A Response to “The nation state and its territory”

Bimol Akoijam
MS Prabhakaran, the author of the article,The nation state and its territory (Hindu, 8 June, 2011), is an old hand in the state of affairs in Northeast. In fact, you can almost count him as one of the Northeasterner as such. However, he, like most non-professional academics who haven’t grappled, perhaps, thoroughly with the conceptual categories and perspectives that are being invoked in his above article, ends up conflating the "categories" and correspondingly created confusions and avoidable conclusions which have far reaching political implications.

For instance, his conflation between “state” and “nation” and “nation-state” have produced a distorted idea of “territoriality” vis-à-vis the former three categories. In a similar manner, because of his conflation between “memory” and “history”, he fails to see the difference between those articulating the “Naga nation” and the “Manipuri nation” (and the geo-political statuses and the issue of “territoriality” in juridico-political terms) in the light of the “aspiration” that distinguishes between what he has termed as something that “came into being within living memory or has been a stable polity for centuries”.

Consequently, he misses two crucial aspects. First, he misses the difference in the definitions of “Manipur” and “Nagaland” (correspondingly, what are these two “entities”); for instance, going by the Schedule 1 of the Constitution of India, which incidentally also gives enough hints on the historicity of the formation of the present postcolonial Indian State (as different from the “idea of India” which has been appropriated by, albeit in a truncated form that does not sit well with, the present Indian State), the former (Manipur) existed as a “geo-political” entity with a stable polity before the commencement of the Constitution (thereby the present Indian State) while the latter (Nagaland) as a “geopolitical entity” with a “stable polity” came into being by virtue of the Constitution (thereby, after the present Indian State and in some sense, by virtue of its political will).

Secondly, that the historicity and contemporary reality of postcolonial politics have produced an “instable polity” in Manipur was completely ignored in his analytical engagement. It is worthwhile to remember that a state with a constitution of its own with a democratically elected Assembly based on universal adult franchise and a “responsible” government was unceremoniously dissolved by New Delhi as it “took over” the state in 1949 and initiated a long 23 years of a bureaucratic rule of Manipur by New Delhi.

This aspect of Manipur's recent history has critical bearings on contemporary Manipur. Having been freed from the alien rule, while the rest of world got the opportunity to shape their destiny on their own terms and aspirations as a mark of postcolonial ethos, Manipur was reduced to an unfortunate trajectory in the form of a deprivation of that postcolonial experience of self rule. As a result of this ironical post-colonial life, the sense of “peoplehood” and polity based on the notion “popular sovereignty” in Manipur has been weaken over the years. Indeed, the fractured nature of the idea of “people of Manipur” has lots to do with that weakening of a democratic politics in the state. The awareness of being a people who have a common stake in the socio-economic and political processes determined by a shared (democratic) polity of being a state was substituted by a political culture wherein the people have been reduced to (competing) “clients” whose well-being was/is critically depended upon their competing proximity to the distant “patron” (New Delhi) and its representative at Imphal.

In fact, this "patron-client" relationship between New Delhi and Manipur reproduces and re-enforces subservient mindset and lack of self-confidence to deal with issues with a sense of one’s own sense of agency associated with old feudal and colonial dispensations in Manipur.  In fact, this "patron-client" structure is one singular aspect that critically determines not only the political culture in Manipur but also many other aspects of life beyond politics in the state.

It is also this aspect that brings in New Delhi as a primary mover in the region, particularly Manipur. Incidentally, it is also a fact that the deepening of the present so-called “ethnic” divide in Manipur is not un-related to the ongoing negotiation between the Naga rebels and the Government of India. This has also been subsequently left out of the analytical purview of Prabhakaran’s analysis.

On the other hand, things get complicated in Manipur as derivative discourses and politics that smack of “two-nation” theory (deeply informed by some sense of “ethnic” and “religious” ideas) and a majoritarian nationalist imagination that smacks of “imperial nostalgia” (a strand of which is a counterpart of Hindu nationalist, either in its right wing variety or those who equate “Indic”, wittingly or unwittingly, with “Hindu”) continue to play havoc in Manipur.

