Indo – Manipur Talks : The Talk

Lt. Col Laishram Lokendra Singh (Retd) *

Fifth round of tripartite talk between the Central Govt, State Govt and United Naga Council at Senapati on 12 February 2013 :: Pix - David Mayum

PM Manmohan Singh on July 3, 2013 is reported to have told Lok Sabha MP from Nagaland CM Chang that Naga Issue will be solved soon. UNC is also said to have held a meeting at Taphou Village Senapati on July 7, 2013 in preparation of holding 6th round of Tripartite Talk demanding Alternative Arrangement for Nagas of Manipur outside the Govt. of Manipur pending settlement of Indo-Naga issue. And as if on cue Kuki State Demand Committee carried out bandh/blockade from July 8 to 11, 2013 demanding commencement of political dialogue between Kuki SoO signatories and GoI.

With apparent disconnect with what is happening around, seasonal jingoistic sermons in addition to random statements of Meitei insurgents coupled with few unexploded grenades found in selected households, people are expected to be taken in that Meitei insurgents are at revolutionary war with India purportedly fighting for independence of Ima Leibak (Motherland) Manipur.

At the risk of being repetitious, question is:
does their Ima Leibak Manipur include UNC's Naga areas for which an Alternative Arrangement is being sought prior to settlement of so called Indo-Naga issue?
Does it also include so called Kuki Homeland area being demanded by Kuki outfits/KSDC?
Or is it to be the central plateau region of Manipur, comprising of a miniscule 8% of the total geographical area of the State, which houses Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal and Bishnupur districts?

Further, to believe that they still enjoy mass support as they did sometime during 1980s and early 90s is living in fool's paradise. When underground cadres coming to extort money are apprehended along with their weapons by local people, beaten up and handed over to the nearest police station, message is loud and clear: "We have had enough of you and your revolutionary movement of making money; we want peace!".

To a keen observer who has been following the trend in Manipur for sometime it will be vividly clear that except for the civil society organisations who enjoy patronage of UGs, common man has no time and does not care for the jingoism and propaganda being dished out in local dailies from time to time. They do not for a second believe that UGs will bring about anything good for them in days to come. Their perception is that like Lallumba whose cadres say has debunked with 1.92 crores meant for cadres of his group, leaders across the border who perhaps enjoy elite citizen status of foreign countries are out to make money at the cost of their cadres and at the expense of suffering of common man.

Amidst all this, signing of Tripartite MOU between UPPK, Manipur Govt. and GoI on May 24th, 2013 as a precursor to initiate a political dialogue with Meitei insurgent group is indeed a definite beginning towards the dawn of a new era - an era sans violence and bloodshed, harbinger of a peaceful Manipur..

Leaders of UPPK who had moral courage to call a spade a spade and took a meaningful step towards opening a political dialogue with GoI deserve kudos. Indo-Manipur Talks, at whatever stage it may be, is definitely on the anvil now. And it is for people to set the agenda..

On August 4th there will be another massive rally in Imphal/Central Plateau, an annual ritual, the 16th in the serial, to pledge to protect integrity of Manipur. Such rally will continue to be taken out and similar pledge made year after year for eons together as long as the proverbial Democles Sword of Disintegration of Manipur hangs over the head of Manipur.

Having said this, first agenda of "The Talk" should be: Parliament to make an amendment to Article 3 of the Constitution, (which has the power to alter the boundaries of any State of Indian Union) making it not applicable in case of Manipur. This is the only practical solution to preserving the entity of Ima Leibak Manipur as has been dearly handed down by our forefathers..

Before the advent of Indian Constitution to Manipur in 1949, it is common knowledge that there were no OBCs, Schedule Tribes, Schedule Castes, Upper Caste/ General Category as is there today in Manipur. There was also no dividing line separating people of the hills and those living in so called valley. People lived in harmony and co-existed as one. Today Indian Constitution divides the same people of Manipur into tight social/ethnic compartments creating an environment for encouraging parochial ethnic outlook and relegating co-existence, which has been the essence of life for eons, to the back burner..

Logically therefore for the people of Manipur to live as one and co-exist as heretofore as equal partners in today's global village, the dividing line which is the bone of contention created by Indian Constitution should be done away with by the Constitution. There are two do-able options for this.

Option 1. Manipur which is geomorphorically a hill region notwithstanding the valley like Central Plateau (2540 feet above main sea level) comprising of 8% of the total geographical area should be made a Hill State as such in accordance with the Constitution, with one set of law applicable to all the indigenous people of this State on similar lines as that of Nagaland or Himachal Pradesh. Questions as to what happens to this and how do we do that is a matter of detail to be worked out by our law makers..

Option 2. Meiteis may have imbibed Hinduism since 1705 AD but that does not change their genealogical Mongoloid tribal roots although they may have forsaken tribal ways and practices and changed their life style in a large way just as Red Indians of America have given up their tribal ways and changed with the changing times. This 10 lakh plus indigenous people of Manipur is a small minority seen in the backdrop of India's population index.

International Labour Organization(ILO) uses the expression " indigenous people" to refer to tribals and there is no definite definition for tribal in Indian Constitution. Article 366(25) refers to Scheduled Tribes as those communities who are scheduled in accordance with Article 342 of the Constitution. And whereas Article 342 only talks about tribal communities which have been declared or modus operandi of declaring as such by the President through a public notification. Considering therefore racial stock, historical antecedents and need of the hour, Meiteis should be declared Scheduled Tribes and placed Constitutionally at par with their other brethren in Manipur so as to co-exist in harmony as equal indigenous stake holders of Manipur.

The Talk should therefore revolve around these two main agendas and other agendas may be supplementary as the least that Meitei insurgents can do today for their people after an apparently failed more than three decades old revolution is to safe guard and preserve the idea and entity of Ima Leibak Manipur for posterity wherein every indigenous individual of Manipur can say with pride – "Our Manipur".