Genesis of Manipur crisis lies in troubled diversity
To try to understand various facets of the ongoing crisis in Manipur, one should be ready to understand the presence of a strong element of 'us' and 'they' syndrome in the north east of India.
Some years back while working on these inherent issues between two and more communities in another northeastern state (not Manipur), I was told by an expert that the 'logic of us and the ideology of others' motivates the root cause of identity politics in the north east. And here lies the real challenge.
It goes without stating that each state and especially some vulnerable 'sub regions' within each state in the northeastern region represents a bewildering 'mosaic' of identities. There are cultural,religious, linguistic and ethnic differences which not only cut across one another but they also 'overlap'.
If the Meiteis and the Kukis have clashed lately; in the 1990s the Kukis and the Nagas had issues over land
domination and on other parameters like jobs. The result was even indiscriminate killings of Kukis
in Nagaland by militant group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak Muivah faction) -- NSCN (IM).
Manipur itself has more than 30 ethnic groups. BJP leader and Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh told this journalist: "As you know Manipur historically is a land of 34 ethnic communities and historically all have shared the value of co-existence as a state of Manipur and the culture of Manipur and the photographic landscape of Manipur have been well protected by all the communities".
In the 1970s, the state of Assam saw a typical anti-Bengali stir. Meghalaya capital Shillong has also witnessed
parochial violence leading to Nepalis and Bengalis quitting the state for good.
Mizoram has issues with Brus and Vai Naupangs (outsiders). In Nagaland, people from South India including
Keralite Christians and Bengali Hindus, Biharis and Marwaris are addressed as 'plain-manu
(people from plains)'. And there are more of sons/daughters of the soil and the 'outsiders' debate.
Thus what happened in Manipur between Meiteis and Kukis is not a surprising episode. The scale
of course is a matter of concern.
Shillong-based sociologist Manoj Sakhrani cautions about the ethnic, linguistic and
religious problems. "One should not be surprised if communal tensions flare up in one corner of the region
or the other from time to time. The real surprise is with the scale of it and how authorities not only fail to
resolve and control things. But they only complicate the muddled waters", he told this journalist.
The genesis of the problem in Manipur is 'job security' or the 'insecurity attached to education and career building. Who and what triggered the spark ?
N Biren Singh: CM
The Manipur High Court had on April 19 asked the Manipur government to make its stand clear to the Union
Tribal Affairs ministry on the long pending demand of ST status for Meiteis.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on May 8 now says that the Manipur High Court’s order to grant
Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the majority Meitei community in Manipur will be discussed with
all stakeholders, and there was no need for panic.
The ST status is directly linked to 'reservation' bogey as Meiteis feel over the decades the tribals --
mostly Christian Nagas and Kukis - have been taking away the rights of the 'Hindus'. Of course
here are many Meiteis who fall under SC and OBC Quota but the grievance is about the size of
the cake. And also that upper caste Hindu Meiteis get no reprieve.
If this issue itself was complex; further complexity is added from political angles.
The Meiteis have about 54 per cent of the state's population and therefore the government in Manipur - irrespective
of party affiliations - has always been dominated by Meiteis. Meiteis have 40 legislators in the 60-member
House while the tribals, mostly Christians account for only 20 seats. However, in the past the Congress
veteran Rishan Keishing (a Tangkhul Naga) has been able to become Chief Minister more than once.
Again, the tribals comprising Nagas and Kukis make up 40 percent of Manipur’s population.
Paradoxically the 90 per cent of land is in the hills belonging to tribal-stronghold pockets. But the
agriculturally fertile valley in and around the capital Imphal makes up only about a tenth of the total land mass of
the state.
In political context yet again nothing much is being heard from Congress veteran and former Chief Minister
Ibobi Singh. Both Ibobi and the present Chief Minister, N Biren Singh, are now seen as darling of the Meitei
population. Ibobi had endeared himself to his people when as a Congress Chief Minister he defied the then
Home Minister P Chidambaram's orders and 'did now allow' Naga rebel leader Thuingaleng Muivah
to visit his native village Somdal in Ukhrul district in Manipur hills.
N Biren Singh also has an image of a 'protector' of Meitei interests and he had reportedly stalled
the Union government to sign any pact with Naga rebels in 2019 that could force Manipur to give away
some lands to the Nagas. The NSCN-IM has their issue of 'Nagalim' meaning Greater Nagaland -- but
this demand has been outright rejected by the centre as well as the state of Manipur.
Look at yet another contrast; -- while Naga MLAs have from time to time passed resolutions for striving to
achieve 'greater Nagalim', the Manipur assembly including Naga legislators have adopted resolutions
vowing to protect the 'territorial' integrity of Manipur state. Nagas and Meiteis also clashed in 2000
and the state capital Imphal burned for days in 2001 the Vajpayee government announced a ceasefire
with NSCN-IM to the hills of Manipur. Meiteis took it as a stepping stone to disintegrate Manipur.
Thus to imagine that the problems in Manipur -- both existing and the past - could be comprehended
easily is out of the question.
"The beauty of a garden is in the different flowers; and let all the flowers bloom together," L V Reddy, Deputy Commissioner
Kohima, said once. It is altogether a different story that Reddy was killed by Naga militants in 2005.
But to live through this spirit, what is required the most is that the people need to reconcile to the human
civilization's oldest asset of 'Give and Share' theory. But in today's world, it is a difficult proposition, more so in an era
when once easily available government-secured jobs have done a vanishing act.
Hence the 'assertion' of identity has also begun to display different shades of neo-cultural identities and even
nationalism. We thus have conflicts emanating from multiple sources -- first between different communities
and then at different layers between clans up to between ethnic groups and against the discourse of
composite nationalism.
In Nagaland, there is a demand for a separate state by people from Eastern Nagaland.
These tribes are Konyaks, Sangtams, Changs, Phoms, Khiamniungans, Yimchungrus and Tikhirs.
There are two other demarcations in Nagaland -- the Tenyimi region and Central Nagaland region.
Now a look at the Kukis and their ethnic roots. Kukis are nomadic tribes and reside
in states such as Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Assam and Nagaland.
Everyone is noticing the manner the Prime Minister's party has used 'development' as a syntax to
ensure the ruling dispensation's 'rapid success' in conquering new political territory. The pro-BJP campaigners
would call this a phenomenal change in Indian polity as the grand old Congress party has been replaced as a new
centre of 'gravity' in garnering votes.
The Biren Singh Ministry had launched an eviction drive against Kuki tribals, which began in February.
The state government much to the chagrin of the tribal population declared the forest dwellers as encroachers.
Earlier this month Chief Minister N Biren Singh's Facebook page carried a message:
"These are the people who are destroying our generation.They are destroying our natural forests to plant poppy,
and further igniting communal issues to carry out the drug smuggling business. 16 KG OF OPIUM SEIZED IN CHURACHANDPUR".
The district is a Kuki stronghold but named after the Meitei King Churachand Singh.
The Kuki tribes say they have been 'inhabitants' of the forests even before the forests were notified.
They planned confrontation and thus ahead of chief minister N. Biren Singh’s visit to Churachandpur
district recently, a mob vandalised and set on fire the venue where he was scheduled to speak.
A “total shutdown” was called by the Indigenous Tribe Leaders Forum in Churachandpur district.
The Forum has also accused the state government of not showing any sign of willingness in addressing the plight of
local inhabitants.
On the other hand three churches in Imphal’s Tribal Colony area were demolished on April 11 for being “illegal
constructions” on government land. The real question is no one has the magic wand to bell the cat.
ends
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