How did the lava of violence suddenly erupt in peaceful Manipur?
Violence does not stop in Manipur. Violence began here again on the night of November 15. This time the rebel mob burnt down the house of the Chief Minister’s son-in-law. Not only this, the houses of some MLAs were also set on fire. Violence has been going on in Manipur for the last one and a half years. Here the dispute between the Meitei, Kuki and Naga tribes is old. The Meitei people want to achieve tribal status. But Naga and Kuki are campaigning not to give them this status.
Since the Meiteis are in the majority and have a lot of influence and influence in the state power, they surpass these people, but the matter is not so simple and clear. There is something more to the truth; Otherwise, how come the lava of violence suddenly broke out in Manipur, which had been peaceful for the last few decades? If this is not understood and resolved, the situation will go from bad to worse.
Strict action must be taken against violence in Manipur
The seven northeastern states of India are also our border states. Manipur shares its border with Myanmar and that too for a distance of 352 km. Mizoram, Nagaland and Assam also surround it. The sequence of violence in Manipur began on May 3, 2023 and is continuing. Due to this, work on the Kolkata-Bangkok expressway has come to a standstill.
With the construction of this highway, it will be possible to travel by road from Kolkata to Myanmar and Thailand. But now the construction of this road has been stopped. This is causing embarrassment to India in the international world. Everyone feels that the government is not able to stop or resolve the violence in Manipur. In such a situation, the question arises as to what is the reason why the Central Government is keeping this issue pending, meanwhile Chief Minister N. Biren Singh has resigned, although the Center did not accept it.
Politicization of the Meitei community problem
The Central Government’s problem is how to deal with Manipur? Actually, the people of the Meitei community live in the valley and the Kuki and Naga tribes live in the hills. The Nagas are entirely Christian, while the Kukis are Buddhist, Hindu and Christian. The Meitei community is Vaishnav Hindu. Part of its population has become Muslim. According to tribal law there, the Meiteis cannot go and settle in the mountainous areas.
They are areas reserved for tribals. While they are allowed to come and settle in the valley. The hilly areas of Manipur are lush green. The people there are quite polite because the Church has worked a lot there. In addition, weapons also continue to arrive from Myanmar. Therefore, if the violence that occurs there is not controlled, the situation can become explosive. Previous governments always kept this area under control.
Lack of space in the valley in the state
There are 20 seats in the assembly from Kuki and Naga dominated areas. These are all reserved seats. In the 60-member assembly, 40 seats go to the valley. While Manipur valley has only 10 percent of the total area. There is a shortage of space in the valley, so the Meitei people want to settle in the mountains. But tribal law gets in the way. Now, where should 53 percent of the Meiteis go? That is why they demand a tribal status for themselves.
On the other hand, separate state status for the Kuki and Naga mountainous areas. Now, if the central government continues to divide the states into smaller states, one day India will become just a collection of innumerable separate states. Each state will have its own identity. Their language will be different and so will their rules and regulations. That is why the government is still silent about this violence.
Nobody paid attention to the northeast.
Manipur has been a troubled state not only today but also in the past. The reason is the presence here of around 30 percent of armed groups. Infiltrators also continue to arrive in Manipur from Chin State in neighboring Myanmar. Rebel elements from other countries also continue to arrive through them. Because the people of Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal and Manipur in India are very sensitive to their ethnic identity.
Previously, mainly people of Tibetan origin lived here, but Buddhism united them with India. After the Mahabharata, many parts of India were isolated. Later Buddhism added them. But after Harsh Vardhan, there was no glorious emperor here. The country was divided between small rulers. Only Buddhism had connected them somewhere. Meanwhile, there were attacks from the Turks and the Sultanate period arrived. Then came the Mughals, but this part of India was abandoned.
separate identity anxiety
A few years after Muhammad Ghori’s attack, the Ghulam dynasty conquered Bengal. But no one was ahead of Bengal. But when the East India Company took over India, the independent Ahom kings of Bengal began to decline and as soon as Britain’s direct rule over India began, the British took over these northeastern states. Due to this, the area of India increased but the cultural thread connecting it was broken.
During British rule, Christian missionaries established churches among the tribals here and initiated them into their religion. He opened schools among them and taught them English. The result was that concern about their separate identity increased in the northeastern states. But the interest of the British was that British India remained united and under their rule. That’s why this restlessness couldn’t come out of his shell.
rushed distribution
After World War II, when Britain weakened and the independence movement in India gained momentum, Britain was in a hurry to get rid of India. The last viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, was sent to India to free it as soon as possible. The result was that India was divided into three parts.
Politically, British India was divided between two countries. India and Pakistan. But such haste was shown in creating Pakistan that an artificial country called Pakistan was created without any preparation. But Pakistan was given two parts of India. One is the area adjacent to Punjab, Kashmir, Rajasthan and Gujarat, which can be called West Pakistan and the other is East Pakistan, one thousand five hundred kilometers from Punjab. However, later this East Pakistan became Bangladesh.
Bangladesh also against India
India’s contribution to the independence of Bangladesh is not hidden from anyone. But India suffered more political losses than benefits. Firstly, such a wave of anti-India protest arose in the western part of Pakistan that it could not be suppressed even after millions of efforts. On the other hand, Bangladesh could not support its huge population and illegal infiltration from Bangladesh into India began.
Every time India opposed it, Bangladesh became more anti-India. On one hand, Pakistan is instigating Khalistani thinking in Punjab, while on the other, Bangladesh is sending arms to miscreants in the northeast amid friendly relations in India. Especially in Assam, Nagaland and Mizoram, weapons are coming from Bangladesh. This campaign was intense during Khaleda Zia’s time. This infiltration was stopped during Hasina’s time, but now again there are reports that such a campaign was started from Bangladesh.
The princely state of Manipur joined India in 1949.
At that time, there is a need to immediately stop the violence in Manipur. No political party should play politics in this matter. The state of Manipur was formed on January 21, 1972. Bangladesh had become independent just a few days earlier. Bangladesh may not share its border with Manipur, but it is easy to reach there via Assam.
Before 1950, Manipur was an independent princely state. On October 15, 1949, Maharaja Bodhchandra signed the Instrument of Accession with India. Even at that time there was a rift between Kuki and Meitei, but King Bodh Chandra had controlled it. It is very important for the government to stop the violence in naturally rich Manipur.
