Under siege

RECENTLY, I was in Mao, the first town across the Manipurborder - and a picturesque hill village south of Kohima inNagaland. At the highway hotel we were told that the last bushad just left, and now there was no way of getting to Imphaltill the day after.

Imphal Must be the only capital city in the Country havingpower cuts for 12-18 hours a day, and a mismanaged watersupply System. Men bending under the weight of twomakeshift buckets on a pole and walking down to sell water inthe main market are a common sight.

With the city virtually under siege (truck operatorsrefused to ply unless the underground group that controlledthe highway, withdrew their 'enhanced' tax collection rates.Earlier, they were paying a levy of Rs 5,000 per truck, but then,the Nationalist Social Council of Nagaland or NSCN had raisedthe ante to between Rs 20,000-50,000 per truck), the price ofessential commodities had skyrocketed. Petrol retailed forRs 50 a litre, salt for Rs 7 per kg and many items of dailyconsumption were just not available.

The only thing that Imphal seemed to have in profusionwas govern mental organisations and the Army, both unable todeal with the root causes of tension, which includes cold-blooded murder of civilians by the Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) and extortions and onslaughts by undergroundactivists. The weeding out of 'tribal looking, northeastern'faces for interrogation and punishment by the CRPF and niggardly compensation by the government to the bereaved hadvicious repercussions all over the state.

The long and bloody Koki-Naga conflict in the state is ahopeless imbroglio. The two tribes are not traditional enemies, but now (as one Meitei said) if one is around, the otherchooses to stay away - no Matter whether they studiedtogether, or were friends once. Both are Christians and thattoo, Baptists. But a leading Kuki Baptist priest recounted ashocking incident: there was a big peace rally and a large meeting of all the church leaders where everybody was represented- Kukis, Nagas, even underground activists - and a wonderful 'peace agreement' was signed. Thesame night, two Naga villages andThe impasse in two Kuki villages were torched.Manipur, "Now, all that is left for us to do is topray and fast for peace," said thewhich priest.

With the aggressive stand of Nagarepresents the nationalism demanding a 'Greaterfestering Nagaland' acquiring support from within and outside, many smaller unrest in the 'neutral' tribes - Moyangs, Anals and Lamkangs - now call them entire selves Nagas, obviously to identify themselves with the power group, Northeast and to rid themselves of the fear of needs a losing their lands. But the Kukis are likely to loose out on this, as they try caring to move down to the plains and the foothills to an already well-settledadministrative and dense population.

The Kukis and Nagas are not onlypolicy, not fighting for controlling the hills, butbullets and also a key town on the India- Myanmar border - Moreh. Moreh raids is the region's melting pot of capitalism, with rich pickings from international trade, both legal and illegal.The Isak Swu faction of the NSCN is particularly keen on controlling this business centre, which is also suspected to be aninternational drug trade route which is thought to finance theNortheast's fends.

Piecing together local stories, what emerges is that a massive expansion of state-sponsored higher education in thernid-'70s had created a large chunk of educated persons whohad no opportunities to channelise their efficiency- Despitebeing a literate people, Manipuris are very 'class' consciousabout small employments. At the same time, their's is a conservative society; faced with this dilemma, the restive youthstook to the underground movement.

Manipur is sitting on yet another time bomb - thedeadly drug vortex and the AIDS virus. Interestingly, the NSCN isagainst drug and alcohol abuse and immoral social conduct.Recently, a Meitei girl who had acted in a blue film was shot inher thigh, and then excommunicated (she got away lightlybecause, according to the NSCN she "confessed and was repentant"). However, the bullet-riddled bodies of the men whomade the film were found later. In such a situation, Armyaction would only drive the final nail in the coffin of nationalintegration in Manipur. More money would fatten a corruptupper crust. What is needed is an environment in which thepeople avail of the fruits of employment and industry, and sortthings out for themselves.