Blockade cripples Manipur economy
Centre remains a passive observer
By Barun Das Gupta
To impose an economic blockade on a sovereign country, the sanction of the United Nations is mandatory. But to impose an indefinite economic blockade of a State of the Indian Union, nobody's permission is required. A handful of people can do it and get away with it with perfect impunity.
This is being realized by the people of Manipur, the easternmost State of North-East India, from April this year. The first blockade was started by the All Naga Students Union of Manipur (ANSAM) on April 11 and continued for 68 days. It was lifted on June 18. Meanwhile, the leadership of the movement was taken over by the United Naga Council (UNC) of Manipur.
The situation was further aggravated by the Manipur Government's refusal to allow NSCN-IM leader Thuingaleng Muivah to visit his native village of Somdal in Manipur for fear that the visit would create law and order problems throughout the State. Ultimately, the Centre persuaded Muivah to avoid a confrontation and go back to his camp at Dimapur. Manipuris heaved a sigh of relief, hoping normal life would be resumed. But the hope was soon belied. The Nagas began a second blockade on August 4. Initially the call was for a 20-day blockade. But on August 24, the blockade was renewed for another 25 days. Nobody knows what will happen after that. For all practical purposes the people of an entire State are being held to ransom for no fault of theirs.
The blockade started as a retaliatory move by the Nagas against the decision of the Manipur Government to go ahead with the Autonomous District Council elections. The Naga population in the State which had for long been demanding the Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur to be integrated in a greater Nagaland or Nagalim, objected to the holding of the elections. Led by the ANSAM they insisted that there could be no elections till the ADC Act had been suitably amended because under the provisions of the existing Act, the ADCs "lack independent powers and remain subservient to the State Government." The Manipur Government, however, stood firm on the decision to go ahead with the polls in two phases on May 26 and June 2.
Meanwhile, the blockade is having a crippling effect on the State's economy as hundreds of trucks lie stranded for days on the way and are often made targets of attack. Manipur is a rice-producing and rice-eating State. According to a study carried out by a Manipuri academician, the State is facing "an enormously positive growth of population", rising from a mere 2.84 lakh in 1901 to nearly 25 lakh now. But the production of rice has been practically stagnating. It was 23.24 lakh tonnes in 1999-2000. Now it is 24.44 lakh tonnes.
About three-quarters of the total working population are engaged in agriculture in a State in which the size of the cultivable area is only 9.41% of the total geographical area. The only industries the State has are handloom and handicrafts. Exquisite handicrafts are made of cane and bamboo, which Manipur produces in abundance - about a million tonnes a year. There are no mechanized industries. It has to import every essential commodity from outside. There are only two arterial routes connecting Manipur to the rest of the country. One is NH 39 and the other is NH 53. Both are being blocked. The main highway is NH 39 which comes from Assam and through Dimapur and Kohima in Nagaland, enters Manipur at Mao. NH 53 comes from Silchar and enters the State at Jiribam in the South. This road was already in a bad shape when the blockade started. Its condition has deteriorated very much since then.
The situation has created acute bad blood between the Manipuris and Nagas. The All Manipur United Clubs' Organization (AMUCO) has condemned the attacking of trucks and setting them ablaze. Two trucks were torched on NH 53 on August 19. AMUCO has deplored that the Centre's assurance of providing "fool-proof security escorts" to transporters along the highways has "turned out to be a farce."
The organization has alleged that incidents of illegal "tax" collection by "some groups" are taking place right under the nose of the CRPF. There have been cases of "burning vehicles, pushing them down gorges, robbery, thrashing of drivers and helpers and pelting of stones". AMUCO has called on the people to "work out a collective strategy which can free future generations from the scourge of blockades."
To add to the Manipuris' misery, Nature is also taking its toll. Recently, a large stretch of NH 39 was washed away near Kohima (Nagaland) due to heavy rains, snapping road communications with Manipur. Among other supplies, 135 oil tankers and 400 trucks laden with essential commodities bound for Manipur were stranded.
So far, the Manipuris have borne with their sufferings patiently and silently. But their patience cannot be taken for granted for ever.
-(IPA)

SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Endless killing spree in Kashmir
Humra Quraishi
As I'm keying in these words 'signs of the times' I wonder what times we are going through. Horrifying times. Blatant killings of teenagers and even children in the Kashmir Valley and yet we sit here, presumably unaffected, unmoved. Though on small scale levels few protest meets have been held here, in New Delhi, and another couple of them stand ready for take-off in the coming days but that's certainly not adequate to relay our disgust cum anger. Also, as I have been writing all along - why hold these protest meets in New Delhi? Why not in the Valley! Let the people of the Valley know that we connect, we are shaken by these killings, we are bothered, we are in mourning with them, we are appalled by these terror tactics unleashed by the State. After all, even in those normal circumstances if a person dies we don't mourn in private, rather take the trouble of going over to the home of the departed, to be with his or her family. And what's taking place in the Valley is no routine stuff but horrifying. And needs our immediate attention. A full throated outcry from us. And we need to be there to see the situation, to sense the pain and the level of sorrow that seems spreading around as the number of those injured, killed is on the rise.
Killed for what? Targeted for what? Shot at for what? Injured for what? After all, what great harm can an angry young teenager or a child inflict on you! And yet we are on a killing spree .unleashing tyranny on the unarmed .relaying fear, denting psyches, affecting generations to come .And, then, we have the audacity to quip : why are Kashmiris so angry ?
One is feeling utterly helpless .sheer helplessness seems overtaking as news comes by of more bullets getting fired at the young. And as I just pulled out a dried chinar leaf tucked in one of my books, sheer nostalgia gripped. Majestic Chinar trees silently witnessing this turbulent phase in the history of the Kashmir Valley As the rest of us are sitting unprovoked, presumably taken up by that heap of stale theories getting churned by the state machinery.
In fact, I feel worried and concerned about those who are not reacting to these blatant killings of the Kashmiris. Are they okay or have they gone and killed their very conscience, their very souls, their basic sense!
AND AS YOU LOOK AROUND, THERE'S DISMAY .
Last week a three day meet - The National People's Tribunal ( NPT ) took place here in New Delhi, to focus attention on the plight of the victims of communal violence which had affected hundreds in Kandhamal - Kandhamal had witnessed communal violence against the minority Christian community. Erupting on Christmas-eve 2007, this communal violence had aggravated in August 2008, following the killing of VHP leader Swami Lakshmananda.
I have just received activist-academic Ram Punyani's report on the NPT meet. I quote him: "The NPT heard testimonies of murder, torture and sexual assault. Many of the victims have suffered displacement from their places of residence and have had their homesteads and means of livelihood destroyed. Many of them have been coerced into repudiating their faith as the price for returning to the villages that they were supplanted from. The NPT has concluded on the basis of the testimonies of 43 victim-survivors of Kandhamal that the violence there was the consequence of the subversion of constitutional governance in which state agencies were complicit. The NPT has found evidence of a shocking level of institutional bias on the part of the state agencies, leading to their collusion in the violence and connivance in efforts to block the subsequent processes of justice and accountability.. Witness and victim testimonies have shown that women and children have been especially vulnerable in recent outbreaks of violence. The continuing failure of the state and district administration to provide redress for the violence suffered, puts India in default on constitutional guarantees and commitments made under international covenants.."
And whilst we are on Kandhamal let me also quote John Dayal as he focuses on Archbishop Cheenath of Kandhamal - " the Archbishop of Cuttack Bhubaneswar, and as he is now better known across the globe, 'Archbishop Cheenath of Kandhamal', is indeed one of a kind, a hero of the faith for Catholics, Episcopal and Evangelical Christians. What Cheenath and his people faced was the full hatred of India's emergent neo-fascist religious bigots, described by political scientists as the Sangh Parivar. When the fires died down in the plateau of Kandhamal right in the middle of the State of Orissa, more than 54,000 people had become refugees in their own homeland, Over 400 villages had been purged of all Christian presence, a hundred people had been killed and over 5,600 houses burnt. Children lost their childhood, those going to school lost years of academic progress. A nun was gang raped, and there were reports of many other rapes and molestation. Girls were molested, and into the third year, some had been victims of human trafficking. For many, the trauma was worse - they had been told they could not return to their villages till they became Hindus, a process accomplished by forcibly shearing off their hair and making them drink a mixture of the dung and urine of a cow. Most refused and were severely beaten up and brutalised.."
