuri women took to the streets carrying flaming bamboo torches and shouting slogans declaring that they would launch an ‘independence movement’ if New Delhi capitulated to the NSCN(IM) demand to divide their State and accede to Nagaland as part of any ‘deal’ to resolve the Naga conflict. When they were stopped by the police and paramilitary troopers, who were deployed in strength, from entering high security zones like the Governor’s House, the Chief Minister’s secretariat and other important government buildings, there were some skirmishes. As the altercation between the security men and the protesters turned violent, the troopers fired rubber bullets and lobbed teargas shells to check the mob. At least 21 of the protesters and two personnel of the Indian Reserve Battalion were injured in the skirmish. The authorities were forced to clamp night curfew in Imphal, the State capital for a couple of days and in other areas in the Manipur Valley to prevent the situation from going out of hand. Although the situation was contained, the Government could find it difficult to ease the simmering tension among the people. The incident is reminiscent of the mob violence of June 18, 2001, when 18 protesters were killed in police firing when the Centre decided to extend the ceasefire between the NSCN-IM and the Government to areas outside Nagaland. The mob had burnt down the State legislature building and several other government offices and many political party offices. Previously, the cease fire extension was effective only in Nagaland, where it had been in force ever since the truce came into effect on August 1, 1997. Tension rose as there were fears among the Manipuris that the extension of the truce outside Nagaland could be the first step before parts of Manipur were ceded to the Nagas. New Delhi subsequently had to withdraw its decision after fervent pressure from the Manipuris and consequently the extension of ceasefire to territories outside Nagaland was revoked, and the truce continues to concentrate only to the jurisdiction of the State of Nagaland. Suspicion still grips the people as the talks between the NSCN-IM leaders and the Government of India are in complete secrecy, and it is unlikely that effort will be made to initiate a process of consultation with political and other groups of neighbouring States, whose interests and concerns are integrally linked to, and threatened by, many of the demands raised by the NSCN-IM. There had been no official briefing to the media on the nature or progress of the talks between the visiting NSCN-IM leaders and the Indian leadership. The only briefings that came about were by the NSCN-IM leaders, who, of course, lauded the ‘sincerity’ of the Indian leaders, reiterating that the talks were moving in a ‘positive’ direction. And the assurance given to the All Political Parties Delegation team led by the Chief Minister of Manipur recently, by the Union leaders, added to the confusion. They were in New Delhi to press the national leaders including the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister to give an assurance that Manipur would not be divided. If anything, this one-sided flow of ambiguous information as well as the doublespeak of the authorities can only further inflame the fears of those who feel they may be the losers in any ‘deal’ the Government chooses to strike with the NSCN-IM. Within the prevailing context of suspicion, fear and apprehension, New Delhi, instead of clearing the atmosphere, chose to do nothing, encouraging the voice of dissent to grow till it assumed threatening proportions. If this silence is a position that the Indian Government has deliberately chosen to take in so far as the content of its talks with the NSCN-IM is concerned, disastrous consequences are likely to follow. | |
The
peace process between the Isak-Muivah faction of the National
Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) and the Indian Government has
triggered fear among the people of the States in the Northeast,
particularly in Manipur. The people think that the Indian
Government, in its effort to tackle the five-decade old Naga
rebellion, would slash Naga-inhabited areas in these States and
merge them into the existing State of Nagaland as part of a possible
deal. The apprehension is creating anxiety among the people of the
Northeast States as, after the closed-door meeting between the Union
and the NSCM-IM, Muivah made the ambiguous statement: "We are not
living in the land of Meiteis".