The Great Blockade of Manipur

In case you guys do not know, there is a state in India named Manipur. It is located in the north-eastern part of the country, near Myanmar. The reason I am stating this is the abysmally low coverage given to the highway blockade of Manipur spearheaded by the United Naga Council and supported by the All-Naga Students' Association of Manipur and the NSCN-IM. This has been going on for the past two months and I bet you would not have even heard about it.

The blockade was started by ANSAM on April 12 after Manipur decided to hold elections to elect members to the six Autonomous District Councils in the tribal hill districts. The ANSAM says that ADCs do not have sufficient autonomy to deal with the issues of the tribals. The Naga demand for amendments to the ADC Act was rejected by the state government led by the Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh. While the NSCN-IM opposes the elections as it would throw up new Naga leaders and thereby weaken their demand for the Greater Nagalim, the Chief Minister supports the elections for the very same reason.

The issue worsened when the NSCN-IM general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah, the charismatic leader of the Nagas, was denied permission by the Manipur government to visit his birthplace, the village Somdal in Ukhrul district. Three people were killed and about seventy injured in clashes related with the incident. This 'justifies' the government stand that the visit would evoke communal tension in the state.

The communal tension is a pre-existing condition in Manipur. The Meiteis, comprising the majority live in the Imphal valley which constitute only 10 percent of the geographical area of the state. The remaining areas are inhabited by the Nagas and Kukis. The Nagas want these areas to be part of the Greater Nagalim. The very thought causes terror in the minds of Meiteis as well as the Kukis, who are dead against the division of Manipur.

The blockade of the two National Highways, NH-39(Imphal-Dimapur), the 'Lifeline of Manipur' and NH-53(Imphal-Silchar) has affected the lives of common people in Manipur and enters the 60th day today.

Manipur faces severe shortage of essential commodities, especially food, fuel and life-saving medicines as a result of this blockade. They are very much used to blockades, as we are to 'hartals' but this one has become severe due to its long duration. A kilogram of rice sells for Rs.60, a gas cylinder sells for more than Rs.1000, all while the Central Government looks on.Surgeries are being postponed and people are in severe distress. Two main hospitals in the state have stopped functioning. The blockade continues in spite of requests by humanitarian agencies, political parties and even the Centre.

The Manipur government has resorted to airlifting rice and medicines. Also 500 trucks were brought in through NH-53(which is in deplorable condition) with state security via Assam. The only highway that remains is NH-150(the Tipaimukh Road). However, the vehicles using this road to travel from Silchar to Imphal have to travel 512 kilometres whereas they have to travel only for 212 kilometres on the NH-39.