Cry, Beloved Manipur

With yet another imminent economic blockade, the alienation of Manipur looks complete

After offering no resistance to the harsh 121-day economic blockade of Manipur, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh finally woke up recently to pay a visit to the state along with the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. As he addressed a public meeting, Singh had nothing concrete to offer the Manipuri people except a faint hope that “we will not see a repeat of such actions in the future”. When the premier of a country leaves it all to hope, there is not much hope, really. And that is precisely how things are turning out to be.

This year, it was the Kuki tribe that blocked the two highways (NH 39 and 53) to Manipur that serve as the state’s lifelines. The blockade that began on 1 August to press for the creation of a separate district (Sadar Hills) lasted for 92 days, until a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with the state government. Meanwhile, the United Naga Council—an umbrella organisation of Nagas—had already begun a counter blockade demanding the non-inclusion of areas dominated by Nagas in the proposed new district. It was only lifted on 29 October after an assurance from the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram that no district shall be carved out without the consent of Nagas. Between this, the Manipuri people living in the Imphal Valley had to go through a harrowing experience. There was an absolute shortage of essential commodities with petrol being sold in the black market for as much as Rs 200 a litre and the price of an LPG cylinder reaching Rs 2,000. Hospitals even faced a shortage of medicine and life-saving supplies like oxygen cylinders. But for 121 days, not as much as a word of mention came from the Prime Minister’s mouth. During this time, he, of course, assured the country that a private airline might be bailed out. He was also among the first to call on his minister Sharad Pawar after he was slapped by a youth on 23 November. And, later, on 3 December, when he finally took out time to visit Manipur, he spoke about maintaining the territorial integrity of Manipur and “strengthening the roots of democracy”.

For the people of Manipur, these are mere words—mere words because police sources have told Open that there is credible information that Nagas will soon resume blocking the two highways leading to Manipur. “How can we let anyone take a whole state hostage?” asks former police officer Prakash Singh. Singh has filed a petition in the Supreme Court asking it to direct the Central and state governments to ‘take appropriate action to clear the blockade and ensure free movement of men and material’ through the highways. The petition also seeks an assurance from the Government that ‘there is no recurrence of such blockades in future’ and if there is one, it will be cleared immediately. ‘There is a growing sense of alienation among the people of Manipur over the current situation. There is a strong feeling that while the state government is ineffective, the Government of India is not bothered about the plight of Manipuris,’ the petition states. The Supreme Court has sent notices to the Centre and state, and asked them to respond.

But there is no denying that what Prakash Singh’s petition notes is an absolute truth. Manipuris have all but given up. Last year as well, there was a major economic blockade that lasted 68 days. In fact, paralysis of governance in Manipur has almost turned it into some sort of hangnail state.

Addressing Manipuris along with Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi had said: “Manipur may be far away from Delhi, but the Congress under the prime ministership of Manmohan Singh is sensitive to all your concerns.” With the shadow of yet another blockade looming large, such words have never sounded hollower.

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