AA Edit | Peace in Manipur Still Fragile

The fragile nature of peace that prevails in the multi-ethnic Manipuri society has come to be demonstrated once again with the untoward incidents in the Naga-majority Ukhrul district in the last few days. The latest is the decision of the authorities to evacuate and transfer 51 students from the Kuki tribal community from the Jawahar Navodya Vidyalaya there to the Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi district following clashes between the two communities.

The apparent cause of violence is traced to a drunken brawl between two groups on February 7. If such incidents can lead to violence, which has already resulted in razing or burning down about 30 residential places, then every village in India could face it every single day, but that is not the case. There must be deeper, unresolved issues that are waiting for just solutions.

Most Indian villages are made of people with vastly different identities but they have chosen to trust humanity and found common ground to work on and move forward. They also trust the rule of law and have created mechanisms to enforce it. A fair-minded administration which commands the confidence of the people of all groups can bring a violent situation under control in a few hours.

Manipur, unfortunately, has deviated from this path for the last three years when the N. Biren Singh administration openly sided with the majority Meitei community as they took on the Kuki tribal community. It has practically destroyed people’s trust in the administration. His replacement, Yumnam Khemchand Singh, however, has a reputation of being fair-minded and has demonstrated the will to walk the extra mile to bring peace to a strife-torn state.

The CM who assumed power only on February 4 has a tough task to perform, should he want to put his state back on the rails of peace and progress. The use of the law and its tools to suppress violence and punish those who are behind it is one; an honest attempt to understand the root cause of tension that has prevailed there and efforts to solve them is the next. Uneasy peace is no recipe for progress, but justice and fairness are.