History tells us the story of
downfall of many a great civilization and large empire and the most important
wisdom in the story of such downfall lies in the fact that the greatest danger came
from within. Manipur, today is at the cross road of many crises and problems
which call for extraordinary leadership, courage, honest effort, political wit
and vision. For the first time in its centuries old existence, the organic
character, plural ethos and legitimacy and validity of the state have been put
under intense internal challenge with certain veracity and coordinated effort
that was unknown before. The internal political process in Manipur is certainly
moving towards diverse trajectories particularly since the NSCN (I-M) entered
into ceasefire agreement (later on political dialogue) with the Government of India
in 1997. Since then the momentum of greater ‘lim’ project for Nagas has
intensified and it subsequently assumed the dominant agenda of NSCN (I-M) for
the resolution of decades old Naga problem. Simultaneously, greater ‘lim’
demand has become a thorn in the unity and harmonious relations not only among
the ethnic communities of North East region but also in Manipur. Since the most
intensive opposition to the greater ‘lim’ project comes from Manipur due to
historical and geographical factors, Meiteis - major community of Manipur are
perceived to be the main hurdle in the realization of a greater lim for the
Nagas.
While
communalism is alien to our culture and in the strict sense of the term
communalism – political used of religion- is still at safe distance from us,
what we witness in the state is politics of ethnic exclusivism based on the
‘hate’ and ‘anti’ feeling of other groups. In our case, object of hate and
animosity is not the religion of the subject but his or her ethnic membership
or affiliation. In Manipur, therefore, Naga consolidation and political process
is to a large extent based on anti-majority/hate-majority campaign. Evidently,
ever since the NSCN (I-M) entered into peace talk with GoI and pursued ‘lim’
agenda, it has systematically followed an anti-Meitei policy, along with the
projection of Meitei as ‘main hurdle’, ‘dominant’, ‘communal’ and this was taken
up by many Naga civil organizations such as UNC, ANSAM etc. The unfolding
political dynamics arising out of fragmented political imagination have
severely affected the social relations among the communities of Manipur making
it characterised by ‘temporary aberrations’ in many instances. The recent
Chandel incident of 18 December 2012, wherein an actress was beaten and
molested; and the case of shooting at two actors in
full public view by one Lt. Col. Livingstone Anal of NSCN (I-M), is yet another
case showing deep ethnic divide. Unfortunately rather than condemning and fighting
collectively for justice against the crime, the protest movement following the
incident ultimately ended up with culprit emerging as victor and victim as
vanquished.
Response of JAC
While it is anybody’s guess
whether the Chandel incident was influenced by political motive or under the
influence of alcohol, but the subsequent responses to the incident clearly
revealed the extent of politicization of the incident as manifested in various
forms of responses by different actors. In protest against the ‘crime’, a JAC
was formed and quickly started protest movement demanding that Justice should
be done. Government, as always, responded with a brutal crackdown against the
protestors on 21st December leading to the sudden imposition of
bandh by the JAC with the support of many CSOs (Civil Society Organizations).
It is true that sudden imposition of indefinite bandh had brought many
inconveniences to the general public and specially to those coming and heading
for Christmas- the largest and the most important festival of Christian
community. Unlike the UNC’s allegation of the bandh being ‘premeditated’,
‘preplanned’, ‘coordinated’, it was never so. Once the bandh was imposed the
JAC failed to coordinate and control the situation as manifested in the
fragmented chain of command and differences in the opinion in terms of
relaxation of the indefinite general strike. It could have been better if the JAC
announced before hand safe passage for those heading for Christmas and same
appeal be made repeatedly. In a state whose foundational premise is basically pluralistic,
peaceful and harmonious co-existence among multiple ethnic groups having
different religious denominations demand mutual respect and sensitivity to
festivals and culture of co-existing communities. However, it is no denying the
fact that any case of humiliation, molestation, rape are not only crimes
against women as a whole but also severe violation of civilised norms of human
existence that deserve severe punishment and condemnation from all sections of
the society. But while demanding justice and protesting against that crime and
savage character of Livingstone Anal, we could have done it in politically more
responsible ways by tracing out available options which can at the same time
ensure justice to the victim as well as prevent damage to the plural character
and ethos of our society. Fortunately, many Civil Society Organizations of
Manipur successfully intervened and brought an end to the indefinite general
strike, while pledging to continue the movement for justice in other forms.
