By Laishram Nandalal Singh
“The failure of the Union Government to resolve ethnic disputes in the North-East has resulted in crisis after crisis.
This is best exemplified by the ‘economic blockades’ imposed on Manipur and its hapless people. The moment one blockade ends, another begins as any promise made by the Government to one group leaves the other demanding for more. Meanwhile, the people suffer severe hardship and shortages ”
The economic blockade imposed by Sadar Hills Districthood Demand Committee has been lifted following a written assurance from the Government of Manipur that its demands will be fulfilled at the earliest. Normalcy, however, remains elusive as the United Naga Council and All Naga Students Association of Manipur have announced the intensification of the ongoing blockade which began in mid-August. Balancing the demands of these two organisations is what the Government of Manipur wanted to achieve but it did failed. The question now is: How is the Government going to engage with the anti-Sadar hills district groups while at the same time restoring peace in an ethnically fragile situation in Manipur? It is now clear that the Sadar Hills will become a full-fledged revenue district but only after the District Reorganisation Committee submits its report to the State Government.
The economic blockade on the two national highways — NH-52 and NH-37 — that link the North-Eastern State with the rest of the country has been a routine affair for long. In every instance of blockade on either of the highways or both, the organisation that imposes it holds 27 lakh people to ransom. Last year it was imposed by Naga outfits as a move against the autonomous district council election. This time it had been a twin blockade imposed by two groups — one demanding a Sadar Hills district and the other opposed to the demand. While the Manipur Government sits on the vexed issue wondering which road to take during the course of the 92-day ordeal, a sizeable section of the impoverished masses is on the verge of starvation. Unfortunately, New Delhi has remained a mute spectator to the severe hardship due to the twin blockades.
The other serious fallout of the blockade is the growing insecurity among the truck owners and drivers. The recent decision of Transporters and Drivers Council to cease all activities of assisting transportation of goods is another blow to the beleaguered State Government and the people reeling under the ‘artificial famine’. The council has embarked on the agitation after the State Government failed to decide on the compensation for trucks damaged during the blockade.
A quick look at the history of Sadar Hills will be of relevance here to understand the stakes. The Selected Area Development Administrative Region Hills is the region overlooking and encircling the Imphal valley. The Sadar subdivision was created for administrative convenience during the British rule in 1933 with its headquarters at Kangpokpi. With the signing of the ‘Merger Agreement’ with India on September 21, 1949 by Maharajah Bodhachandra Singh, Manipur became a ‘Part-C State’ of the Indian Union. In 1969 Manipur was divided into five districts: Central (Imphal), North (Karong), South (Churachandpur), East (Ukhrul) and West (Tamenglong). To fulfill the aspirations of the hill people the Government of India enacted the Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council Act, 1971. Section 3 of the Act divides the hill areas into six Autonomous District Councils or Hills Districts that includes the Sadar Hills.
The movement for upgradation of the Sadar Hills area of Senapati district into a full-fledged revenue district began in the early seventies. The present agitation is a cumulative effect of frustration and disaffection of the people in Sadar Hills with the Government in the last four decades. According to Sadar Hills Districthood Demand Committee, the delay in granting district status to Sadar Hills has denied them opportunities for all-round development. In the memorandum submitted to the Chief Minister of Manipur on July 26, SHDDC leaders estimated that an amount of Rupees 38,000 crore have been lost as revenue in the 40 years of delay in upgrading Sadar Hills to a revenue district. They lamented that such large amounts of money could have been spent on socio-economic developments in the Sadar Hills.
The demand for the creation of Sadar Hills district first came from the Kuki Chiefs’ Zonal Council in its meeting held on September 3, 1970. The leaders of Kuki Chiefs’ Zonal Council met then Home Minister KC Pant in July 1971 and placed their demand for a separate district comprising Sadar Hills. The Nayal Commission in 1974 not only recommended the creation of Sadar Hills as a full-fledged district, but also suggested the inclusion of some adjoining areas of Senapati and Ukhrul for administrative convenience and development. However, all these demands, talks and recommendations failed to produce any fruitful result.
