9/15/2020 732 Raile Rocky Ziipao, Negotiating disputes in Negotiating disputes in Manipur

R A I L E R O C K Y Z I I PA O

THIS essay attempts to unravel the phenomena of blocking roads and highways in the state of Manipur in Northeast , and analyses the conflicts arising out of territorial disputes. The paper argues that for the peaceful coexistence of multi-ethnic communities and their overall development, the state should address the historical injustices meted to its minority communities, i.e. the tribals in Manipur. The question of justice and injustice has become the central point of contention and conflict among the varied communities in the state.

For long, there have been multiple approaches to address the persistent issues facing the state, and yet social conflict continues to be a hallmark of the development imbroglio. Every ethnic community, be it the dominant or a minority in the state, asserts its political rights that find expression in varied forms. Often, the most common strategy used by these communities is to block traffic on the highways to draw the attention of the state, and also for political negotiation. Highways in Manipur have become the focus of blockades and conflicts, turning them into ‘political highways’. However, before dwelling on the way forward, it is imperative to locate the context, and why different ethnic communities have resorted to such an extreme form of protest.

Manipur, an erstwhile independent kingdom, became a princely state in 1891 after its conquest by the British. In 1947, after the British left the Indian subcontinent, the Manipur Constitution Act established a democratic form of government that marked an end to the monarchical form of governance. In 1949, the Maharaja of Manipur signed a Merger Agreement with the Union of India, and Manipur ceded to the Union of India. In 1956, Manipur was given the status of a and became a full-fledged state in 1972.

Geographically, Manipur is a small state of 22,456 square kilometres and divided into 16 administrative districts. Demographically, the state has a population of 2.8 million (Census of India, 2011). Ethnically, the population can be broadly divided into tribal and non-tribal. Tribal people in the state comprise of the Naga and Zo (Kuki-Mizo-Zomi). The Meitei and Meitei Pangal (Muslim) are the non-tribals. Ecologically, the state is divided into hills and valleys, with the tribals predominantly in the hills, while the Meitei and Meitei Pangal dwell in the valley.

It is interesting to note that the hills are spread over 20316 square kilometres, and the valley areas cover only 2040 square kilometres. However, in terms of population, 34 per cent reside in the hills and the rest in the valleys. The hill-valley divide stems from pre-colonial times and continues to be the marker of conflict between tribes and non-tribes in the state. The socio-politico-economic differences in terms of the hills and valleys, largely continue to remain unaddressed. This is one of

https://www.india-seminar.com/semframe.html 1/6 9/15/2020 732 Raile Rocky Ziipao, Negotiating disputes in Manipur the many factors that the ethnic minorities such as Naga and Zo, assert in their quest for ethno-spatial territory and political identity.

The conglomeration of various ethnic groups, spread across sixteen districts, is a peculiarity of the state of Manipur. Each ethnic community has its own dynamics of power in relation to the others, and in relation to the Meiteis, who are the key holders of power in Manipur. The state is characterized by layers of contradictions creating space for various ethnic groups to assert their socio-politico-economic aspirations. This has a bearing on the peaceful coexistence of multi- ethnic communities and conflicts among them.

Broadly, one can map out four distinct political articulations in Manipur by its four major ethnic communities – Naga, Meitei, Kuki and Paite. However, the central point of assertion and contestation revolves around land, ethnic territoriality and political autonomy. The movements are spearheaded by their respective insurgent groups in the state. The Meitei insurgent groups demand a restoration of Manipur’s sovereign kingdom that was ceded to the Union of India through the merger agreement in 1949. The Kukis, under the nomenclature of Kuki National Organization (KNO), claim a separate Kuki state. The Paites under the United People’s Front (UPF) have asserted for the creation of an autonomous hill state. The Naga fight for the unification of all Naga inhabited areas.

Disparately, the Government of Manipur has passed several resolutions to uphold the territorial integrity of Manipur state. Against this backdrop of varied political articulations the fundamental question remains: is there a point of convergence wherein these political demands can be amicably resolved? Besides political demands, ethnic contestation and conflicts, many persistent issues plague the state: problems of law and order, political instability, layers of corruption, underdeveloped hill areas, security, insurgency, fake encounters, political manipulation of ethnicity, deep hostility between hill and valley people – the hill-valley divide – bandhs, protests, highway blockades, among others.

