In tyranny everything is uniform

By Nameirakpam Bobo Meitei *

NSCN (IM) cadres at Camp Hebron set up after the peace talk began on August 1, 1997 : Pix - TSE/NNN

NSCN (IM) once stood against New Delhi ,and now they have been in a static dialogue with New Delhi for years, abandoning their original demand, an independent land, and now a greater Lim. Here I wouldn't use the word Naga since it has no meaning in either of the several tribes' dialects, perhaps it does have in the twisted Assamese which is known with another word.

In their shrinking days they had been involved in almost everything: taxing vehicles for using potholed palm-wide highways; striving forcefully in manufacturing a false identity, which by now has become a tag for several tribal group; and the successful ethnic genocide it has ever staged.

They roamed the think jungles of the North-East, pillaged villages, instilled fear in the minds of people and drew strength from these cruelties. Now that they have been in in peace talks with New Delhi , they have been given a de facto liberty to flaunt their arms and roam the snaky roads to orchestrate their political activities unhindered.

The leaders, growing more frustrated, know where to go and rest ,and poke in the affairs of Kohima and beyond. One can predict the outcomes of a political maneuvering in which armed leaders are involved with their clangy boys standing behind. This has been apparent and the fact that their backstage political maneuvering has gained momentum is known to all those lethargy-soaked Delhi bureaucrats.

But standing at where Delhi bureaucrats are, it does make sense to let these thugs in suits chanting "hallelujah" to have a free hand in the rotting politics of the North-East. And with all the anti-Indian insurgent groups, some of which started targeting immigrants from the mainland, it even makes more sense for them to let a major and an established player like NSCN(I-M) to have a free hand ,regardless of their malicious and dreadful communal games. Besides a peaceful and a united North-East, with a different set of people with ancestral origins in China, could never be a good idea; only in chaos the powerful can operate with self-granted liberty and every decision, even the gruesome one, can be justified.

With RAW actively involved in clandestine operations and now its activities backed by NIA, New Delhi has been kept fully informed of the obvious activities of the little squabbling extortionist groups as well as that of the NSCN (I-M). It appears sensible to them to stand in a distance, yet fully informed, watching the game. And the game only becomes more intense with the state security forces in the front and the Indian army actively involved behind; the wrath of victims could only be poured on their own home-grown state forces.

With this freedom NSCN(I-M) became quite dreadfully adventurous with their collection of highway taxes still continuing, the killing of innocent people, the freedom they enjoy to silence any voice. To mention a few: the killing of a civil servant in Kangleipak( Manipur), the attack on the convoys of one Tangkhul MLA , who died recently, their involvement in bomb blasts in Imphal. But New Delhi has been sitting on these since NSCN(I-M) happens to be in peace talks with them. Yes, peace talks at the expenses of innocent lives, law and orders and and political harmony.

As opposition towards their malicious games has become imminent, if not in New Delhi, NSCN(I-M) has groomed and empowered their civil disguises: UNC, in particular, and their student organisation. If NSCN(I-M) cannot do it with Kalasnikov ,then UNC and its students' body do it exactly what they wish and at times more bestially: burning trucks in the name of economic blockade, torching government buildings in the name of anti-Kangleipak( Manipur).

What is surprising is the fact that a so-called civil body could be so bent on doing something more inhuman than any armed thugs would do by blocking highways through which essential supplies are delivered to innocent people, and such an organisation, according to people, speaks the common voice of the tens of tribes.

In other words, utter tyranny , and we know in tyranny everything is uniform. To what direction they want the society to veer is one question we should put to them at a time when even those sermon readers chanting , "thou shalt thy neighours" haven't come out to utter, even, a single word. This is unsettling, why? Because human civilization in this part of the sub-continent has hit a nasty snag: a reverse trend.

How could politically influential churches remain silent when its parishioners are blocking essential supplies to innocent people for months? Where is their conscience? This is one reason why I always say "religion is full of bullshit ". Practice what you preach. May be their balls have been cut off and taken away by NSCN(I-M).

Now it lies to us, the victims, to start a powerful campaign against such a communal power and valley-based leeches( the insurgent groups). There are vocal calls that the ceasefire between New Delhi and NSCN(I-M) be called off so that a full-scale military operation can be launched against their activities. This, we have to understand, given the fact that Hebron-designed malices carried out by those in the scattered camps have become a major threat to humanity.

The role of media in the region should be active and insightful, the existing ones are unfortunately more or less defunct, to ensure that people are informed of the ground reality rather than the rumour news, which has been the cause of mistrust.

Sensitive but necessary:the growing trend of religious idiocy should be watched and checked since religious practice has done more damage than the good it intended. And accomplished research works on ethnicity in the regions should be incorporated in our school curricula so that our children can grow up thinking "at one point we all lived at one place."

To lessen the influence of the existing thuggish leaders, who roar at home but hardly meow in New Delhi, civil bodies should encourage intelligent pragmatists to enter politics. And candidates with agendas should be compelled to debate in public, just like they do in the States. With the change in leadership a powerful seven-sister political party can be formed so that we can have, at least, ten MPs shouting for us in New Delhi, just like those Tamil MPs.

These pragmatic leaders should also shoulders the burden to talk to the leeches( the insurgent groups) and rules of law should be established; hunt down the offenders, be it in the thick jungles or in the bushes of the valley, and they should be tried in courts. This is no time for greater Lim or a fractured Kangleipak, it's about a united region which can stand as a role model in the sub-content rather than a subject of mockery.

Nameirakpam Bobo Meitei

* Nameirakpam Bobo Meitei contributes to e-pao.net regularly. The writer can be contacted at bobomeitei(at)hotmail(dot)com
This article was webcasted on December 12 2011.