Manipur needs solutions, not government-opposition blame game

The most bizarre situation is now emerging in Manipur. The Manipur Police have registered a criminal case against the Assam Rifles, the oldest paramilitary force in the country, on charges of “obstruction of duty” and “criminal intimidation”. That is to say that now the security forces deployed in Manipur are on a warpath with each other. Even the purpose of deploying forces in Manipur looks defeated. 

So, while the political squabbles have been all about who has visited Manipur and who has not, the situation has plummeted to dangerous lows making the restoration of normality much more challenging. The story has clearly moved on to a far bigger dimension, but the political rhetoric remains stuck with making vicious attacks tearing each other down with vitriol. 

I don’t hear solutions; I don’t hear leaders demanding specific things out of the Prime Minister or the Union Home Ministry to restore peace. I don’t hear any solutions being proposed to empower the administration that is looking increasingly helpless to tackle the ethnic strife.  

And therein lies the problem with Indian politics. There is an obsessive-compulsive fixation with targeting the party in power as a goal in itself. Raise questions, and demand answers but there must be occasions when the entire political leadership gets together to find solutions. This is certainly one of them. What the state needs right now, is a combined effort, a collaborative approach since the divide runs right up to the security forces with mistrust around their allegiance towards one side or the other. 

How exactly do we plan to redeem a situation like this? 
 
The Manipur inferno is indeed a grave internal security threat. Sources in the state say that at least 50-60 armed groups operate within the state. Giving these groups a reason to militate and form their own fiefdoms in complete disregard for state administration is an unimaginably dangerous situation for any country. The implications of this level of an ethnic clash and civil war stretch far beyond the boundaries of the state. Let us not even for a moment forget that it is a border state that has been infested with insurgency for many decades and it has taken years to bring a semblance of normalcy. 

And thanks to some short-sighted, ill-conceived policies of the Chief Minister N. Biren Singh-led government in Manipur, the gains of the past have been squandered. 
 
When ordinary youth take up arms, to protect their people, showing a complete lack of faith in the ruling powers, that is the most glaring sign of a collapse of the entire system. Yet it has not proven to be enough to shake the conscience of the top leadership of this country. To salvage a state from this condition requires urgent and immediate focus and undivided political attention so that a rigorous and continuous dialogue is established and confidence-building measures are taken on a war footing. This is not the kind of rebellion that can be crushed with brute force.  
 
Today, by all accounts, the state of Manipur is bifurcated on sectarian lines. Boundaries have been drawn. The segregation of the Kuki-Zo community from the Meiteis is near complete.  Such geographical segregation cannot be sustained for a multitude of reasons, primarily among them being the fact that the hostilities would continue. It will be like leaving an open wound to fester. 
 
The anger of one community was never against the other community to begin with. It was against the policies of the ruling government. It all started with one community feeling threatened and short-changed combined with the fear of losing their land and jobs and their prospects of earning a decent living. Why it escalated to a war between two communities is a study in itself to understand how leadership failure can lead to disastrous consequences. 

But what one knows for sure is that the healing touch that Manipur requires right now is not going to come from the shrill political rhetoric that the leadership is embroiled in. The time for whataboutery and the blame game is long over.

Also read: Manipur violence: Delegation of 30 MLAs barring Congress to meet central leaders amid ongoing state turmoil