From Delhi to Imphal and others : The politics of 'adversary'
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: October 29, 2012 -

A political aspiration would be 'dead' without the presence of an 'adversary' or a political opponent, real or perceived.

The ongoing Indo-Naga peace talk fits this description to the T. Unfortunate it is but the strategic shift of the target from Delhi or Government of India to Imphal or the Government of Manipur is unmistakable.

It may due to the compulsion to keep a political pursuit/aspiration relevant or it may out of a true sense of grievances but it is unmistakable that today some of the Naga civil society organisations see Manipur and her people, read the Meiteis, as the stumbling block to their aspirations and not the Government of India.

Sovereignty, for which the guns were first picked up seems to have been expelled to the back bench. Integration of Naga inhabited area under one territorial unit too seems to have been given up. In a sense this means, buying peace with Delhi but keeping Manipur in the line of fire.

Or is it ?

So far the stand raised by numerous civil society organisations of Manipur rested on one premise, 'territorial integrity' of Manipur.

Now that this seems to be no longer a part of the deal which the IM group of the NSCN is seeking, why should there be any apprehension over the deal which is reported to be at its concluding part ?

This is a question which the people and civil society organisations which have been trumping the 'territorial integrity' stand should seek to answer.

As already pointed out in this column earlier, the room for a certain give and take situation should be created by both sides, whose opposing stand will impact on the geo-political reality called Manipur.

Delhi on the other hand seems to be playing the card close to its chest, too close, if one may add and this has only added to the sense of apprehension, which may be based on reality or on pre-conceived notions. Not healthy at all for anyone.

One answer may lie in direct people to people contact to put things across.

If the NSCN (IM), after decades of waging a bush war against the Government of India, can go to the negotiating table, there should not be much of a problem for the organisations and people standing on opposite end of the current issue to sit down and talk.

Sincerity and trust is the pre-condition to this proposed model. Holding contrasting political view points need not necessarily translate into holding conflicting stands.

Differences of opinion should not transform into conflicts of opinion, literally speaking.

This is the principle which everyone should be ready to adopt and strictly adhere to. It is also time for sincere and serious soul searching for everyone concerned.

That grievances are there among the tribals, especially the Nagas in this case, is a truism and dismissing it would amount to belligerence.

On the other hand, the Nagas too should sincerely look inward and study how justified it is to lay all the blame at the feet of the Meiteis.

Manipur has had two tribal Chief Ministers and one Muslim Chief Minister in its post Statehood history. Doesn't this say something significant ?