‘Alternative arrangement should be outside the existing system’
Dimapur, April 16 (MExN): With a demand to overhaul the existing system, the United Naga Council (UNC), in a memorandum to the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, has once again called for an alternative arrangement outside the Government of Manipur (GoM).
“The issue is not about development deficit or bringing improvement in the existing system. Our considered view is that development will not and cannot happen in the tribal areas unless an alternative arrangement outside the existing system of the GoM is put in place,” stated the UNC, drawing from the five rounds of tripartite talks between the UNC, the Government of India (GoI) and the GoM that have been “limited to the technicality of centre and state relationship/jurisdiction and on development initiatives of the GoM for the tribals areas of the State of Manipur”.
The UNC has reiterated that the “core issue” of the demand for alternative arrangement for the Nagas in Manipur outside the Government of Manipur pending settlement of the Indo-Naga issue is not being addressed in the dialogue process. The tripartite talks, according to the UNC, have been subjected to the “convenience of the GoM”.
Pranab Mukherjee is currently on a prolonged visit to the North Eastern states. Soliciting his “personal initiative” for the Union government’s intervention “with an alternative arrangement for the Nagas in Manipur at the earliest”, the UNC has also drawn Mukherjee’s attention to the “grave potential” for communal confrontations and violence if the present scenario is allowed to continue.
Highlighting that the Prime Minister of India had noted the “sharp social divide on communal lines” in 2010, the UNC’s memorandum insists that it is imperative for the GoI to intervene with an alternative arrangement if it is “serious and sincere” in ensuring that “the Nagas and tribals in Manipur should live with respect for their dignity, their rights to their land, traditional institutions, culture and way of life and not as second class citizens.”
The UNC has also expressed concern that after more than 15 years of cease-fire and negotiations, amidst assurance of an early solution, an “honourable settlement” of the Indo-Naga talks has not taken place till date, and called for an “expeditious settlement” of the same.
The Nagas in Manipur, under the aegis of the UNC, had submitted a memorandum on the demand for an alternative arrangement to the GoI through the Union Home Minister on the 14th of September, 2010 at Delhi. Acting on the said memorandum, the Home Minister had initiated dialogues through tripartite talks between the GoI, the GoM and the UNC. Even after five rounds, no results have come of these till date.
