The BJP MP, a former editor of Panchajanya, the RSS mouthpiece, raised the issue of the economic blockade by Naga organisations on National Highways 39 and 53 and the resultant rise in prices in Manipur valley.
The issue has been raised at the forum earlier, too, but Vijay’s line of thought seemed particularly divisive, a fact that only adds to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s worries. Only last week, at a conference of directors-general of police, Singh had expressed concern over the increasing identity-based assertiveness in the region with particular emphasis on the Naga-Meitei relationship.
The tribals in the hills of Manipur are mostly Christians while the predominant Meitei population in the valley is Hindu. The relationship may have been facing challenges but it is mostly on the political issue of land and is rarely seen in the light of religious divide.
“The United Council of Nagaland (he perhaps meant the United Naga Council) has the support of NSCN (Isak-Muivah) and their slogan is the sectarian ‘Nagaland for Christ’. Due to this our Vaishnav brothers in Manipur are living in the shadow of fear,” Vijay said.
A Manipur minister from the Meitei community said the Nagas used to be alienated primarily because of the practice of untouchability during the days of monarchy. Neither in Nagaland nor in the Naga-dominated hills of Manipur were they differentiated on the basis of religion. New Delhi, Sep 1 : The BJP today gave a sectarian twist to the Naga-Meitei equation with Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijay pitting “Nagaland for Christ” against “our Vaishnavite brothers” in Manipur.
The BJP MP, a former editor of Panchajanya, the RSS mouthpiece, raised the issue of the economic blockade by Naga organisations on National Highways 39 and 53 and the resultant rise in prices in Manipur valley.
The issue has been raised at the forum earlier, too, but Vijay’s line of thought seemed particularly divisive, a fact that only adds to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s worries. Only last week, at a conference of directors-general of police, Singh had expressed concern over the increasing identity-based assertiveness in the region with particular emphasis on the Naga-Meitei relationship.
The tribals in the hills of Manipur are mostly Christians while the predominant Meitei population in the valley is Hindu. The relationship may have been facing challenges but it is mostly on the political issue of land and is rarely seen in the light of religious divide.
“The United Council of Nagaland (he perhaps meant the United Naga Council) has the support of NSCN (Isak-Muivah) and their slogan is the sectarian ‘Nagaland for Christ’. Due to this our Vaishnav brothers in Manipur are living in the shadow of fear,” Vijay said.
A Manipur minister from the Meitei community said the Nagas used to be alienated primarily because of the practice of untouchability during the days of monarchy. Neither in Nagaland nor in the Naga-dominated hills of Manipur were they differentiated on the basis of religion.
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