John Dayal goes on to say how Cheenath remained focused to try and get justice for the victims - "When violence broke out, first in December 2007 at Christmas-time and then in August 2008, it was natural and swift for a duty-bound
Cheenath to convey the cries and the anguish of the victims to the national political and governmental leadership. With other colleagues of the Episcopacy in the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, he met the President of India and the Prime minister, the Governor and the Chief Minister. When the Chief Minister refused to meet the Christian delegation which had called on him, Cheenath led the clergy group to stage a Gandhian "dharna" or sit-in at the residence of the Chief Minister till the man, Mr Naveen Pattnaik, agreed to meet them.
.Cheenath had the courage to go to court. Cheenath's writ petition in the Supreme Court of India was the first of the many steps that would have to be taken in courts big and small, and it produced results. If over 2,000 of the houses have now been completed and relief agencies are working, it is because of that court action. Cheenath would sound out the justice system more than once. He became the first Archbishop in living memory to appear before a Judicial Commission, the Justice Panigrahi Commission, to put on record the plight of the common an the poor of his community.
He refused to be cowed down by the cross examination of hostile lawyers, most of whom were politically aligned with the Sangh Parivar."
*(Humra Quraishi is a freelance columnist based in Delhi and is currently a visiting Professor in the Academy of Third World Studies in Jamia Milia University).

Kashmir: Policy in a time of contending realities
By Arpita Anant
The disturbing developments in the Kashmir Valley are certainly a grim reminder of the not so distant past when an overwhelming anti-India sentiment, fuelled by certain elements in Pakistan, manifested in the form of militancy. Several years since the people of the state reposed their faith in electoral democracy, the magnitude of the unrest as well as its tone and imagery present yet another challenge to the political leadership. The challenge is that of steering through an era of contending realities. Three such contending realities are significant and require deliberation in the current context.
First, there is equal space for the political agendas of the ruling party and the opposition in Kashmir. Although the average voter turnout in the Assembly Elections of 2008 was the highest ever at 61.49 per cent, the verdict itself was fractured. In the 87-member State Assembly, the ruling National Conference (NC, 28 seats) was ahead of the main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP, 21 seats) by only 7 seats. Pertinently, in the Kashmir Division, the National Conference won 20 seats, only one more than the PDP. It is a moot point that in 9 of the 20 seats won by the NC, eight in Srinagar and that of Sopore, the voter turnout ranged from 11.58 per cent to 36.61 per cent much lower than the average.
These results clearly convey that in the Kashmir Valley the PDP's election manifesto of self rule, decentralization and revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from civilian areas has at least as much support as the NC's manifesto of autonomy, sarak, bijli aur pani and zero tolerance of human rights violations. Given the parity of popular support, neither party's agenda can be ignored. In fact, the protests in the Valley indicate that inefficiencies in delivering on the NC's promises have fuelled demands for the PDP's agenda, and is manifesting itself in people's support for the 'logical conclusion' as highlighted by the various hues of separatists.
Second, while there are radical elements fuelling the protests, not all protestors are radicals; a large number of people are not participating in the protests and there are secular elements supporting the demands of the protestors. It is hard to say if the slogan of Azadi, which has a secular lineage, has been usurped by the radical elements, or if the sentiment of Azadi has tamed the radicals to espouse the cause of independence. The torch-bearer of the slogan of Azadi, the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) appears marginalized; the Jamiat Ahle-Hadith which was mainly engaged in social and educational work, and the Jamaat which for several years had stayed away from political issues, have openly expressed their solidarity with the protestors. Mosques have been used to give calls for Azadi. There is also no doubt that a tech-savvy generation of Kashmiris has effectively used the revolution in means of communication to spread hate messages against the State and the Central governments.
