If this constituted the sum total of Chidambaram’s visit, he could have saved all those valuable flying hours and done as much just sitting in Delhi. It is not as if Manipur and Nagaland are sleeping over things, it is just that the two states are unable to do anything better. Unfortunately, both do not have that powerful impulse to act tough, ostensibly for political reasons.
Ibobi’s immediate reaction was to demand additional Central forces. It is time he outgrew his obsession with troops. He will have enough of what he needs if only he decides to free some armed battalions that are said to be permanently assigned to look after the security and protection of VIPs. In any case, the induction of more forces is not going to eradicate extortion. The menace has taken so deep a root that it has, in fact, become a way of life in both Manipur and Nagaland. When the BJP was in power at the Centre, it even suggested monetary grants to militant outfits if they stopped harassing the public, a suggestion Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio nearly lapped up. But that would have encouraged unemployed youth to form militant outfits just to claim the lucre and there would have been no end to it. The question of stopping extortion does not arise at all for as long as the insurgency lasts.
It is difficult to understand why the Centre is chary about initiating talks with Meitei outfits. No attempts have ever been made so far. When Radhabinod Koijam was chief minister he declared a unilateral ceasefire with militants for a month on an experimental basis, but the Centre frowned upon it.
Mercifully, the 14-day standoff between NSCN(IM) cadres and Assam Rifles personnel at Shiroy village in Manipur’s Ukhrul district — about which mention was made in these columns last week — ended on an understanding note. The cadres moved out of their camp and the Assam Rifles reportedly provided safe passage. They are said to have gone to an “approved camp” elsewhere, but no mention was made whether it was in Manipur or Nagaland. If NSCN(IM) cadres are allowed to set up designated camps in Manipur, it will have serious consequences and the Centre cannot be unaware of this.
The Dimapur-based Nagaland Post reported last week that security forces busted a makeshift NSCN(IM) camp at Bade village, a few kilometres from Hebron. Its inmates said the camp had been set up to provide security to their leaders. If even in Nagaland such an unauthorised camp is not permitted, then security forces in Manipur cannot be faulted for forcing an evacuation of the Shiroy camp.
Somewhere in Manipur there is a well-established camp run by the state’s oldest and dominant Meitei outfit, the United National Liberation Front. Neither security forces nor the state police are known to have ruffled its feathers. This because in Manipur there is no commitment to end insurgency for the simple reason that it is the hen that lays the golden eggs.
The Centre’s latest policy is to go hammer and tongs at those militant outfits that refuse to sign a ceasefire. This includes almost all Manipur outfits and the Ulfa, many others in Assam and one or two groups in Tripura. How they will go about it is not clear, but Assam has been unable to punish even the small band of Black Widow, a splinter group of the North Cachar Hills-based Dima Halam Daogah, under the leadership of Jewel Garlosa, and which has been running wild since 2007 when its cadres killed the eldest son of Assam Congress legislator GC Langthasa during an election campaign in Karbi Anglong.
Their activities have affected work on the conversion of the Lumding-Silchar rail track to broad gauge. Some months ago, it offered to declare a unilateral ceasfire but for some reason Dispur ignored it. What, then, is holding the Tarun Gogoi government back from going all out against it? By virtue of the Ulfa being in a talking mood, no harsh action may be taken against it, but the Centre must set a deadline for the outfit’s leaders to come for direct talks. If their reluctance has something to do with their relations with some external agencies inimical to India, and if they continue to be a threat to peace, they deserve no sympathy. Hard decisions are needed — in both Assam and Manipur. LAST week, when Union home minister P Chidambaram visited Imphal to review the law and order situation and was briefed by officials, he told chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh no violence would be tolerated “at any cost” and the problem of extortion — responsible for retarding the development process — “must stop immediately”. He spent just three hours and then flew to Dimapur where he told the Nagaland government to strictly enforce the ceasefire ground rules.
If this constituted the sum total of Chidambaram’s visit, he could have saved all those valuable flying hours and done as much just sitting in Delhi. It is not as if Manipur and Nagaland are sleeping over things, it is just that the two states are unable to do anything better. Unfortunately, both do not have that powerful impulse to act tough, ostensibly for political reasons.
Ibobi’s immediate reaction was to demand additional Central forces. It is time he outgrew his obsession with troops. He will have enough of what he needs if only he decides to free some armed battalions that are said to be permanently assigned to look after the security and protection of VIPs. In any case, the induction of more forces is not going to eradicate extortion. The menace has taken so deep a root that it has, in fact, become a way of life in both Manipur and Nagaland. When the BJP was in power at the Centre, it even suggested monetary grants to militant outfits if they stopped harassing the public, a suggestion Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio nearly lapped up. But that would have encouraged unemployed youth to form militant outfits just to claim the lucre and there would have been no end to it. The question of stopping extortion does not arise at all for as long as the insurgency lasts.
It is difficult to understand why the Centre is chary about initiating talks with Meitei outfits. No attempts have ever been made so far. When Radhabinod Koijam was chief minister he declared a unilateral ceasefire with militants for a month on an experimental basis, but the Centre frowned upon it.
Mercifully, the 14-day standoff between NSCN(IM) cadres and Assam Rifles personnel at Shiroy village in Manipur’s Ukhrul district — about which mention was made in these columns last week — ended on an understanding note. The cadres moved out of their camp and the Assam Rifles reportedly provided safe passage. They are said to have gone to an “approved camp” elsewhere, but no mention was made whether it was in Manipur or Nagaland. If NSCN(IM) cadres are allowed to set up designated camps in Manipur, it will have serious consequences and the Centre cannot be unaware of this.
The Dimapur-based Nagaland Post reported last week that security forces busted a makeshift NSCN(IM) camp at Bade village, a few kilometres from Hebron. Its inmates said the camp had been set up to provide security to their leaders. If even in Nagaland such an unauthorised camp is not permitted, then security forces in Manipur cannot be faulted for forcing an evacuation of the Shiroy camp.
Somewhere in Manipur there is a well-established camp run by the state’s oldest and dominant Meitei outfit, the United National Liberation Front. Neither security forces nor the state police are known to have ruffled its feathers. This because in Manipur there is no commitment to end insurgency for the simple reason that it is the hen that lays the golden eggs.
The Centre’s latest policy is to go hammer and tongs at those militant outfits that refuse to sign a ceasefire. This includes almost all Manipur outfits and the Ulfa, many others in Assam and one or two groups in Tripura. How they will go about it is not clear, but Assam has been unable to punish even the small band of Black Widow, a splinter group of the North Cachar Hills-based Dima Halam Daogah, under the leadership of Jewel Garlosa, and which has been running wild since 2007 when its cadres killed the eldest son of Assam Congress legislator GC Langthasa during an election campaign in Karbi Anglong.
Their activities have affected work on the conversion of the Lumding-Silchar rail track to broad gauge. Some months ago, it offered to declare a unilateral ceasfire but for some reason Dispur ignored it. What, then, is holding the Tarun Gogoi government back from going all out against it? By virtue of the Ulfa being in a talking mood, no harsh action may be taken against it, but the Centre must set a deadline for the outfit’s leaders to come for direct talks. If their reluctance has something to do with their relations with some external agencies inimical to India, and if they continue to be a threat to peace, they deserve no sympathy. Hard decisions are needed — in both Assam and Manipur.
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