What distinguishes Manipur from other Northeastern states is the culture and frequency of road and highway blockades. However, the fundamental questions remain: why do people in the state resort to road blocks and economic blockades? How has this strategy gained prominence in negotiating with the state? Does the state only understand the language of violence and extreme forms of protest? In contemporary Manipur, highways are often in the limelight and in the news for reasons other than transportation. Various ethnic communities, student organizations, civil society, pressure groups, insurgent groups, among others, have used the highways as a metaphor and means to negotiate and draw the attention of the state to multiple issues affecting them. They do so by calling for an economic blockade or a bandh, which invariably translates into blocking the highways.

Almost every ethnic community in the state has resorted to the strategy of highway blockades to voice their demands and political aspirations. https://www.india-seminar.com/semframe.html 2/6 9/15/2020 732 Raile Rocky Ziipao, Negotiating disputes in Manipur The duration of road and highway blockades has ranged from one day to many months. And, the issues for calling a blockade range from a road accident, the arrest of an insurgent to political demands. What complicates the culture of blockades is the existence of counter-road blockades. For example, when Naga based civil society called for an economic blockade of National Highway No. 2 to draw attention to settling a political score, the Kuki or Meitei civil societies also called a counter-blockade to voice their concerns and objections to the Naga demands. Road blockades, counter-blockades, and bandhs have become a lived reality in Manipur. Ultimately, it is the larger public that bears the brunt of economic blockades and bandhs wherein the prices of essential commodities shoot up and the underground economy gets a boost.

Manipur is landlocked, industrially backward, infrastructurally deficit, with an underdeveloped economy. The revenue generated by the state is not enough to meet the demands of its citizens. It largely depends on central government funds and on goods being transported from other parts of the country. Manipur is connected to the state of Nagaland and Assam via National Highway (NH) no. 2 and 37. It has only 1.5 km of rail connectivity; the development of waterway being out of the question since it is a landlocked state. Hence, the most viable mode of transportation of goods, services, and people is via land connectivity. NH-2 and NH-37 are the lifelines of Manipur. When these highways are blocked for whatever reason, Manipur’s economy faces a crisis.

Hence, blocking the highways or what is commonly known as imposing economic blockade, has become the predominant strategy adopted by various organizations and ethnic communities to grab the attention of the state. It is a means adopted by agitators to get the state to negotiate. And yet, the contentious issues continue to surface, perpetuating the culture of blockades and bandhs. The nonchalant nature of imposing roadblocks for every issue has major ramifications for the growth and progress of the state. It is a perpetual drain on the economy, results in the disruption of supply chains, impacts governance, education and business, depriving common citizens of their rights.

This raises some pertinent questions. Is there no alternative form of protest besides blocking roads and imposing an economic blockade to voice issues confronting different ethnic communities and organizations? Does the state only respond and negotiate when faced with a blockade?

How does the state respond to this impasse? The approach of the state in dealing with road and economic blockades varies according to the gravity and intensity of the issue. As discussed, people in Manipur have imposed roadblocks for a day or months, which indeed is a violation of human rights. They do so for issues relating to murder, kidnapping, regularization of contract services, atrocities by armed forces, demand for ethno-political autonomy, among others. A common strategy used by the state whenever a blockade is announced by dissenting communities or organizations, is to invite them for talks to (the https://www.india-seminar.com/semframe.html 3/6 9/15/2020 732 Raile Rocky Ziipao, Negotiating disputes in Manipur capital of the state) in an effort to tailor out possible solutions. However, this approach is a short-term one to call off the bandh or blockade. The government assures them that their demands would be addressed on a priority basis, and buys time to come up with an amicable solution.

The other common approach adopted by the state is securitization. When there is a prolonged blockade and negotiations reach a dead-end, the state often deploys armed forces along the highways and sends a convoy of security personnel to escort commercial vehicles to the state’s capital. However, securitization of the highways is costly. It only escalates the issues for which the blockade had been called in the first place. Often, the failure of the state mechanism, atrocities by state forces, corruption, among others, has led to even more bandhs and blockades. In fact, many of the roadblocks could have been avoided with effective and engaged governance by the state.

It is also true that in some cases civil society, student organizations and pressure groups have taken advantage of a landlocked state by resorting to roadblocks. However, these strategies, both by blockade enforcers, as well the state, does not address the need for a long-term solution. The road blockade has become a vicious cycle in a state like Manipur.

There are two possible ways the state can explore and address the persistent issue of road blockades: a development and a political solution. In the area of development, there is a sharp difference between the hill and valley areas. If one takes any standard development indicators like poverty, per capita income, human development index, GDP, health, education, physical and social infrastructure, the valley areas fare much better than their counterparts in the hills. This has often become a bone of contention between the two.

