Letter from the Editor-in-Chief

The cup of woes in Manipur is neither half empty nor half full, but is rather, full. It is not for the first time that the state of Manipur is facing the economic blockade- one of the largest in the history of Manipur.

Do not get surprised, when we say, petrol is being sold at Rs 200 per litre in Manipur. But to understand the genesis of the problem – we have to understand the geo – political structure of the state.

Manipur’s geographical area measuring 22,327 sq km is generally divided into 2 regions – valley with 4 districts, of which, the valley covers 2,248 sq km or just 10% of the total geographical area of the state. It is inhabited by the majority Meiteis, who constitute about 60% of the state population. Whereas, the hill area which covers 20,089 sq km or 90% of the total geographical area, is the home to about 37 tribal communities who constitute 40.87% of the state total population as per 2012 census.

The State Legislative Assembly having a total strength of 60 MLAs has just 20 tribal MLAs representing five hill districts (Churachandpur, Tamenglong, Senapati, Ukhrul and Chandel) or 90% of the total geographical area and 40.87% of the state tribal population. On the other hand, the four valley districts (Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal and Bishnupur) or just 10% of the total geographical areas of the state is represented by Meitei MLAs.

All important state’s apparatus such as State Assembly, High Court, Home &Planning Department, Election Commission, Census, Industries, State Service Commission, Commercial and Financial Institutions etc. of the state are concentrated in the four valley districts, which ostensibly implies that, all legislative, legal, administrative, recruitment, planning, policy, financial and commercial activities are controlled and monopolized by the major Meitei community.

Thus, making the residing minority population almost invisible in every sector, which is the one of the prime reason that has irked the Nagas.Besides that, the recent announcement of creating new districts has also not gone down very well with the Naga population, as they are feeling insecure about losing their land to the Meitei, the dominant population. It is clear that,   the ones opposing the government’s move, are definitely not looking into the bigger picture. Creation of new districts would mean creation of new avenues and job prospects for the people. Not only that, this would mean, generation of more revenues and additional funds from the centre.

But, it seems, the opposition is desperately trying to give the decision of the government a different twist altogether, by making the Nagas feel insecure and probably giving them half –baked information, which is confusing them further. Although, there cannot be any justification to what is happening in the state of Manipur, but the government should have known that this was coming as the Nagas were actually being deprived of many things for long. Now, it remains to be seen, if the centre’s intervention does eases the situation and finally life in Manipur gets back to normal.