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The law and order situation in the State and the busy schedule of the Prime Minister on the eve of Assembly elections in five States may have been the reason for the postponement of his visit to Manipur but keeping the scheduled program for the neighboring State Nagaland unchanged. There are many questions that need to be answered and there may be simple answers also to cover up the postponement. But the belief of Center’s apathy towards Manipur gets a firmer hold in the minds of the people of Manipur than before.
The Prime Minister had visited Kashmir in the recent past and even dared to speak to the areas where artillery shell from across the border could reach the dais on which he was speaking. Kashmir is a more infested place than Manipur in law and order problems. Again Imphal is only about 150 km from Kohima. I think a halt in Imphal for a few hours or for a night will not entirely disturb the busy routine of our Prime Minister. So the reason to which I do put my weight for the postponement of the visit will be the turmoil that followed from the recent happenings in Manipur in the beginning days of this month.
The intrusion of NSCN (IM) men in Manipur with arms violating the ground rules of ceasefire and the resentments that follow which ultimately echoes a voice from the people to pressure the Prime Minister to spell out Center’s concrete stand on the issue of boundaries of ceasefire between NSCN (IM) and Government of India while he is in Manipur may be the hidden factor for the postponement. For the time, the Prime Minister may prefer to keep mum on the issue and the only way is to avoid his tread on the soil of Manipur while there is dust in the atmosphere.
It is to be seen whether the Prime Minister has brought Pandora's Box for the people of Nagaland to be opened at Kohima as a Diwali gift to the people where Christianity is the major religion of the community. But looking from the euphoria and exaggerated delirium of the people of the State and undue interest taken by hill based NGOs of Manipur; it is a matter of suspicion that there is something fishy in the visit of the Prime Minister to Nagaland.
In the tug of war between the territorial integrity of Manipur and demand for a greater Nagaland or South Nagaland, it is seemed that the NSCN (IM) is gaining the ground inch by inch as days progressed. Their method of hit here and provoke there have tested the patience of the Manipuris again and again. And the fear is that there may be a point of time when the Manipuris have exhausted their degree of patience!
As a true son of Manipur, we love our motherland. We don't want the map of the present Manipur to be changed and sacrificed for taming an outfit. When the fear of disintegration loomed upon us by the three words without territorial limit, many souls had been sacrificed and we had succeeded in deleting the words from the terms of agreement of the ceasefire between
NSCN (IM) and GoI. The mass uprising of June 18, 2001 had enabled us to cement the cracks between different communities of Manipur. The cry of unity now comes from the hills that surround the plain. Is it enough to safeguard the integrity of Manipur? No, dharnas, rallies and bandhs will not be the only resort, we have to fight in many fronts. The need of the hour is to voice our voice to the outside world.
Outside the periphery of Manipur, there are many who take the movement for territorial integrity of Manipur as a wedge to the peace process put by some trouble maker ethnic groups. Once on a visit to a city outside my native State, I happened to meet a room mate from the mainland who was totally ignorant of the situations and problems either of the Nagas or the Manipuris but a slight knowledge of the ceasefire between
NSCN (IM) and GoI. He put forth a question to me why do the Manipuris oppose the ceasefire, ceasefire means cessation of gunshots and that means peace. Taking him to a table over a cup of tea, I had a hard time to convince him about the Manipuris' opposition to the ceasefire between NSCN(IM) and GoI. Though at the end he smiled and nodded his head in unison, I ever doubted whether I had succeeded in convincing him or not.
There are many historians, political analysts who do not know the history of Manipur and they, taking only the face value of the problem always cast their vote in support of the ceasefire. We have to counter it both in the National and International level. We have to approach many International forums to air our views to make them believe that we had a civilized and cultural society under an organized and independent kingdom for the last 2000 years.
In diplomacy, the Naga or to be precise the NSCN (IM) is miles ahead of the Manipuris at present. They have their footprints on foreign soil. They have their consulate or haven in Amsterdam, Bangkok, Dhaka and even in New York, from where they can dictate terms of negotiation to the
Government of India. At the same time NSCN (IM) is trying to win many friends in the International level. America's interest in the self-determination of the Nagas, by allowing to open an
NSCN (IM) office in Washington and their support to cause of the Nagas should be seen as a reward for high level of diplomacy of the
NSCN (IM) in the International arena.
What is the logic behind the declaration of Th. Muivah not to use IED and signing an Anti-Personnel Landmine document in the Geneva on the
Oct 17? It is nothing but to garner sympathy from world bodies which may help their cause in the long run.
So in order to counter the activities of the NSCN (IM) in their attempt to break the territory of Manipur, we have to fight in many fronts and have to win many battles to win the war. For this, diplomacy of a high order is the need of the hour. The tree of integrity must be tall enough to subdue the hills and raise its head so that it can be seen distinctly by the outside world.
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