Save Palace or Palace Leikai: A Master Plan Can Tell Us

Ngakpa Mangang *

Sit-in-protest by Sanakonung Semgat Lup at Sana Konung against acquisition of Chongabon on 10th Aug. 2013:: Pix - Deepak Oinam

The initiative of constituting a High Power Committee by the state government headed by Cabinet Minister Devendra as Chairperson and MLA Biren and MLA Mangibaba as members is a welcome step. However, the intention of the state government to take over the palace is getting murkier.

It is understandable that the issue of Palace is sensitive to the people but the King or the Sana Konung Semgat Lup has its own limitation as the maximum areas where the government plan to take over are private property own by state elites including cabinet minister of the present government.

What is urgency needed is not the issue of High Power Committee but an action oriented strategy. The issue of Palace could have been discussed at the last phase after developing the areas that are under the private property. This could also be an indication to the people that government is serious of developing the Palace and its compound.

But the state government has taken up the Palace issue at the first instance in-spite of the consciousness that it might block the whole plan. If we see differently, it could also be a plan to give some time to the private land owner to prepare for their shifting, or a clue that nothing will happen to them.

What is unfortunate is the silence of the government over the private land owner which can be easily taken over considering the government experiences on land acquisition.

The silence has raise doubt and concern among the people that the government intention is to take over the Palace only. It is like the government plan begins with Palace and ends with Palace.

The plan for taking over the private property could be a process to divert the attention of the common people that they are also taking the land of the state elites.

What is unfortunate is that none of the state elites including the cabinet minister who are occupying the Palace compound comes out openly to hand over their areas for the development of the Palace.

It is as if, they are projecting one face with the public and another face of protecting their land within. This could be the main reason for keeping the private property untouched while the Palace is being targeted every now and then.

This is evident when the people in the palace compound who don't bother to see each other as 'everyone feels they are the best' comes out with the idea of Konung Leikai Meira Paibi that also in the name of saving Palace while their real intention is to save their so called occupied Leikai.

What they fail to understand is Palace is Palace and it cannot be a Leikai. They have converted the Palace into a Leikai with their money power. If we see the members of the Meira Paibi, many of them must be hired from the nearby Keithel.

In their agitation, one of their leader stated that "if government forcibly tried to take over the Palace then, people will sacrifice their lives to save the king and its living palace".

What a contradictory? They are the one forcibly converting the Palace into a leikai and when the proposal of taking over the Palace comes from the state government, they come out and protest as if the palace belongs to them. The Palace is stuck between actual government and government like individuals in the palace compound.

If the government has the real intention of developing the palace, the government should come out with a master plan for the development. The contractor driven construction which we witnessed in every government construction will only destroyed the palace compound rather than developing it.

The king or the Sana Konung Semgat Lup might not intervene the government plan if its starts with a Master plan and from the private property. The issue of Palace can be dealt separately by constituting an expert committee while the compound is being develop.

Just setting up a High Power Committee with no local sensitivity and Master plan will only hurt the people sentiment.