Manipuri Meltdown

The Indian state of Manipur has an area of 8,620 square miles and a population of 2.2 million. It is a deeply fractured land with multiple insurgencies, a breakdown of governance, pervasive drug addiction and perhaps the highest per capita incidence of HIV/AIDS in India. New Delhi has mishandled the administration of parts of the remote North East and there can be no excuse for such ineptness.

Manipur adopted Hinduism and the Bengali script, calendar and literary traditions in the 17th century. The game of Polo and the classical Ras Lila dance, popularized by Tagore, originated there. Manipur and Burma took turns in raiding each other. The martial kingdom came under British tutelage in 1891, enacted its own constitution in 1947 and acceded to the Indian union in 1949. New Delhi recognized Manipur as a federal state only in 1972 and belatedly awarded the Meitei language constitutional status in 1992 due to continued agitation.

The traditionally Hindu Meitei once formed a 2/3rd majority of the ex-princely state. A complete census was not held in 2001 but the available numbers indicate a decline in the Hindu percentage to 46%. Christians are 34% while Muslims are 9%. The 30 tribes that constitute the Manipuri population present a bewildering political equation. While the Meitei account for 50% of the state's population, they occupy just 10% of the state's area. This is the Imphal valley. The Nagas who dominate the surrounding hills want their districts to be carved out of Manipur and merged with neighboring Nagaland. The Kuki tribals, who also live in the hills, oppose any such merger urging instead that a separate state be created within the Indian Union for the Kuki tribe. The Nagas and Kukis had traditionally fought over the lucrative trade in narcotics and contraband with neighboring Burma. The Meitei, who demand outright independence, fail to understand that their political future as a proud collective group is within the Indian Union. Any separation would lead to the loss of most of Manipur to a greater Nagaland.

The People's Liberation Army, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, the Kuki National Front, the Hmar People's Convention and the Islamic National Front are five of the 40 odd rebel groups present in Manipur. China, Pakistan and Bangladesh nurtured these groups at different times. The state presents a picture of complete chaos. The writ of the central government did not run outside Imphal in the late 1990s. Manorama Devi, a member of the People's Liberation Army, died in police custody in July, 2004. Forensic evidence indicated that she had been raped and tortured by the Assam Rifles. The incident sparked state wide agitation and a serious deterioration in the security situation. For instance, 174 people were killed in Manipur between January 1 and October 9, 2005 alone. Deaths in police custody, staged encounter killings and acts of terrorism are not uncommon.

It is clear that the solution forward would be to defeat the multiple insurgencies, restore good governance and reinforce a multi-ethnic Manipur devoid of the senseless tribalism that has bedeviled it since independence. Once described as the Switzerland of India, Manipur has tremendous potential for tourism. When linked to the proposed ports of Burma, it would be at the cross roads of commerce. The scenic Manipur river in fact is a mere tributary of the Burmese Irrawaddy. New Delhi needs to seize the opportunity and correct the situation at the earliest.