The people from hills are deprived of material development and access to facilities available in the valley. A classic example is road infrastructure between the hills and valley. There is not even a single road or highway in the hills where one can drive smoothly for an hour, when compared to the roads in the valley. Often, one is greeted with roads filled with potholes, huge craters, unsurfaced dirt roads and worse, non-motorable during the monsoon in the hills of Manipur. Hence, it is imperative that the state places greater emphasis on the material development of the hills. For too long, the hill areas have been neglected by the state and that historical injustice should be revisited and addressed.

The present government has started a flagship programme known as ‘go to hills’ and ‘go to village’. This programme aims to empower the rural population by delivering government schemes and services at their doorstep. Under this flagship programme, government officials are sent to the villages and hills for a day to generate awareness on various government schemes and services and also to distribute application forms to the villagers. This is a welcome initiative. However, mere lip service only disempowers rural people rather than empower them as https://www.india-seminar.com/semframe.html 4/6 9/15/2020 732 Raile Rocky Ziipao, Negotiating disputes in Manipur envisaged by the programme. To deepen this initiative, one way forward is to alter the strategy and place emphasis on the ‘go develop the village and hills’. In this way, the root cause of the developmental problems faced by rural and the people of the hills could be addressed.

For instance, in terms of physical infrastructure development, the state can start by identifying a dense area of infrastructure and extend it to areas where there are no such facilities. Imphal, the capital of Manipur is infrastructurally a dense area and hence this can be extended to other districts, especially in the hills, and connect them to the interior and remote villages in the state. This could be a way to address both the road blockades, and also bridge the developmental gap between hills- valley.

The other prominent issue plaguing the state is the political demand by most of the ethnic communities in Manipur. About 80 per cent of road blockades and bandhs, directly or indirectly, revolve around a political issue or what may be called a demand for ethno-political space. Practically and politically, it is beyond the scope of the state government alone to solve every political demand made by different ethnic communities: the Kuki demand for Kukiland, Naga for the integration of all Naga inhabited areas, Zomi for an autonomous hill state, Meitei for the restoration of the Meitei state and so on.

The state can, however, facilitate and take the lead role to resolve these issues with the Union government, within the framework of the Constitution of India. Within this framework and spectrum of negotiation, the state can extend and strengthen traditional institutions and blend them with modern values of fraternity, justice, equality, mutual respect, non-intrusive relationships, greater autonomy et. al. To extend the Sixth Schedule status to tribal areas in Manipur is within the framework of the Constitution. Hence, it is a flexible way to explore such an alternative even though the state might be constrained to take a call on the demands of Nagas or Kukis or Meitei on the question of a separate sovereign nation state. Taking the confidence of its citizens in this manner, the issue of road blockades and bandhs could be addressed.

What is interesting is that besides the economic blockades, the highways in Manipur are also a zone of extraction both by state and non-state actors. The NH-2 and 37 are money-spinning highways for both state and non-state actors who collect illegal tax from vehicles plying on these roads. No goods or passenger vehicle can escape from the tax imposed by these self-appointed collectors. There are multiple check posts along the highway manned by state forces that collect illegal taxes. Equally, non-state actors such as insurgent groups also impose taxation on all goods and passenger vehicles plying along the highway. Besides, the municipal council, the driver union, truck owner association, town committees, among others, also impose illegal taxes. It is an ethnic terrain, with different ethnic based insurgents controlling different stretches of highways to extract taxes.

https://www.india-seminar.com/semframe.html 5/6 9/15/2020 732 Raile Rocky Ziipao, Negotiating disputes in Manipur To illustrate, the Imphal-Moreh road (NH-2) passes through both Meitei and Zo ethnic dominated inhabitants (, and Tengoupal districts). It is fertile terrain for extracting rent for Meitei and Zo based ethnic insurgent groups. Post the Naga-Kuki ethnic conflict, the Naga based insurgent operations in and around Moreh town became inactive and the Zo and Meitei based insurgent groups gained more control over the trade as well as drugs and arms trafficking. On the other hand, the stretch of the NH-2 from Mao to Sekmai is dominated by Naga and Kuki insurgent groups. This is fertile ground for extractive rent by the respective insurgent groups.

In contemporary Manipur, roads are highly politicized, unevenly distributed across the state, that foregrounds the spatio-temporality of infrastructure. Extractive rent, blockades, counter-blockades and bandhs have become a hallmark of the contested space called highways in Manipur. They have indeed become political highways. One way to address this tussle is through political will and democratic forms of negotiation, within the framework of the law.

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