And yet, the political class and its intelligentsia of a “nation” whose birth trauma was caused by a “two-nation theory”, and whose contemporary life continues to be haunted by the ghost of that theory and remnant communal politics, have hardly countered the aspirations and politics of similar kinds that marked the so-called “ethnic conundrum” in the Northeast, particularly Manipur. 

Indeed, that the leadership and members of the intelligentsia in this country have never denounced the political ideology that smacks of “two-nation theory” (saying that people with different religion or ethnic groups have different “destinies”) that lies behind the territorial demands is a telling revelation. (In fact, I have come across well-known public figures and lobbyists who denounce communal politics and its concomitant ideas in the case of the so-called “mainstream” India while supporting the same in case of what’s happening in Manipur).

Thus, generally speaking, these issues have hardly been acknowledged, leave alone addressed, when one talks or writes of the “conflict” ridden Manipur and its contested and unstable polity. The present write up by MS Prabhakaran is no exception to that kind of articulation.

And it must go without saying that such absences or denials have critical bearings on the present and future of not only the Nagas or the Manipuris but also the people in the entire Northeast and arguably India as a “nation” and more accurately as a postcolonial “state”.

Geo-politics of Look-East Policy

The North Eastern States of India, comprising Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and more recently Sikkim, is a region in contradiction, when viewed from its geographical location. It is a land locked region, mountainous, with perhaps the Brahmaputra the only water way, that too within the State of Assam only and to the minds of many who matter in Delhi, it is a region, which is as remote as one can consciously think of and why not ? While the geographical divide between this region and mainland India runs deep, what is a matter of greater significance is the deeper and more ‘visible’ psychological divide between the people of this region and the rest of the country. The “chicken neck” syndrome is still alive and kicking and it refers not only to the 24 kms wide passage through Assam/Bengal that connects the region with the rest of the country, but also to the growing emotional disconnect between the region and the rest of the country with Delhi unfailingly adopting the mindset of the British, which is to look and view the North East region as a buffer zone, a frontier against unfriendly Nations. While it is just a 24 kms wide passage that connects the North East region with the rest of the country, the North East, by virtue of its geographical locations, share international boundaries running into thou- sands of kilometres with numerous countries. One just have to take a look at the map of India to get a grasp of the strategic position that this region occupies. The North East region shares boundaries with China, Burma or Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan and not all of them come under the category of friendly Nations, and this fact has had a multiplying effect on the importance of this region. This fact or ground reality did not dawn on New Delhi for the greater period of time after 15th August, 1947, as Nehru and his men were more concerned with playing up to the Soviets and concentrating all their attention on the West, beyond which lies Pakistan. The resultant effect follows the logical path, which is in reality absolutely illogical, that the North East region has lagged behind the rest of the country, due to its geographical location with some even going to the