Manipur is again in a hostage crisis. After 44 people were captured by Kuki and Naga groups, 28 have been released, exposing a deepening breakdown of law and order. Electoral victories mean little if Centre continues to look away. It won’t make the problem disappear. The crisis demands urgent intervention.
Centre should have hiked fuel prices earlier. They must ensure it isn’t a one-time move
Though too little, the Centre’s decision to increase fuel prices is right. It should have been done much earlier. Political expediency should not determine fuel prices. They should be market-driven. The government should now ensure that the hike is not one-time, but periodic, as the Vajpayee government did with kerosene.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma’s contempt action reflects judicial thin-skin
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma’s contempt action against Kejriwal and others reflects judicial thin-skin. The needless controversy could have been avoided had she recused at the outset. Recusal requests arise from apprehensions of bias and aren’t an attack on a judge’s integrity. Sharma’s refusal to step aside unnecessarily deepened the dispute.
Further back in time. I had a friend, a lady IAS officer, assigned to Manipur cadre almost half a century ago. She spent most of her career on deputation to Delhi. Finally secured a cadre change to Orissa, courtesy her husband being from that state. Often wondered how unfair the cadre allocation had been, both to her and to the people of the state.
Manipur is a serious problem, now in its fourth year. Although it goes much further back in time. It has its complexity in terms of the Meiti – Kuki / Zo differences, with the added complication of the Nagas. The Naga Peace Accord itself in a decade long limbo. Going beyond all of this, there is the question of social cohesion and communal harmony, under strain in many parts of the country. Whatever solutions are found for Manipur – may they come at the earliest -, a lot of thought should be given to how issues of identity are now dividing Indians. Manipur cannot be seen in a vacuum.