A Brief History of Insurgency In Manipur.

The state of Manipur has been going through lots of sociopolitical crisis since the last decades of 19th century. It has tasted the bitterness of AFSPA(armed force special power act) for two decades because of the conflicting demands if various ethnic groups and their organsation like UNLF(United Nations liberation Front-1964), Peoples Liberation Army(978), Kangleipak communist party(1980), Naga Insurgent outfits, Kuki insurgent outfits, and other small such organisations.

The reason for such a numerous insurgent outfits, is having an identical history that can be traced back from Anglo- Manipur was of 1891. Although Britishers won this war, they did not annexed the kingdom of Manipur but kept it as a British Protectorates. The ruling class, Meities were given administrative autonomy by accepting the British Paramountcy till the Independence of India. But, on 15th October, 1949, The kingdom of Manipur was forcefully accessed into Indian Union, there by Meiti rulers lost their perceived sense of Autonomy. This event made sparks to start insurgent activities against the Govt of India by the meitie dominant class.To curb the developing insurgency, Govt of India granted statehood to Manipur in 1972.

To understand the rest of the story, Ethnic profile of Manipur should also be considered. This state has a dominant ruling class called Meities who enjoy key positions in political and administrative spheres of the society. Nagas, and Kukkis, though they were in majority in neighbouring states of Nagaland and Mizoram, are considered as minorities in the state of Manipur. These Minorities got official recognition as Scheduled Tribes from the Govt of India, there by got eligibility for holding some Privileges for their upliftment. They were allowed to purchase land in Hilly areas, that was disallowed to Meities as they were concentrated in plane areas. Such privileges angered dominant ruling class as they felt insecure in the hands of Government. As a reaction to this sense of disproportionate treatment, Meities formed various insurgent outfits against Govt of India namely UNLF, PLA, KCP and many other small groupings.

As the tension between the Naga-Kuki minorities were escalated the former got support from neighbouring states. These clashes invited interventions from the Govt to declare Manipur as a 'Disturbed Area' and forced to come under AFSPA. By 1990, the conflicts were largely silenced by the military and diplomatic steps from the Govt. The organisation of Nagas named NSCN signed cease fire agreement with india during this period and latet in 2008 Kuki wing also signed " Suspension of Operation pact" with both central and state Govts in 2008. The military interventions from the Govt is also widely criticised for its massive human rights violations and outfits like Kaplang faction of NSCN and Meities organisations didn't signed any peace agreements with the Govt still.

Challenges for the Government.

The Govt of india and neighbouring state Govts has done alot of initiatives to curb insurgency in this region, but not become successful completely. This is mainly because of the conflicting demands from the leading organisations. One favouring step to a section is considered as highly unfavourable to the other and they keep on fighting against each other and with the Govt as a common enemy.

Proxy groupings are the other reason why the Govt can't arrive at an amicable solution to this. When one faction of the grouping stands for peace, the other faction retaliates with violence. Diplomatic talks and consensus building still didn't work well in this region.

Opportunistic politicians are also providing oxygen to the insurgency fire for their vested interest. As they interact with the people directly, their negligence is a huge drawback that resume violence in the valleys.As Manipur is a border state with Myanmar, these insurgent outfits are massively helped by the immoral mafia to deal with weapons, drugs and hiding place. In the porous border of Manipur, the interventions of Indian military is troublesome.

Manipur has to find able leaders from themselves to solve this issue. Peace aspiring people and their Representatives are the hope of this region. Direct military intervention is not a suitable way of addressing this issue. Leaders who know the terrain and the spirit, when worked along with the Govt can only solve this issue. Alleged Violence committed military personals too, need to be addressed judiciously.