extent of dubbing it as a remote corner of India. Remote it may be, but this cannot be measured by kilometres or miles but by other factors such as the consciousness of this region in the mindset of Delhiwallahs and others. This mindset is archaic and should have no place in an age, “when the world has become a global village.” Much as the world has changed, especially with the coming of age of Information Technology and the internet, India's outlook or approach towards the North East remained caught in a time warp, stubbornly resisting the wind of change sweeping through the globalised village. This is one reason why the region remains merely dotted with verbal assurances of rail connectivity by political netas when they undertake their rare sojourn to this region. Verbally they have virtually criss crossed the entire region with rail heads and rail line and it has remained just that, though Manipur is now in line to join the privileged category of “rail connected States.”
Just as there are no permanent foes or friends in politics, there are also no permanent policies and outlook of any administration and it is along this line that we can understand the hitherto geographical disadvantage of the North East region, suddenly becoming so important to Delhi over night. The Look East Policy, which has become one of the grander visions of Delhi, has nothing to do with the North East except that it serves as the perfect gateway to the burgeoning market in South East Asian countries as well as the growing need to check the sweeping influence of China over this region. It is also another step taken up towards joining the Association of South East Asian Nations. Economy is the primary factor here and it is perfectly in sync with the demands of the time, especially in the face of the fact that China has replaced Japan as the second most economically powerful Nation in the world, just after the USA and what is more it is outpacing the targets set by itself. The Trans-Asian Highway that is planned to pass through Manipur can mean many things to many people. For one, Moreh will see rapid developments and it wouldn't take time for the land sharks and property dealers homing in on this border town to make a killing. To the petty traders, it could mean their gradual margina-lisation, which can then pave the way for the emergence of another menace in the form of highwaymen. To the staunch Meiteis of Manipur, who swear by the Puya it would mean the coming to light of the prediction, “Nongpokthong Hangba” which literally means opening the eastern gate or passage, while to the common people, it could mean anything, either flow with the tide and be able to keep up with the new challenges or simply disappear into oblivion. To Delhi, they may preen under the impression that they have managed to hit two targets with one stone, that is neutralise the growing sentiment of alienation of the North East people through the Trans-Asian Highway and the other is get a toe hold on the thriving economy of South East Asia. However, Delhi must realise that in as much as the world has changed, so have the people of this region and that is they can no longer be taken for granted, that they can no longer be viewed as the people with slant eyes, snub nose inhabiting some jungles. The LEP is no doubt a grand vision, and it will take more than the best of human efforts to make it a success. It also needs sincerity of purpose in an equal dose. The present visit of delegates from ASEAN countries to Manipur and their visit to Moreh by road, is significant. In a way it is also a sign of Delhi coming round to the idea of the existence of a region, which can no longer be treated only as some sort of a buffer zone, to keep unfriendly Nations at bay.

