Dear Editor,
I wish to express my sincere gratitude to you for publishing “Continuing Crisis in Manipur” on 9.9.23 on your website. It is such an enlightening and logically argued article. The first thing that struck me was that the goings on in the Manipur Assembly as well as the Lok Sabha are two very contemporary instances of Lenin’s apt description of the parliaments (and by extension the state assemblies) in the capitalist system as talk shops. There was no meaningful discussion in either of them about the causes behind the present situation in Manipur, and the way forward.
Who were the guilty who armed the vigilante groups that caused such havoc, so many murders and devastation of tens of thousands of lives? Doesn’t the inaction and silence of the state and central governments in raising and answering this all-important question clearly reveal the truth?
Further, when armouries of the armed forces of the Indian state, which is reputed to be one of the most advanced in the world, are “looted” so many times, and when at least 4000 sophisticated arms are still at large after four months, what conclusion can be reached?
You have very pertinently pointed out that “if the Indian state wants to, it can bring a very quick end to anarchy and violence in a matter of days. That it has not done so in Manipur for over four months indicates diabolical intentions. The situation of anarchy and violence has been deliberately prolonged, in order to deepen and harden the divisions in Manipur society and smash the unity of the people.” This undoubtedly supports the widespread beliefs that Assam Rifles has been arming and protecting vigilante groups of Kukis. It is also widely believed that the Manipur Police has been arming and protecting vigilante groups of Meiteis.
The statement of the home Minister of India, that the removal of a chief minister was only needed in case he or she was not cooperating with the Central Government indeed shows, as you have pointed out, that “the condition of anarchy and violence for over four months appears to be part of a plan in which both the central and state governments have been coordinating.”
In my opinion it also exposes where accountability of elected representatives lies in the present system. Evidently, the ministers of state assemblies are not accountable to the people who elected them. They are accountable to the Central government, who in turn is not accountable to the people!
Yours sincerely,
Sangita Joshi,
Mumbai