Manipur Conflict Through the Lens of Racism

If a Meitei and a Kuki-Zo could, for one moment, sit together and retrospect the 5 months old conflict in Manipur, one most obvious observation would be the glaring apathy and lack of concern of the Indian government. No place in India has ever burnt this long, no state witnessed such devastating violence, and no territory in India has been totally segregated on ethnic lines since its independence. Would the violence have continued if it was, say in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan or Haryana? The violence would perhaps not have continued even for 10 days and all the powers that be, including the press, would have made sure that a semblance of normalcy is restored. But why not in Manipur!  Is it because it’s too far from the ‘Centre’, or is it because the situation is too complex (as if other Indian states are any better), or is it plainly because the people there are racially different from most Indians, and they are not ‘Indian’ enough to matter?

Something in the  ‘Indian’ psyche seem to have a separate space for Northeasterners, and the careless whispers of ‘Chinki’ that you hear as you pass the market place actually seem to have a deep seated racial slur than we realize. History testifies to that. Remember the recent killings at Oting in Nagaland? Has a group of people ever been fired anywhere in India on mere suspicions? While fake encounters are common, how could a group of labourers be fired upon by the best trained soldiers in the country on mere suspicions? Would they have done that, say against extremist in Bihar without first authenticating it? What gives them the psychological ‘green signal’ to go-ahead without second thought? Is it because of a deeply ingrained feeling that they actually are indeed different and there would perhaps be lesser retribution? Moreover, if their Intelligence network has failed them even within India, who can believe that, they actually went inside Myanmar to kill insurgent groups operating there?

Vibhuti N. Rai (IPS) famously said “No Riot can last for more than 24 hours unless the state wants it to continue”. While the complicity of the state government under Biren Singh is obvious, one can even go further to infer that a State cannot burn for five months unless the Central government wants it! What else can explain the utter helplessness of a ‘Rising Super Power’ in containing a conflict within its territory, and what  more can explain denying the Indian Army the AFSPA in the Imphal area where it needs the most! The Indian Army remains the last vestige of hope for the people except that their hands have been tied, and a conflict that they could have contained within 2 Weeks has now stretched to 5 Months.

The Prime Minister of India has had time to campaign for elections in several states not to forget his visit to Orissa when a train derailed. While Manipur burnt, he even hosted the G20 Summit and wowed the dignitaries of the ‘Wonder that is India’. Recently, the Prime Minister also showed much concern for the lost souls in Israel. One only wishes that he pays some attention to his own country.

The question now remains as to what the India Government wants to achieve in Manipur. Is it to let the Mongolian races fight among themselves and thereby weaken them so as to bring in the multinational ‘Aryan Corporation Ltd.’ invaders without much hurdle? Is it to lure the Meitei insurgents to come out of their hiding in Myanmar to fight for their Meitei people so that they can be finally kept in designated camps like Naga groups? Has the Meiteis bitten the bait that they would be the new masters of Northeastern hemisphere if they come down from their Mongolian heights as the last vestige to hold out in Myanmar? Is it to restructure the power dynamics in the Indo-Myanmar frontier which has been dominated by the Naga groups? One might never know what it actually is, and poor Kuki-Zo tribals had to pay a heavy price for India’s adventures. Even many innocent Meiteies would now be struggling to make their ends meet in Imphal, especially shop keepers in and around Kuki colonies. Tourism in the state has also come to a stand still and might not open up anytime soon now.  The Prime Minister hasn’t visited Manipur and it doesn’t bode well for a leader, and would also show that something serious is cooking in the eastern side of India. Since elections are also coming up in Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Telengana which has substantial tribal populations, the tribals there might not take kindly to the naked parading of their Adivasi sisters in Manipur. Lastly, if this ‘Manipur experiment’ goes haywire and drag on longer, India’s natural defence in the Eastern side will lay completely exposed and the future generation might pay a price for it.