Sharmila’s date with AFSPA

The timing is right and so are the circumstances. The debate over the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act is not something new and it has been there since the late 70s or early 80s, when the Naga People's Movement for Human Rights filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India challenging the validity or legality of the said Act. The Court ruled in favour of the said Act, but in the process it laid down a certain set of dos and don'ts for the security personnel, who operate under the legal protection provided by this Act. At the moment, the debate over the continued imposition of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act has reached a crescendo, with the focus on the unrest in Jammu and Kashmir, which has so far claimed the lives of nearly 70 or more civilians in the last 60 days or so. Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has already made his position clear and that is AFSPA needs to be repealed as it has only succeeded in alienating the people of Kashmir further. This point has also been brought to the notice of the Centre numerous times, by several human rights groups from the North East and perhaps, the year 2004 will go down as a water shed in the protest against the continued imposition of the said Act. The nude protest by women folk in front of Kangla, the self immolation of Pebam Chittaranjan, the over two months long agitation which ultimately led Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh to fly down to Imphal in November , 2004 wherein the Justice Jeevan Reddy Commission was constituted to look into the finer details of the said Act and see what can be done. As things have turned out, the Centre has been sleeping over the recommendations of the Justice Jeevan Reddy Commission, but the significance of the Prime Minister's observation that a humane Act is needed, cannot be lost on anyone, especially the policy framers of the country as well as the military establishment. At that point of time, in 2004, Kashmir did not figure prominently in the debate, but today, the focus on the said Act, which is a remnant of the British Raj, has come into focus following the turmoil in Kashmir for more than two months, which has seen teenagers coming out on the streets to engage the security personnel in a battle of stone pelting or catapult war. There is something different in the present turmoil, for the security forces are not engaged by any armed or banned organisations, but by the ordinary folks, mostly comprising of young people, some of whom must have just stepped into their teens. With the body bags increasing, it took Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to admit that proposals to amend the said Act, which gives sweeping powers to the military, have met with stiff opposition from some quarters and we do not need rocket science technology to work out who are the ones opposing any move to dilute the said Act and make it more humane or make the security forces more accountable to the law of the land. The fact that the Supreme Court deemed it necessary to issue a certain set of guidelines or dos and don'ts to the security forces, operating under this Act, is a tacit acceptance of the fact that the said Act contains provisions for misuse of power, that do nothing except victimise the people.
While AFSPA has come to occupy centre stage in Delhi and elsewhere due to the turmoil in Kashmir, in Manipur too, this Act has resurfaced to occupy precious newspapers columns for two entirely different reasons. Wittingly or unwittingly, it was Chief Minister O Ibobi who raked up the AFSPA issue while addressing the people while paying tributes to late Major Laishram Jyotin, who died fighting terrorists, who had stormed the Indian Embassy at Kabul in the early part of this year. Perhaps it was over enthusiasm or perhaps it was the failure to grasp the heart beats of the people, or perhaps it was a deliberate attempt to add more punch to the questions posed against the numerous women activists, who have been crying hoarse about human rights violations, but have been keeping a deafening silence, over the increasing cases of bomb attacks and violence in Imphal area. Whatever the case, Chief Minister O Ibobi managed to rake up the AFSPA issue, when he opted for the carrot and stick policy, by hinting or subtly threatening that AFSPA may be re-imposed in the seven Assembly segments of the Indian Municipal Council, if things do not improve. That the carrot and stick policy no longer impresses an adult audience, seems to have blown over the head of the Chief Minister, but in one stroke he has been able to bring the focus back on AFSPA, while this issue is being hotly debated in other parts of the country, following the unprecedented public turmoil in Kashmir. On a more sombre but dignified manner, this said Act has come back to the consciousness of the people of Manipur, as Irom Sharmila Chanu is set to complete ten years of hunger strike, demanding the total revocation of the said Act. The lone crusader has in the last ten years or so, demonstrated to the whole world, how an issue can be kept alive or a target pursued by steering clear of threatrics and indulging in lung power or street politics, where everything is noise and din with little substance. It has been a dignified and silent protest, far removed from the type of protests that we have seen in this part of the world. So in Kashmir, it is the turmoil during the last 60 days or so of public protest, while in Manipur, it was the ‘slip of the tongue’ of the Chief Minister and the dignified and silent protest launched by Sharmila which have brought the said controversial Act into the consciousness of the people. The important and critical question lying before us, as former Health Director Dr Th Suresh pointed out in a letter to the Editor and published some days back in this newspaper is, what would be the fate of Sharmila, if everyone accepts some cuts and amendments in AFSPA instead of its total repeal ? The answer can only be provided by Sharmila herself, but let's also not forget that constructive counselling is important and that she has done more than what all the other champions of human rights have done till date.