Response of Naga CSOs
As expected, many important Naga
civil organizations condemn the Chandel incident but with a message not to
create huge issue out of the small incident of 18 December. Unfortunately, condemnation
from the Naga CSOs lacked depth and seemed to be mere political ritual. This
was again evident in the stand they took later on. The UNC’s stand that ‘law of
the land’ should take its own course of action, without insisting to bring out
the culprit – who is taking asylum in the safe haven of NSCN (I-M ) camp, is
nothing but a sort of political gimmick. Later on ANSAM’s decision to ban
Manipuri films, videos album etc. is indicative of turning the issue upside
down. Ultimately UNC ended up by calling 72 hours bandh from the midnight of 26th
December in the so called Naga areas in protest against mistreatment of
individuals belonging to Naga community. This seems to be supporting the
culprit indirectly and in the entire process victim became victimized.
It is true that during
the course of the general strike there was reported incidents of mishandling
and mistreatment of individuals heading for Christmas by certain hooligans
supporting the bandh but it was not directed against a particular community as
alleged by UNC, even the medical staffs, those going for religious rituals were
not spared. Such uncivilised act is absolutely condemnable but turning a
serious non-political issue into an occasion for advancing ethnic political
agenda is also certainly wrong. We should not forget that there are issues and
areas which certainly go beyond ethnic political agenda. It is wrong to look at
everything through the prism of ethno-exclusivist and ethno-centric agenda,
because such approach has its own limitations. For instance UNC alleged the
state government communal, then equalised it with Meitei community, and charged
the government of doing nothing to maintain rule of law, but it failed to
understand that it is in the valley that the most brutal aspect of state is let
loose time and again. Contrary to UNC allegation during the recent general
strike state government used live ammunition to suppress the agitation, while
doing nothing to book the culprit. It is because of using live ammunition that
a journalist was killed while on duty on 23rd December. Besides,
curfew-which has become more like article 356 of the Indian Constitution, the
most abused and the most frequently used one, in this part of land- was imposed
everyday in the valley districts during the course of three day agitation. In
no part of India or the world live ammunitions are being used against the
unarmed protestors but this is incredible India, anything can happen.
Government Response
Reading the government response
to the recent Chandel incident highlight lack of political acumen and tactfulness
among those who took the rein of running the affairs of the state. It also
revealed a case of two parallel authority existing in a single state, one
running the hills and other in the valley. The language of the press statement
of the government using the words such as ‘unfortunate incident’, ‘apology’ and
‘violation of ground rules’ not only lacked political correctness but also failed
to catch the depth of stake involved in the issue. As usual government rushed
at the door of New Delhi to submit memorandum, and as usual New Delhi only
followed wait and watch policy.
Beyond Rhetoric
Various responses following the
Chandel incident spoke volumes about the nature of existing social relationship
among the communities of Manipur and need for rethinking on the part of the majority
community because the onus of maintaining peaceful co-existence and plural
character of Manipur lies mainly with the majority community. So far our
responses to the greater ‘lim’, now Alternative Arrangement demand seems to be
reactive, without having any tangible thing to offer. There is need for
planning and honest effort to remove ‘insecurity complexes’ of minority
community whether perceived or real. In this regard, search for and laying the
foundation for an alternative politics which goes beyond rhetoric and ethnic
politics will surely prove fruitful in the future. It is time to decide the
foundational values and normative character of our society based on the
existing issues and realities of Manipur.
This article was published in The Sangai Express on Sunday, December 30, 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment