Rahul Bhonsle
May 23, 2016
The last two days, 22 and 23 May (2016) have been unfortunate for India’s security forces. Six personnel of the Assam Rifles lost their lives in a militant ambush in Chandel district of Manipur on 22 May. The ambush was attributed to Coordination Committee (CorCom) led by People’s Liberation Army (PLA). CorCom an umbrella group in Manipur that includes the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), its Progressive faction (PREPAK-Pro), Revolutionary People's Front (RPF – the political wing of the People’s Liberation Army – PLA), United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and United Peoples Party of Kangleipak (UPPK).
Chandel was in the news in 2015 for a major ambush in which the Indian Army lost 18 soldiers. This was an operation by the NSCN Khaplang faction which has a base across the border in Manipur which was targeted in a raid.
The CorCom on the other hand has its base in the State and is mainly a Meitei conglomerate.
On 23 May three personnel of the Jammu and Kashmir police were killed in two separate incidents in Zadibal and Tengpora in Srinagar Old City. Two of these personnel were unarmed. The localities are in the heart of the City in densely populated areas with lanes and by lanes which provided the attackers an easy get away on motorcycles.
The Hizb-ul-Mujahideen which comprises of local militants claimed responsibility for the attacks. Quite possibly the same group carried out the two strikes. The Hizb-ul-Mujahideen has threatened to carry out more attacks just as the tourist season in Kashmir has begun. The group has a number of trained hit squads which armed with a pistol are trained to attack unsuspecting security personnel and get away. The aim could be extortion from the travel industry.
On the face of it apart from casualties to security forces there may be nothing common between Kashmir and Manipur. The states are situated on the geographic extremities of the country the former in the North West and the latter North East.
Zadibal and Tengpora are densely populated, while Chandel district has some of the sparsest numbers in the country.
There were a number of debates on the national television on the incident in Kashmir; sadly there was none on Manipur unless one has missed out the same.
The intensity of engagement of the Indian TV watching public which could be a representation of the larger population with Manipur is obviously lacking.
Kashmir is predominantly Muslim almost mono-ethnic though there are small serrations; Manipur has large number of ethnic groups the three main ones being the Meitei’s the Nagas and the Kukis.
If these are the differences then what are the similarities.
Ideologically the issue in both states remains the same.
That is a perception of unfair imposition of Indian sovereignty due to the manner in which the accession of the states occurred at the time of Independence 1947-48.
The approach of the Indian state to address the challenge in both states is management of conflict.
Thus there is a surplus infusion of the police and military in both the states. The number of policemen per 100,000 of population is 930 in Manipur and 646 in Jammu and Kashmir in 2012; today the figures may have improved to possibly even exceed 1000 in Manipur. In addition there are army and para-military and central police organisation units in both the states figures of which are not available. The Army and Assam Rifle units are in most cases deployed in sparsely populated areas and for counter infiltration.
Both States operate under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and there is a strong demand for removal of the same. The case of Irom Sharmila who is on a fast for years is well established and documented most recently in, “Mother Where is My Country.”
There is a degree of cross border support in both the cases more so in the case of Kashmir where overt Pakistani assistance has kept the insurgency on the boil for two decades. Manipur is a case of omissions and commissions by Myanmar and China respectively.
The success of conflict management is evident as there is a drop in violence
Yet with less than 200 militants in Kashmir, though far larger in Manipur, the cycle of attacks continues.
The period of low violence has not been used to resolve the core issue of acceptance of Indian sovereignty through dialogue. Development and elections is seen as a panacea to resolving the basic grievances which it is not.
The Separatists in Kashmir and the Meitei groups in Manipur have never been seriously engaged by the Indian state thus festering sores will continue
The schism will widen with physical assaults based on identity increasing each day.
The present Coalition government in Kashmir could work towards a strategy for negotiations as both parties have the political heft - People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Political resolve is necessary, not more development and elections. Are there any green shoots?
In Manipur there is a long way ahead, as the politics of the State is far too complex and there is not as much traction by the national mainstream.
If engagement takes place on core issues solutions will emerge, there may be a time differential between Manipur and Kashmir.
Till then the cycle of violence will continue.
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