Prime Time privilege

Forget about Parliament, even the mainstream media, meaning the news channels and newspapers that have a pan-India reach and outlook, have always tended to overlook the North East region, in its coverage. There could be many factors for this such as the limited market and the general lack of awareness of the region amongst the newspaper readers or news channel watchers in mainland India, or it could just be a case of “North East ? Where is that ?,” where people from this region are identified by their Mongoloid features. Chinky is the term used to identify the North East boys and girls in places such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai etc and while most of the youths from this region have managed to come to terms with it, the overt derogatory tone accompanying this term cannot miss the eye. To draw a parallel, it is like using the term Hao Macha to describe the hill men in Manipur, particularly by the Meiteis, and we have seen and experienced, how the usage of such terms can lead to deep wounds and scars that refuse to go away. Even in the West, the Blacks are no longer referred to as Negroes or the more discriminatory Niggers. Even the term Blacks now come with another more acceptable name, which is African Americans. In fact so deeply is the modern world against racism or racial discrimination, in the post Apartheid era, that any comment which is construed as racially demeaning or discriminatory, is most likely to land the person responsible in a soup ! We have just made a general observation of where the North East, including Manipur stands in the overall mental make up of the people of the so called mainland India. The fact that the term North East is used particularly to refer to the seven States, eight if Sikkim is included, is in itself some sort of a “Us and Them” syndrome. This reality that we see all around gets reflected in the manner in which the media, which have an all India audience or readership, overlooks many critical issues besetting this region. So while the marriage between Sania Mirza and a cricket player from Pakistan made it to the prominent pages of all the newspapers and occupied prime time slots in the news channels, critical issues like the humanitarian crisis arising out of the economic blockade imposed on the highways leading to Manipur, the stand off between the Government of Manipur and the NSCN (IM) over the proposed visit of Th Muivah to his birth place in Somdal, the mautam or bamboo flowering phenomena which has come back to haunt some States in the North East are stashed away in the cold storage. The mainland media or the media which has an all India reach seemed more concerned over the movements of former junior Foreign Minister Shashi Tharoor and Sunanda Pushkar ! Some years back, it took Rajdeep Sardesai of CCN IBN to personally explain the stand of the news channel why the same coverage was not given when Assam and Bihar faced floods of the same magnitude at the same time. This time too, Sardesai has anchored a show, “Is Manipur India's Forgotten State ?” These measures though welcome seem to be more like some damage control exercise rather than trying to sincerely look into the situation and bring it to the knowledge of the people, to whom North East is as alien as China or the most isolated Nation in the world North Korea.
This is the general scenario, including the coverage of the North East in the mainstream media (We are using this term for want of a better alternative, much like the term Bollywood) and merely digesting the fact that two of the leading fortnightly magazines in the country, India Today and Outlook do not have their correspondents in the North East is an exercise in itself. Yes, earlier there were correspondents of these two publications based in Guwahati, but for reasons best known to them, the job of covering the North East has now fallen on the correspondent based in Kolkata. It is amid this climate of seeming indifference, not only among the political circle and the media, not to talk about the public of India, that Manipur figured prominently just the other day on the floor of the Lok Sabha. It is not often that critical issues besetting the State or the North East region get prime time slots in Parliament, but this time, it was a bit heartening to see Union Home Minister P Chidambaram put to rest certain issues, by speaking bluntly and without trying to confuse the public. These issues pertain to the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the creation of a Greater Nagalim, where Naga inhabited areas from Manipur, Assam and Arunachal are sought to be brought under a single administrative unit. To the people of the North East and Manipur the Armed Forces Special Powers Act is not something new and it is perhaps this Act which propelled Manipur into one of those prime time slots in the news channels and precious column in the newspapers. This happened way back in 2004, when people rose as one to demand the revocation of the said Act, after the bullet riddled body of Th Manorama was found the day after she was whisked away by a team of Assam Rifles personnel. The nude protest in front of Kangla will remain etched in the minds of everyone and the said controversial Army Act will always be associated with this historic and never before seen demonstration by women folk in India. Yes a debate on the controversial Act is raging and Home Minister Chidambaram took pains to explain that the Government needs to consult all concerned. It should be obvious that the concerned here is the defence establishment. Ironically everyone seems to have forgotten the lone woman, who will continue to be seen as the inspiring force behind the anti-AFSPA movement, Irom Chanu Sharmila who is set to complete ten years of fasting to demand the revocation of the said Act. History will not judge India favourably, if it ignores the gutsy mission of this lone crusader, when it comes to the question of AFSPA. And for the records, Manipur too was in the limelight during the months of June and July in 2001, when the Bangkok Declaration between India and the IM group was announced.

NE in Tryst with Destiny

We have now stepped into the 64th year since making our tryst with destiny on August 15, 1947, and as in preceding years, the same question continues to haunt us and that is whether the present India is what Nehru had in mind when he famously addressed the Nation with his Tryst with Destiny speech way back in 1947. The birth of India as a Nation was not without its share of turmoil and heart burns and one just has to recollect the blood and gore during the Partition, when human beings were slaughtered by fellow human beings blinded by hatred and a rage within, which could be calmed down by butchering the ones on the other side. If Gandhiji led the Freedom Movement with his unique Ahimsa or non-violence philosophy, the violence, bloodshed and gore under which India and Pakistan emerged as two different countries, after the British left, tells the journey of a Nation in idea, founded on the message of peace and brotherly co-existence to a Nation born with blood. It is not without any reason that the Partition is often cited as an example, when any deep divide arises along communal affiliations or ethnic ties. After Gandhi, the job was then left to Nehru, Sardar Vallabhai Patel and others to propagate the idea of India as a Nation to all the provinces which were hitherto under the British Raj. And in propagating the idea of an Indian Nation, no one can claim to be a holy cow, for the politics of betrayal, threat and intimidations were often resorted to and the fruit of such an approach can today be seen in North East India, where a number of rebel groups have emerged to engage the Indian armed forces in a bush war for decades. The Nagas raised the banner of independence on August 14, 1947 one day ahead of India, while Manipur reverted to its earlier status as a sovereign State, which had its own system of governance. Tripura also experienced the same story of Manipur, with the then incumbent king or queen signing the controversial Merger Agreement under dubious and controversial circumstances. It is the thorn of the political double speak, high treason and betrayal, whether imagined or factually correct, that surrounds the Merger Agreement, which continues to prick the very idea of an India as a Nation, at least in the North East. This has provided the perfect launching pad for armed insurgency to mushroom in almost all the States in the region. The Naga armed movement seems to have come to a closed chapter, despite the occasional threats and rantings from its leaders and earlier we saw how Mizoram was able to regain its sanity after decades of bush war and violence, thanks to the Mizo Accord of 1986. In Manipur, there is nothing that offers us a glimpse of hope that a solution is in sight and instead the trouble or problem besetting this State of some 25 odd lakh population seem to be getting more and more complicated with each passing year. Today, it is not only a question of surviving the violence that we see all around, in the form of bombs being planted at the residence of some individual, ambushes on security personnel, street wars or pitched battle between the women vigilantes and the Government over the continued imposition of Armed Forces Special Powers Act and most significantly, the growing ethnic divide between the Nagas of Manipur and the Meiteis over the Greater Lim issue which has come to take the form of economic blockades on the National Highways and counter blockades in the valley areas.
This is Manipur in brief, after 63 years of independence and however much we would like to believe that this is not what Nehru had in mind, when India made her tryst with destiny on August 15, 1947, the bitter reality lies in the question of whether the idea of India as a Nation has taken firm roots across the length and breadth of the country. The North East does not figure in the National Anthem, with due respect to Rabindranath Tagore, nor are its multifarious culture and uniqueness reflected in the National flag. The very fact that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, in his address to the Nation on Independence Day on August 15 from the Red Fort in Delhi, made a specific reference to the North East, says something about where the region figure in the overall scheme of things in the present Government and we would like to say, it is rather encouraging. It is on occasions like Independence Day and Republic Day, that the finer nuances of the agenda of the Government of the day, can be understood. The Nation already knows the stance of the Centre and particularly the stand of the Prime Minister on the Maoists and the “biggest internal threat to India” quip by Dr Manmohan Singh could not have been an off the cuff remark but was stated after taking into considerations all the facts and circumstances. A whole gamut of issues were touched upon by the Prime Minister ranging from the flash floods at Leh, which has taken a heavy toll on human lives to the economy of the country, which was described as encouraging. We are not economists or financial analysts, but the optimistic message by the Prime Minister is encouraging and does not sound like some political rantings, given his academic background. The speech to the Nation by itself is an annual affair, and to some, it may have lost its relevance, but to States like Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the North East, the Prime Minister's speech offers us a glimpse of the political agenda in the mind of the Government. Taken this into consideration, we feel, the Prime Minister's speech, while referring to the North East, “I would like to convey to all political parties and groups of the North East that disputes in the name of States or tribes can only harm us,” is replete with meaning and will surely not miss the eyes of the NSCN (IM) leaders and the people of Manipur. This is the second time that two Prime Ministers from different political parties have managed to subtly but effectively put across their message on the Lim issue and the first was Atal Behari Vajpayee, who said that the issue needs a political consensus of all concerned, while addressing a meeting at Kohima when the NDA was in power !

