When Chief Minister of Manipur N. Biren Singh invited the representatives of Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) and when the representatives of COCOMI accepted the invitation and met the Chief Minister yesterday evening, a sign of relieved was felt to the people of the state speculating that the talk would bring some changes to the ongoing alert demonstration campaign giving a chance to the upcoming Sangai Festival. But the speculation went in vain as the COCOMI’s leadership, soon after coming out from the Chief Minister’s bungalow announced no changes to their stand. The COCOMI which have been demanding disclosure of the content of the agreement reached between the NSCN-IM and the Government of India, had called on people of the state not to take part in the upcoming Sangai Festival.
Sangai Festival is today a calendar event to boost tourism industries in the state of Manipur. It is today not only a backbone of the state economy but is a platform for exposing the rich cultural heritage of this state to the International arena. The state government was heard talking about the potential of Sangai Festival many times but what is disheartening is that the government of Manipur doesn’t seem to consider this event as top agenda. Simply organizing the festival amidst boycott from civil society body of the state or without participation of locals will have no significance. The failure to convince the COCOMI representatives about the importance of making the Sangai Festival a successful tourism festival is indeed a reflection of the attitude of this government headed by Chief Minister N. Biren Singh who once received thousands applauses for his skill in tackling public issues.
What prompted the COCOMI to announce the hard stand on Sangai Festival is not known, but all that we in the Imphal Times understand is that the COCOMI representatives might received some form of aggressive response from the government. The response from the COCOMI’s representatives to accept the invitation was perhaps a green signal to any negotiation perhaps for relaxation to the Sangai Festival, or else they would not have accepted as the leaders of the COCOMI had already stated through media that unless the government is ready to disclose the details of the agreement reached between the NSCN-IM and the Government of India there is no point of holding dialogues.
October 31 was what prompted the civil society bodies of the state who never wanted Manipur to be divided to come out on the street. Of course there seem no concert decision or stand of the government of India to the demand so far put up by the NSCN-IM and the NNPGs, but media reports on the following days of October 31, even after the clarification made by the Union Home Minister through PIB, created apprehension to the people of the state about its future. However, recently media reports base on various sources now seem that the Government of India is likely to take some more weeks or months for signing of the final agreement. Amidst the confusion, Arunachal Pradesh MP Tapir Goa is raising a question in the ongoing Parliament Session to details the process of the people talk with the NSCN-IM and the NNPGs. Had there been a final solution the agreement should have been listed in the business of the Parliament so that it be passed by the house. It is common sense that any agreement signed will have no meaning unless it is tabled in the parliament. Tapir Goa Questions regarding the process of the peace deals with the NSCN-IM and the NNPGs clearly showed that a final settlement will not arrived in the ongoing parliament session which will concludes on December first week.
There are parliamentary experts in the state government and they are paid to study such situation and the development even if the Government of India did not disclosed the content of the details of Naga issue. It could have been easier to convince that the settlement will take some more time but with a convincing tone and that the COCOMI leadership could have been requested to relax the agitation.
Better late than never, make another convincing announcement by revealing the recent development on Naga deal in consultation with the Union Ministry, so that the COCOMI at least give way for organizing the Sangai Festivalm which is the only sustainable resource for the state of Manipur.
