Manipur, the land of strikes, bandhs and blockades

Waikhom Damodar Singh *

A Truck burnt at Keithelmanbi during a blockade in 2011 :: Pix - Paojel Chaoba / Jimmy Leivon

lf there were a "reward" to be awarded by the Central Government of lndia to any of its State for having the "maximum number' of illegal activities of Strikes , Bandhs and Economic Blockades in a year, the crest-fallen State of Manipur wil definitely be "topping the list" for the award. The saying is really not a "joke" and "hypothetical" as everyone in the world has by now become quite aware of the fact that it is only in Manipur that the people, particularly of the Hills, are freely and most high-handedly indulging in the law-less activities of carrying out the most unwanted and "inhuman illegal activities" of the so called "economic blockade" which strangles the life-line of lakhs of people one after another as a routine matter against the Goveinment for any kind of demand in the name of demanding their democratic rights despite the very strict "ban" imposed even by the Apex Court of lndia, the Supreme Court.

In the free-hand and unbridled illegal activities that were carried out time and again the "unfortunate sufferers" were the people of all the sections, the Meiteis in majority, the Pangals (Muslims), the Nagas, the Kukis, the non-Manipuri settlers and migrants living in the valley area, which is surrounded by Hills all around and therefore the only "traffic' on the two National Highways, No 2(formerly No 39) and No 37 (formerly No 53) for by-road travellers and for bringing-in the enormous quantities of people's daily requirements of food-stuffs, medicines and other very essential commodities and goods at the rate of some 150 Truck loads per day from outside States become totally "paralysed' and "stopped" by the indefinite economic blockades imposed by both the Naga and Kuki groups of agitators of the Hills misguided and unduly incited by their very immatured young leaders.

It was very recently that the people of Manipur "heaved a sigh of great relief' from their very prolonged suffering (for some 68 days) from an indefinite blockade imposed on all the National Highways by the All Naga Students' Association, Manipur very unduly supported by the Naga Student's Federation of the neighbouring State of Nagaland, and the United Naga Council of Manipur for their very "unacceptable" and "non-feasible" demand of a separate and independent Administrative Unit for the Nagas only.

A very alarming situation developed in the State of Manipur at the moment is that - the Kukis who live in all the hills all around side by side the Nagas have also started resorting to the illegal activities of launching "indefinite general strike and economic blockode" on the two National Highways firstly, for their demand of upgrading Sadar Hills Sub-Division where they are in majority in population which consists also of Nagas, Nepalis, Meiteis and others, to a full- fledged District, and latestly for a Kuki-Land State comprising nearly two-third of the total area of Manipur "over-riding" almost all the areas claimed by the Nagas to be theirs since time immemorial.

Since their demand of a full-fledged Kukis dominated District is a very genuine one which had been kept "pending" for the last 40 years they are now fully determined to carry out their ,"do-or-die" campaign until the same is achieved to which the Nagas of Manipur very vehemently "oppose", so also to the up gradation of Jiribam Sub-Division of lmphal East District to the full-fledged status of a District on the ground that in the "two processes" the Nagas of Manipur will be losing a good deal of their areas and therefore by way of their "staunch objections" they also have begun launching their "counter indefinite general strike and economic blockade" on the National Highways.

Thus, the very unfortunate State of Manipur, which was once a Land of very "peaceful and enjoyable living", a little Paradise on Earth, an Epithet of great pride given by all the outsiders who came and lived in the State, and inhabited by a number of ethnic groups of indigenous people who lived in "full communal harmony" for ages has now become a Land of "most miserable living" with full of highly burning problems and troubles of all kinds taking place one after another.

The "ding-dong" situation so unfortunately developed because of the fully determined demands of the Kukis and the vehement counter demand of the Nagas make the State of Manipur to be in between "two stones" or "horns" i.e. it is trapped in between two very sensitive, serious and rnost complicated "communol issues", one to oblige immediately with the demand of the Kukis, and the other, the counter demand of the Nagas for not "conceding" to the demand of the Kukis.

Fulfilling the demand of the Kukis will not "end the economic blockade soon", rather it will create more troubles from the highly enraged Nagas, even with a "communal flare-up" and therefore Manipur will continue to be plunged under an "indefinite siege" of blockade with its unlucky people living in the valley and the far-flung areas of the Hills to continue to "suffer' from acute shortage of their day-to-day requirements of food-stuffs and other essential commodities not available in the markets.

The situation developed in the State presently is a very "delicate" and "complicated" one, and of a great "headache" to the Government, no doubt, but the question that is very deeply felt in the people's simple mind is - why the Government is so "weak" in dealing with the law-breakers very appropriately and swiftly with heavy hands without leaving them further "scot free" in carrying out their lawless activities.

The apparent "failure" of the Law-Enforcing Agencies in preventing and containing the Law-less activities on the National Highways in the Hills, which were and are being carried out "time and again" at the "very sweet will" of the Law-breakers, reflects a very bad image of the Government giving a very undesirable and weak "impression" of its very meaningless existence with such heavy expenditures of the Public Money of "thousands of crores" of rupees over the years.

Actually speaking, the "morale" (state of mind) of the people of the present day Manipur have sunk to the lowest bottom and they are really "fed-up" with the pseudo democratic rule "of the people, by the people and for the people", and they have begun "cursing highly" on their elders and spineless leaders of the 1949s and 50s who acted as the mere "puppets" of the Delhi Authorities and had made the greatest "POLITICAL BLUNDER", in that, they had accelerated the Demolition under duress the nearly 2000 years old SOVEREIGNTY of the State and the people, in particular, the MONARCHICAL DEMOCRATTC RULE that began functioning well from 18th October 1948 following the age-old good patterns of the kingdoms of Great Britain, Thailand etc. but was very thoughtlessly and very hurriedly "sold out ( on 15th October 1949 under their connivance for very narrow, selfish motives and temporary gains as against the very bonafide Constitution of the State framed, enacted and started its operation known as the Manipur State Constitution of 1947,the "de jure existence" of which still continues with Maharaja Leishemba- ln-Council exercising all of his non-alienable (non-transferable) and non-abolishable hereditarily inherited "nodal powers" over all the Customary, indigenous and religious matters of the people of both the valley and the Hills.

Thus, the very unfortunate people of the present day Manipur are living in a most miserable and very highly explosive situation which cannot be so easily improved unless the Nagas and the Kukis come to the real good sense and reconcile among themselves for the fitness of things and agree to drop their non-feasible and non-acceptable demands for forming separate States of their own areas overlapping each other, instead they should agree to remain "status quo" without breaching the long-existing good communal harmony with their indigenous brethren, the Meiteis, the Pangals (Muslims) etc. of the valley and to come under a common platform of a department under a Tribal Ministry to be formed or set-up at the Central Government level headed by a Tribal Minister, who should be a Member of Parliament elected from the Outer Constituency of Manipur, be he a Naga or a Kuki or any other Tribal Member - with the department provided separate and adequate Funds for the development works of the Tribal people of the Hills of Manipur like done in the case of the Department of the North-East Region, the DoNER.

That's all from my side as the "points to ponder" over the very precarious situation that is prevailing in the present day Manipur.

Lastly, I once again thank Dr l Mohendra Singh and the organizers of this auspicious function of launching a book entitled "points to ponder' written by learned Dr.Singh, for their kind gesture of giving me the opportunity of participating as one of the speakers in it and convey my due respect to alt the invitees present for the patient listening to my humble talk delivered.

(This lecture was delivered during the book releasing function penned by Dr Irengbam Mohendra Singh at Hotel Nirmala on April 13 2013)