The Life Cycle Of Secessionism

The Centre has not helped matters by its ambiguous silence on this sensitive issue. Consequently, Manipuris, cutting across the political divide, came out on the streets of Imphal and other towns last week and raised slogans such as, "If Manipur is torn apart, we won’t remain in the Indian Union". The fear of a relapse into the violence of mid-2001, when the Manipur secretariat was set on fire by mobs on the same issue, has prompted the authorities to impose a compulsory night curfew in Imphal.

Chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh also led an all-party delegation to Delhi last week to seek clarifications from the Centre. "I met the PM with 15 delegation members and we told him that while solving the Naga problem, they should not create another problem by including the Naga-dominated areas of Manipur in Greater Nagaland. We welcome the talks and a solution should be found to the Naga problem, but not at our cost," he added. The prime minister, according to Ibobi Singh, hinted at status quo but the dilemma for New Delhi was only put in starker relief.