Sadar Hills District Demand Committee was formed in 1974 to spearhead the agitation for a full-fledged revenue district status for the Sadar Hills Autonomous District Council, consisting of Saikul, Kangpokpi and Saitu subdivisions. Several State ministries attempted to declare Sadar Hills as a revenue district. In 1982, Rishang Keishing’s Congress government brought an ordinance before the Governor to declare Sadar Hills as a district. It was signed by the Governor but the ordinance was withdrawn due to opposition from the then Manipur Naga Council.
Succeeding Governments also made efforts to upgrade Sadar Hills into a revenue district, but without success. The election of new SHDDC leaders in June 2011 marked the revival of the movement. The Sadar Hills District Demand Committee has been renamed as Sadar Hills Districthood Demand Committee, and it now spearheads the present agitation.
The State Government has almost fallen in line under pressure from SHDDC and initiated steps for fulfilling the decades-old demand. It constituted a Committee for Reorganisation of Administrative and Police District Boundaries to study the formation of a new district and issued a notification on public hearing on September 15. However, the Nagas of Manipur, who have been opposing the Sadar Hill demand since it was first raised, launched a counter-agitation against the State Government’s move. The Nagas of Manipur claimed that they were the original settlers or the indigenous people while the Kukis who comprise the majority in Sadar Hills Areas as late settlers. To mount pressure on the State Government, the United Naga Council announced an economic blockade on the two national highways on August 21 of this year to counter the demands of the SHDDC. They reiterated that no Sadar Hills District could be created as a full-fledged revenue district in the absence of UNC representatives. The Nagas claimed Tamenglong, Senapati, Chandel and Ukhrul as their ancestral land based on folktales and oral traditions. They cited documents of British colonial gazetteers, reports and surveys to justify their claim.
However, the Kukis negated the claim saying that neither the Nagas nor Kukis had written historical records as they didn’t have a script of their own. In the absence of written history the claims on such myths are more of a speculation.” The Nagas in the Sadar Hills region staged a sit-in protest and held demonstrations and protest rallies against the formation of Sadar Hills district. They even vowed to shed blood for the cause of their land, saying the Nagas would not compromise over their land. In a letter to Union Minister for Home Affairs Minister P Chidambaram on September 14, the UNC argued that every Naga village and tribe has its own distinct territorial boundary and jurisdiction. The Nagas, the letter mentioned, had all along been fighting against the arbitrary bifurcation and division of “our land without our knowledge and consent”. UNC warned that the Manipur Government would be responsible for any untoward incident arising out of this issue.
Meanwhile, another perspective was revealed when the United Committee Manipur demanded that the district boundaries be appropriately surveyed and demarcated for the purpose of administrative conveniences and that the exercise should not pander to sectarian assertions on the basis of parochial ethnic and religious affinities.
According to reports, more than 10 Government offices were burnt and about the same number of vehicles torched during this agitation. Three women were also killed when a vehicle under attack hit them. Not a single police personnel or member of the central forces could be seen along the highway’s strike zone during the crisis. Blocking a highway is akin to violating the rights of people. The indifferent attitude of the Union Government on the frequent economic blockades on the two National Highways in Manipur will further enhance the disillusionment of the people in Manipur in particular and the North-East in general. Instead of giving lip service, the Union Home Minister could have been more proactive. No one is now sure whether the blockade that was recently called off by SHDDC will be the last from their side. In the same vein, none of us is convinced if the Naga group’s unfinished economic blockade is going to end soon. One thing is for sure: The impact of the blockades leading to the rise in prices of essential commodities will linger for a long time.
While blockades come and go in Manipur, the worrying divide among the two communities will not easily fade. The question now is: Who is responsible for all these losses, sufferings and trauma? An indifferent Union Government, an incapable State Government or the sectarian leaders? Perhaps all of them.
Laishram Nandalal Singh 
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