Manipur Violence: No bifurcation, No separate administration... Must find 'middle path to peace', say experts
Dialogue is the only way to resolve the discord that has resulted in bloodshed and violence in Manipur. However, social scientists say that a middle path between Kuki’s demand for separate administration and Meitei insistence on maintaining a united Manipur.
FollowTwo months since the ethnic clashes flared up between the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur, over 100 people have been killed and many more are injured. There are many who have been displaced from their homes and livelihoods, and forced to live in temporary relief camps. Asianet Newsable reached out to social scientists to understand why peace eludes the state. They said that dialogue and suspension of operations could bring normalcy to the violence-hit state.
Dr Noni Arambam, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Dhanamanjuri University in Imphal, said: "Ceasing violence, militants should meet to adhere to the ground rules of which the government of India is a party. Dialogue between the communities and the creation of a peace committee could prove beneficial in bringing peace and tranquillity in the state."
Dr Arambam, a Meitei based in Imphal, also suggested that the bifurcation of Manipur must not be part of the debate, and the communities living in Manipur should find a solution to pressing common issues like the proliferation of drugs and human trafficking. While stating that the peace committee should be neutral and should not have any political motivation, Dr Arambam said that the bifurcation of the state should be excluded from the debate.
"It would not produce a conducive environment for talks as the Meiteis are adamant on territorial integrity. They think that if the state is bifurcated then their over 2000 years of history would disappear. You can talk of power-sharing, financial delegation and about the revision of land laws but not of bifurcation of the state,” he said.
Kim Gangte, the former MP for Outer Manipur, has said that a middle path and not separation is the solution to the current crisis in Manipur.
In an interview with a digital portal, she said that a middle path between Kuki’s demand for separate administration and the Meitei insistence on maintaining a united Manipur should be the solution for the crisis. However, the former MP maintained that it would not be easy to find this middle path as the wounds are deep. Kim Gangte is a Kuki leader and the only leader who talked of the middle path to resolving the crisis.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. While Nagas and Kukis constitute another 41 per cent of the population and reside in the hilly areas. Besides the inclusion of Meiteis in the list of STs, the other factor that has led to the current crisis is the valley which accounts for about 10 per cent where any community can be settled there while no other communities can purchase land in the hill districts.
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