Finally the United Naga Council (UNC) has lifted the 139 days old economic blockade. This is a welcome development and in as much as credit may be given to the BJP led coalition Government and the UNC for coming to a meeting point, it cannot be helped but ask what are the meeting points that have been reached that enabled the UNC to lift the economic blockade ? More importantly, what are the reasons it has given the Naga people of Manipur for lifting the economic blockade, without addressing the core issue of the district formation ? Yes, the decision of the former Congress Government to create the seven districts, without referring to the four MoUs signed between successive State Governments and different Naga organisation, may have figured in the tripartite talk held at Senapati district headquarters on March 19, but what exactly were the points that were agreed upon to get the blockade lifted ? True, it has been spelt out that the negotiation or dialogue between the State Government and the UNC will continue, but what were the other points that were discussed and which could have been seen as the key that broke the stalemate ? These are just questions but in the face of no concrete answers, there is the possibility of different sets of people giving different interpretations and this cannot be good for the State at any cost. This is why, the new BJP led coalition Government need to publicly state what were the points that were agreed upon.
In the event of the BJP led coalition Government keeping mum and taking comfort in the presumption that getting the economic blockade lifted itself would not raise any question, then there is every possibility of the Congress coming out with a series of allegations to justify their earlier stand that the blockade was imposed with an understanding with the BJP. Certainly, Chief Minister N Biren and his council of Ministers would not want the people to come under this impression and hence the need to clearly state the points that were agreed upon. This is something which the Nagas of Manipur too will fall in line with. Other than this pressing need, it is also imperative to keep in mind that this is perhaps the first yield of taking the Naga People’s Front on board the State Government. The need to have all on board the State Government has already been underlined in an earlier commentary in this column and the decision to lift the blockade may be seen along this line. In getting the blockade lifted, the BJP led coalition Government may be seen to have started off on the right note, yet at the same time it is also important for the saffron party to understand that laying the cards on the table this time would bring more positive results in the long run.
Source: The Sangai Express
