Theirs not to question is passe' : First step to unity
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 19 2011 -

The information that seven major underground outfits have taken the first step towards forging a united front will mean different things to different people and for different reasons.

Any attempt to get a better understanding of the political and social entity known as Manipur entails getting a better understanding of the overwhelming impact of the armed movement on the lives of the people.

This impact spreads far and wide and many of the issues confronting the State are intrinsically connected to the armed movement so much so that each and every major decision that the Government of the day takes has something or the other to do with this phenomena.

The interesting point lies in the different ways in which this phenomena has impacted on the lives of the people as well as in the institutionalisation of the Government agencies.

Ever wondered why the Officer-in-charge of a prominent police station, say Imphal East or West, is likely to be a better known personality than even the Deputy Commissioner of the same district ?

The extraordinary interest evinced by the State Government in police modernisation, recruitment in the State Police Department, the heavy price tag attached to the post of a police Sub-Inspector during recruitment etc have something to do or the other with the much vaunted and publicised need to maintain law and order in the State.

With the gradual dawning of the realisation that the armed movement cannot be crushed by military might alone, a visible change has been noticed in the approach of the security forces towards the public.

From the sticks only policy it is now a carrot and stick policy and this is evident in the immense interest shown towards Military Civic Action Programmes by the top brass of the security forces.

It is also seen in the emerging visibility of the spokespersons of the Army and the Assam Rifles. In other words the importance of publicity, positive publicity at that, has never been felt so important as now and this can be seen in the gradual accessibility of the top rung officers of the security personnel posted in Manipur.

From a figure who lived and directed the counter-insurgency warfare from the towers of Leimakhong and other posts set up all over the State, the generals and their officers are today some figures who can be approached. These fundamental changes as well as the shift in the priorities of the Government agencies can be attributed to the armed movement.

On the other hand, the armed cadres today no longer cut the heroic and romantic figure in the line of say someone like the late AZ Phizo. It is no longer “Theirs not to question why” for the public and correspondingly accountability on the part of the militant outfits too have increased manifold. This is also an impact of the armed movement coming back to the very people who have launched the movement.

To the common man, the average Tomba and Chaoba, the mushrooming of numerous armed groups, all with the avowed mission of “liberating” the land and the people, has not only left them more confused but has also eroded all confidence in a better future.

To them the armed movement has meant nothing much more than meeting the extortion demands served by different groups in the name of the land and the people.

To this class of people and they make up the majority of the population, the culture of placing bombs at the residences of Government officers, the threats and intimidations served on the people, abduction for ransom, forcible closure of institutions etc are all impacts of the armed movement and the birth of numerous, dubious and fly by night operators has only made the situation murkier and messier.

The coming together of the seven major organisations will undoubtedly mean more breathing space to the common man, not to talk about his enhanced ability to sift and identify the bogus.

It could also mean a welcome reduction in the cases of stand offs between any of the armed groups, which did nothing except made the life of the people more miserable apart from eroding the moral authority of the movement itself.

To the policy framers the unity path which the seven major organisations have embarked upon could mean a better opportunity to keep the doors open for a political dialogue while to the pretenders, those who have donned the mask of taking up a cause for the people and the land, it could mean getting their wings clipped.

To the armed organisations, which are part of the seven, it could mean walking down the path of self introspection and keeping its doors open for accommodating conflicting ideas and appreciating the merits of give and take.

The inability of the different groups to strike a common chord, other than their avowed mission of liberating the land, has not only meant an erosion of the credibility of the armed movement, it has also meant creating rooms and providing the ideal climate for dubious groups to emerge and start pursuing their own agenda.

How many groups are there presently donning the name of the KCP (MC) ? Did the pressure exerted on the media whenever internal differences arose within an organisation serve the objective of the armed movement in any way ?

The impact of the armed movement may be felt differently but there can be no two different answers to the profound meanings carried in the posers above.

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