Economic blockade free State. Chief Minister N Biren must have said this with a degree of confidence while addressing the Digi-Dhan Mela at City Convention Centre on April 2. It was a Digi-Dhan Mela and while the Chief Minister did talk about other things which were directly related to the Digi-Dhan mela such as opening banks in the hill and rural areas to ensure smooth money transaction as well as the need to move towards a cashless economy, The Sangai Express thought it more appropriate to focus on the ‘blockade free’ State as Manipur has just emerged from the 139 days long economic blockade imposed by the United Naga Council. Again The Sangai Express is under the impression that the new Chief Minister must have said this with a degree of confidence having got on board the Naga People’s Front in forming the Government. That the new BJP led Government seems to have received the confidence of the Naga people can well be gauged from the preparations being arranged at Ukhrul by the Tangkhul Naga Long to roll out the carpet when the Chief Minister visits the district headquarters on April 11. A sharp departure from the time when former Chief Minister O Ibobi was greeted so hostilely when he had gone there to inaugurate some power projects and the Ukhrul district hospital some time in 2016.
Just a brief rewind to the recent past to remind all of the deep divide between the Nagas and the State Government, but now with the NPF on board the BJP led coalition Government, this may just be the first step to bridging the gap and it must have been under this knowledge that Chief Minister N Biren had the confidence to say that Manipur will now be a blockade free State. All good and fine, but yet at the same time, it is also important for the people living along NH-2 or the Imphal-Dimapur route to come to the realisation that in as much as the rest of the people suffer during any blockade, it is them who have to bear the brunt. Remember NH-2 has been there for decades, dating back to WWII and the natural question that arises is whether the people living along this route, that is the people of Senapati, Kangpokpi, Mao, Maram and the other smaller towns situated along this highway have been able to tap the immense opportunity that comes with having a National Highway pass through their court yard. Time for the people living along the highway to ask whether they have been able to reap the advantages that come from living near the lifeline of the State.
Source: The Sangai Express
