The arrest of a supposed Meitei militant in Manipur has set off the same cycle of violence and disturbances that has barely abated since the troubles started 25 months ago. The leader of the Meitei organisation Arambai Tenggol, Asem Kanan Singh, was picked up by security personnel on June 7 from Imphal West district, apparently while he was about to board a flight. He was formally arrested the next day. Singh, a dismissed head constable, has been accused of involvement in several attacks on security personnel and an abduction. Singh’s arrest sparked off widespread violence. NH 2 was blocked, a bus was set on fire, protestors attacked police stations, and there was apparently an attempt at self-immolation. Arambai Tenggol threw a challenge to the administration by announcing a 10-day shutdown. The police had to fire blanks and tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. Curfew and Internet shutdowns were imposed in five districts in the valley. Manipur has been a tinderbox for over two years. It is sincerely to be hoped that the situation does not spiral out of control. There can be little doubt that the security forces must act strongly to punish those responsible for fomenting violence or participating in it. What is less clear is how those primarily responsible for stoking the fires and sitting back while Manipur was ablaze will be brought to book. Every attempt must be made to see tha the culpuable do not get away scot-free.
The imposition of the President's Rule some months ago, the eleventh time such a situation was thrust on Manipur, presented an opportunity to reverse much of the excesses of the previous government and set the State on a course to normalcy. Events keep reiterating that those in charge of Manipur have yet to get their act together. If only the Government paid Manipur even half the kind of attention that it is paying on its crusade against the Maoists and the Naxalites, and focussed on enabling unity, the task would appear less uphill. The years that Biren Singh was on the saddle have cast a longer shadow than is acknowledged in New Delhi. It gives grist to criticism that the Prime Minister manages to find time to visit even the most obscure foreign destination but, alas, not Manipur, never Manipur. We wonder why that is so. Very recently the Prime Minister held forth on how India could not develop without the North East, long perceived as a victim of neglect, being developed. With Manipur in the shape it is in, it worth wondering what kind of development is in store if the various dramatis personae involved in the mess in Manipur are not able to sort things out in good time.
