Manipur unrest: Why an inclusive model of governance is the need of the hour

When it was time to clamp down on miscreants, the security forces were missing and when it is time for a healing touch, Manipur is preparing to become the tiniest state with maximum boots on the ground.  The deployment plan includes presence of nearly 7,000 security personnel of central armed police forces, besides army columns and Assam Rifles, to assist the state government in law and order duties. 

While it is necessary to crack down on insurgents and miscreants and restore peace, there is simmering discontent on absence of governance in troubled areas, a situation which mere presence of armed policemen cannot fill.

Senior officials in the security establishment pointed out that states like Punjab, affected by militancy and Andhra Pradesh which suffered naxal violence, could not restore peace nor win the hearts and minds of people through heavy deployment of security forces. Instead, internal strife in all these states came to an end only through a governance model that was inclusive and addressed people’s issues to find a solution within, instead of looking for an out of the box solution that included a dominant security approach. 

The protests in Manipur against the Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act are an indicator of the need for the state government to step up and undertake confidence building measures with both the warring communities. This may include a special approach towards the tribals who feel excluded from decision making bodies. 

“What is required is a blueprint of governance model outlining steps for the state government to create a participatory structure where rights of all communities are protected whether it is acquisition of land or relief and rehabilitation measures,” said a government official in New Delhi. 

But with the imposition of AFSPA in six police stations in five districts to contain activities of insurgent groups, it seems to be a delayed approach where the additional paramilitary forces will carry out searches, seizures and operations in areas declared “disturbed” by the home ministry, without adequately addressing why these peaceful districts turned “disturbed” in the first place. 

NIA launches probe

Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered a case in the recent violence in Jiribam which resulted in the killing of six women and children in Manipur. 

The NIA re-registered three cases afresh on November 13 after the Union Home Ministry decided to hand over the investigations to the anti-terror agency considering the gravity of the offences, amid escalating violence in the strife-torn state. With little headway into which armed groups were behind the killing, the NIA has been tasked to unearth the larger conspiracy behind the brutal attacks.

In the first case on November 11, several houses were burnt and two civilians were killed at Borobekra. Later, unknown militants abducted and murdered six persons including three women and three children.

The second case relates to the November 11 attack on a CRPF post located at Jakuradhor Karong and Borobekra police stations, in Jiribam, by armed militants in which one CRPF constable sustained bullet injuries. The NIA said that during a search by security forces and the police team, dead bodies of unidentified armed militants, along with arms and ammunition, were recovered from the vicinity of the attack. The third case taken up by the NIA is of the murder of a woman at Jiribram by armed militants on November 7. 

Several months ago, the looting of arms and ammunition from police armoury and the killing of innocents in mob violence demanded a clamp down by security forces. However, at that time, tales of inefficiency of police forces left the common man disillusioned. 

“Today, people of Manipur need governance,” said a senior government official, “to restore confidence in the elected government”, explaining that even today the tiny northeastern state has not reported calls for secessionist violence.