This is a powerful statement and perhaps the first time that the ongoing peace talk between the NSCN (IM) and the Government has been brought in. Officially it was Interlocutor to the peace talk, RN Ravi who said that the ongoing economic blockade imposed by the UNC could impact on the Naga peace talks, but more than likely that he would not have delivered such a powerful statement without the knowledge of the Prime Minister and the other BJP leaders. In one statement, RN Ravi has also delivered the message that the UNC is a frontal organisation of the NSCN (IM), a stand which the Government of Manipur has for long been maintaining. It may just be a verbal threat but the hidden connotation behind such a statement is not lost on anyone. That RN Ravi came out with the statement just when the Congress Legislature Party of Manipur has written to the Centre to ban the UNC may be just a co-incidence but the significance of the new developments cannot be simply missed. To the move of the CLP or the State Government, the UNC has struck a tough stand and made it clear that they are more than ready to the meet challenges of the State Government. The natural question that follows is, what is the reply of the UNC to the statement of RN Ravi ? Or will it be a case of the UNC waiting for the right moment to strike back ?
With election less than a month away, the stakes obviously are high for the two principal political parties, the BJP and the Congress. While the Congress Government in Manipur and the BJP led Government at New Delhi have been trading charges and counter charges with nothing much seen being done at the ground level, this is perhaps the first time that New Delhi may be said to have done something concrete. To the UNC and all other Naga civil society organisations, the ongoing political dialogue between the NSCN (IM) and the Government of India will be the most important and if New Delhi, correction, BJP, thinks that the ongoing economic blockade can impact on the peace talk, then it can give a new dimension to the highway stir as well as the election in Manipur. This is how the dice may roll and the BJP seems to have delivered a very important election related statement via the Interlocutor. True but unfortunate it is that instead of talking about the development of the place and see where Manipur will stand five years down the line, the two principal political parties seem engrossed on scoring political points via the ongoing economic blockade. The people should not lose sight of this perspective too when they go to vote.
Source: The Sangai Express
