Opening the Stilwell road is not our concern
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: July 09 2011 -

There was a news report which mentioned all NE CMs had unanimously decided to ask the Centre to reopen the Stilwell road. If Manipur's CM was indeed party to this demand, he owes an explanation of his conduct to the people of the state.

Just to set the perspective right, the Tamu road, the Tiddim road were the only all weather links between Burma and the north east. Of these three, the Tamu road had always been, and is still now a trade route.

The Tiddim road had a background of a trade route, but it received maximum attention of development only in WW II. The Stilwell road however was forced build only to augment Allied military efficacy to counter the blitz of the Japanese imperial army trying to gain a foothold in the plains of India.

The Tiddim road still has a semblance of a trade route, but the Stilwell road died a natural death since its utility ended with the end of WWII.

And to set the score right, on this perspective, in the last decade or so, the Government of India, the ASEAN bloc, to the ASEAN bloc's wishes to have a road and rail link with India and beyond to the west, and also to Manipur which has always sought closer cultural and economic ties with SE Asia.

Towards this end the envisaged rail link upto Moreh is a crucial component to bring to fruition to the Look East Policy.

The obvious task of the authority in this state is to ensure that international trade through Moreh and Tamu is truly functional. Along with this it must have a related trade policy of clarity in objectives and content. Further it should already be involved in creating or supporting a body of entrepreneurs.

Without having such a set up we might land up as caretakers of the explosive volume of trade arising from the Look East Policy. After all the volume of trade within a quarter could well exceed what we spend in five years.

If the CM had indeed joined hands with other NE CMs, in the recently concluded NEC meet to advocate re-opening of the Stilwell road it is a sign that he has his priorities wrong. If he had not had done so, he should deny the veracity of the news report.

Should here be any doubt, we must understand that re-opening the Stilwell road is not a practical step as of now, the trade infrastructure on the Burmese side is not supportive of such a move.

And if the idea is to link with the Chinese market, only Assam stands to gain. Assam has a CM with a bigger clout in Delhi, moreover it is represented in the Union Cabinet, who are to speak for them when they can take care of themselves.

However, if the CM had fallen to the guiles of his Assamese counterpart who wished that the demand to re-open the Stilwell road should be seen as a north eastern demand then a political naiveté of shocking nature has been exposed.

First let us put our house in order before joining in somebody else's bandwagon. If Tarun Gogoi had been the CM here international trade through Moreh could well have become a reality by now.

Anyway, if for whatever reason we are interested in advocating for another route to cater to international trade, without waiting for the Moreh route to become functional, the demand should be to open the Tiddim road once again.

Let us not forget Manipur Police, albeit in a small capacity, had during British rule, more often than not, gone to Kalewa and Falam on routine patrols to maintain law and order in those areas. We have historical links with that area.

Let us try to see ourselves in the mirror of historical reality. Ours may be a small state but our historical pedigree is huge. We have historical commitments to keep and the last thing, at this present juncture, is to hold somebody else's banner.