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STATES: MANIPUR
Peace Under Fire
Delhi is in a Catch-22 as all sides harden their stance
on
the cease-fire
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THINKING AGAIN: Vajpayee at a meeting with an all-party delegation
from Manipur
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Mid-June when Imphal
reacted violently to a cease-fire without territorial limits between the
Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), Union
Home Minister L.K. Advani debunked the possibility of a review. "Government
decisions are taken after much deliberation. They are not meant to be
reviewed."
But three weeks later the Central Government
capitulated to Manipur's pressure. While the Meiteis took to the streets
and Imphal went under curfew, nearly 40 of the 60 state legislators camped
in Delhi and forced two rounds of all-party meetings and the visit of
a Central team to Imphal. After the second round, the Government swallowed
its pride. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced a review of the
pact with the NSCN. Union Minister of State for Home I.D. Swami admitted
that the Centre had failed to gauge the Meitei mood: "Wide-ranging
consultations before the cease-fire would have helped."
Since 1995 three prime ministers-P.V. Narasimha
Rao, H.D. Deve Gowda and Vajpayee-had met with NSCN leaders abroad. In
1997, within a week of the cease-fire pact the government had to despatch
its interlocutor to explain to the NSCN how "cease-fire extension
to Manipur and Assam would take a little while more." A year later
the second interlocutor, Swaraj Kaushal, made a similar promise. The Centre
dragged its feet yet again. Kaushal resigned. Kargil followed. By May
2001, the NSCN was fed up with the dilatory tactics and threatened to
retreat to the jungles.
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PEACE MARCH: Students march in support of the Naga cease-fire in
Delhi
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This time round the security agencies strongly
disapproved of the review move. It did not want to fritter away the gains
of the past four years. This view restrained the Government from deciding
unilaterally on the June 14 pact with the NSCN. It decided to review terms
of the cease-fire only after consulting the NSCN. "This clause has
helped us keep our door open to the insurgent group," says a Union
minister.
The other hope for continuing a dialogue with
the Naga group is the Indian travel document that NSCN leader Thunigaleng
Muivah has acquired. "Thai authorities intended to deport him to
Karachi. Muivah didn't want to return to Pakistan as he was interested
in talking to us. This is a good sign," says an official. The insurgent
group did not react to Delhi's decision to review the cease-fire. It even
indicated its willingness to meet the Government's interlocutor in Holland
in the next two weeks. However, the Naga Hoho, an umbrella body of Naga
tribes, has warned that if Delhi withdraws the cease-fire, the outcome
will be "a hundred times worse than the Manipur agitation".
The NSCN's silence has been disquieting for
the Manipur MLAs still camping in Delhi. "We want to see the outcome
of the fresh dialogue. We will wait till July 31," says Assembly
Speaker Dhananjay Singh. The Meitei leaders are not merely waiting for
new cease-fire parameters. They fear a Naga backlash. "I have asked
the Union Home Ministry to see that the national highway to Manipur is
not blocked by the Nagas," says former chief minister R.B. Koijam.
For the moment the Nagas are not blocking roads.
They have moved to Delhi to mount a counter-offensive. Nagaland Chief
Minister S.C. Jamir sent his ministers to the Centre to back the cease-fire
pact. He invoked a 1960 agreement that promised inclusion of Naga areas
in the state. The Naga offensive could move the ethnicity war play of
the Northeast too close to Delhi for comfort.
—Lakshmi Iyer
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METRO TODAY
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