Return of the Rebel: Brinkmanship Game on Between Ibobi Singh, Muivah

By Shishir Gupta

New Delhi,May 17 : Egged on by their supporters, Manipur Chief Minister Ibobi Singh and NSCN(IM) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah are playing a game of political brinkmanship over the Greater Nagalim issue with the Congress high command signaling to the state government to keep hands off and let it play out till the June 2 district council elections.

The irony is that with Meitei nationalism running high over the proposed visit of Muivah to his village, Somdel in Tangkhul district of Manipur, the local residents do not seem to mind paying Rs 1,400 for one kg sugar, standing in a queue for three hours to get petrol at Rs 150-200 per litre as the NSCN(IM) cadres block National Highways 53 and 39. As of now, the Centre is sending foodstuff through National Highway 109 to keep the situation under control. The latest is that while food stock in Imphal Valley is under control, there’s a huge shortage in the hill districts.

Ibobi Singh has convinced the Congress high command that his government will fall if Muivah is even directly air-lifted to Somdel in a helicopter and returned to Nagaland without addressing a political rally. He needs the Centre to hold his hand till the district council election process is over on May 23 and June 2.

Backed by money power and caring two hoots about the siege of the state by the Naga insurgent group, Ibobi has made his mind known to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress high command that he does not concur with the internal security establishment view that Muivah should be allowed to go to Somdel. As Muivah has not visited Somdel even once during the past 47 years, a section in the government believes that this will defuse the law and order situation and cool down tempers.

The attitude of Muivah is no different. The NSCN(IM) general secretary and his Tangkhul Naga supporters know that they have overstayed their welcome at Viswema, a predominantly Angami tribal village located 20 km off Kohima. Muivah has made a political point with his supporters by intending to go to Somdel to strengthen his demand for Nagalim, which includes hill districts of Manipur.

Both the principal adversaries and the Centre have little time for the BJP-backed Democratic Alliance Government of Neiphiu Rio, who has been crying for intervention of the UPA government to defuse the crisis.

But one thing is clear that if the siege of Manipur goes on for a longer period of time, it would mean brownie points for Muivah and a bigger headache for the Centre, particularly for Naga interlocutor Raghav Sharan Pandey.