This reality must however be tempered by other facts such as the fact that some articulations of the notion of Azadi comprise of democratic rights; that inadvertently, the Centre was seen as supporting the corrupt leaders and officials; that nearly 70 per cent of the people who live in the villages were only concerned with the dates of the hartals, so that they could plan their day-to-day chores accordingly; that several of those affected by the hartals in cities were severely critical of the separatists' summer agenda which disrupted school education for such a long duration; and finally that members of the civil society from outside the Valley, in Jammu, New Delhi and the rest of the country saw some merit in making representations to the Government and the National Human Rights Commission, exhorting them to uphold UN principles on the code of conduct for law enforcement officials and a phased/complete revocation of the AFSPA.
Third, the current situation in the Valley raises serious security concerns. Section 3(b) of the Armed Forces Special Powers' Act (AFSPA) states that "activities directed towards disclaiming, questioning, or disrupting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India or bringing about cession of a part of the territory of India or secession of a part of the territory of India from the Union or causing insult to the Indian National Flag, the Indian National Anthem and the Constitution of India" are reason for an area being declared as 'disturbed' by the Governor of the State or by the Centre. The slogans of 'Azadi' and 'Go, India Go Back' undoubtedly present such a scenario. That said, it is also important to note the decline of militancy and the palpable improvement in the security environment since the fencing of the Line of Control provided the space for an increased role of the State Police, supported by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), in maintaining law and order in urban areas. These areas have been the locus of unrest since 2008. Protests against the alleged fake encounter in North Kashmir turned ugly when the police and the CRPF attempted to control the crowds that raised slogans of Azadi. The inability of the state police in handling the current unrest, the reaction of the CRPF explained to some extent, though not fully justified, by the lack of appropriate crowd-control measures, and the cases of deaths resulting from being hit by stray bullets are all compelling reasons for raising issues of the safety of the common man. Protestors, political leaders and separatists used this unrest to make a case for the revocation of the AFSPA, whereas the real debate should have been on the manner of operation of police forces which are not covered by the AFSPA and on police reforms.
Three policy suggestions follow from the above analysis.
Firstly, given the electoral mandate, it is important that steps for the immediate normalisation of the situation are adopted through a consensus especially between the NC and the PDP, and preferably with all other parties represented in the state legislature. The Centre must strive towards ensuring that such a consensus does emerge, is widely publicized, and sincerely followed through. In fact, 'consensus' must be the way forward on all matters relating to the State of Jammu and Kashmir for the foreseeable future.
Secondly, given the co-existence of radical elements and secular elements in the Valley, the democratic interests of the secular elements must not be harmed in the process of countering the radical elements.
And finally, the change of the method of resistance in urban areas perhaps merits the declaration of these areas as 'disturbed', but there is no doubt that countering this resistance requires means other than those that were used to counter militant violence. The intelligence set-up, for one, must be geared to prevent and expose the channelling of funds to radical elements. It may be worthwhile to consider whether certain areas could be excluded from the cover of the AFSPA. Clearly, the maintenance of law and order by police forces, which are subject to state laws, does not require the cover of the AFSPA. If the security situation so warrants, the armed forces may be requisitioned to aid civil authorities, as was done for a brief period during the current unrest. Areas where the armed forces are patrolling the borders and/or conducting counter-insurgency operations still need to be covered by the AFSPA. Needless to say, it is imperative that the state and central forces are extremely cautious while performing their duties and that the use of force is calibrated.
The coexistence of contending realities is a natural corollary of the transition from conflict to peace. This transition needs to be managed by nuanced policy making and sincere implementation of policies thus conceived. A successful transition to peace is not only a test of Indian secularism, but also of Indian democracy.