The proposed next round of talks among the representatives of the Union and State governments and the United Naga Council (UNC) on Thursday at the district headquarters of Senapati in Manipur are facing rough weather. After an inordinate delay the Union government is arranging the next round of talks. The UNC has been demanding “alternative arrangement” for the Nagas in Manipur contending that the Nagas in Manipur no longer want to stay under the “communal government led by Okram Ibobi Singh”. The earlier talks were inconclusive and infructuous.
Ahead of the next round of talks two Kuki tribal organisations, the Kuki Impi Manipur and the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights, have submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohon Singh saying that the outcome of the talks will not be acceptable to the Kukis in Manipur. Manipur has been the home of the Nagas, the Kuki and the Meiteis for generations. The Naga and the Kuki tribals inhabit the mountains while the non-tribal Meiteis have been settling in the valley districts.
In the backdrop of this memorandum the next round of talks is likely to be perfunctory and lukewarm and may not result even in an interim agreement. But in the past the UNC and other Naga organisations had launched agitations, including shutdowns of the national highways that are the lifelines of Manipur.
One must know that the Nagas have never claimed the lands which rightfully belongs to the kukis. The alternative arrangement is for the Nagas in the Naga inhabited areas and as such never intervene in the affairs of the Kukis. In contrary to this, one may recall that the Kukis has been claiming the lands which rightfully belongs to the Tangkhul Nagas in Ukhrul District in the form of Sadar Hills.
No comments:
Post a Comment