Delhi : Lying without blushing

It is the mother of all contradictions or paradoxes or more importantly a classic case of lying through the teeth without blushing ! While the world has become a global village, thanks to the rapid progress in Information Technology, the Delhiwallahs in the garb of netas, seem to think that they can get away by lying or playing the game of ignorance. Or else how does one explain the response from the Delhi netas, who had the temerity to counter pose, why they have not been informed of the grave humanitarian crisis in Manipur, which was scripted, directed and produced by the All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur and came under the blockbuster name of Economic Blockade that stretched for 68 days ? Not only is this an added insult but it also exposes where and how Manipur figures in the overall scheme of Delhi. The question of ‘not informing them earlier’ sounds like a poor joke in this age when any information can be had with the click of the mouse. In 2005, the story was the same, with the dhoti and topi clad politicians relaxing in their air conditioned rooms, while the 25 odd lakh population had to spend over night at a petrol pump to get their share of five or ten litres of petrol or diesel, for 52 days. No, we are not treading the beaten path of ‘Delhi bashing’ when anything goes wrong in the State for that would amount to flogging a dead horse. However we need to see and understand Delhi's policy towards the North East and Manipur, from a new perspective, particularly in the backdrop of the demand raised by the NSCN (IM) for the creation of a Greater Lim, where all Naga inhabited areas will come under one administrative unit. A full understanding of Delhi's approach to Manipur vis-a-vis the Lim issue may well be a diffcult or even an impossible task, but being on alert equipped with a questioning mind helps in identifying the not so obvious but nevertheless significant point. It is with such a mental preparation that we can detect the slips made by Delhi especially when some political leaders reportedly reprimanded some leaders from Manipur, why the economic blockade and the resultant humanitarian crisis was not brought to their notice earlier ! By this very admission, the political class stands exposed for all to see and hear and the message that one gets is, Manipur is important only as a frontier State, since it is strategically placed and can be the doorway to South East Asia through which India hopes to play a more meaningful role. Remember, BRIC-Brazil, Russia, India and China, which were at one time touted as the countries to watch out for. The factors working in favour of these BRIC countries are the availability of cheap labour, both skilled and unskilled, the large geographical areas they cover, the huge population etc. With China clearly stealing a march over India in almost every aspect, politically, militarily and most significantly economically, Delhi cannot afford to remain smug and hence the marginal increase in the importance of Manipur as a dominion of India in the eyes of Delhiwallahs. There are no emotional ties or cords that bind the people of the North East with the people of mainland India and the act of coining the term, North East region itself has some significant meanings. The lies of the Delhi netas, only add to the misgivings.

So even after more than two months of choking the life lines of the State, the leaders at Delhi were not aware of the facts here, or so they claim ! Either the people who run the affairs of the country are ignorant fools or they care two hoots about the fate of the people of Manipur and this does not speak well for the largest democracy in the world. The mainland media too preferred to concentrate on the Khap Panchayats and honour killings and of course, the wedding of Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and how Rahul Gandhi, the heir apparent of the Gandhi legacy, personally sent his wishes to the newly wedded couple ! The very fact that CNN-IBN ran a story under the title, “Is Manipur India's Forgotten State ?” with the inimitable Rajdeep Sardesai at the helm, itself says that there is a missing chain somewhere and the ‘chicken neck syndrome,’ which refers to the narrow strip of land that connects the North East region with the rest of the country, attains a certain level of legitimacy. Yes, after more than 60 days of people coping without fuel, LPG and escalating prices of all goods, including daily needs such as rice, dal or vegetables, Delhiwallahs had the temerity to come up with the question, why they were not informed before ! This is an insult to the existence of Manipur as a State of India, for as we have noted in the very beginning of this commentary, the progress in Information Techno- logy has brought the world closer than ever before and information from any part of the world can be had by just clicking the mouse ! Or are the Delhi netas not adept in using the internet ? We understand that there is a separate Union Ministry specially set up for the North East in the form and name of Development of North East Region as well as the North Eastern Council. In the face of this fact, we cannot help but question, whether these institutions exist only to inaugurate foundation stone laying ceremonies of bridges or merely act at the time of appointing the Director of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences ? Now that Delhi has woken up to the humanitarian crisis that besieged Manipur for more than 60 days, it is amazing to see how security along the highways has suddenly become so effective. Does this mean that all these years, the Centre did not care or did not bother to realise the gravity of the situation everytime an economic blockade is imposed here ? Or does it mean that it prefers to opt for the ‘ignorance is bliss line,’ especially when the blockade is imposed with the Lim issue serving as the rallying point ? In a few days, India will celebrate her Independence Day, but sadly, out of circumstances or out of the mess created by the political class, States in the North East, especially Manipur will see only deserted streets. Is this the “Tryst With Destiny” that Nehru had in mind way back in 1947 ? Sources:-http://www.thesangaiexpress.com/