Smoke and mirrors in the Northeast
Sudeep Chakravarti’s book on the Northeast points out that official indifference has often catapulted local demands for autonomy to the status of a war with the state
Recent works on the politics of the Northeast typically focus on longstanding issues such as the Naga talks and the citizenship question in Assam. As for Manipur, it seems as if there’s no issue worth pursuing beyond the signature themes of Irom Sharmila and the campaign against AFSPA. This is one reason I looked forward to reading Sudeep Chakravarti’s The Eastern Gate: War and Peace in Nagaland, Manipur and India’s Far East. However, after reading the book — which, at 400 pages or so, is a big one by today’s standards — I came away mildly disappointed.
Chakravarti has cast his net wide. There are 42 chapters divided into three sections titled Smoke, Mirrors, and Smoke and Mirrors. Rebels, gun-runners, dealers of narcotics, bureaucrats, activists and politicians are all afforded space. Interspersed with the narration are subsections called Notes which, presumably, are copied from the author’s records of meetings and observations between 2008 and 2020. A master narrator, Chakravarti tells his stories in a breezy style, as if recalled from memory. There are puns and wordplay aplenty. Appropriately inserted, these can add verve to the narrative. An excess can and does trivialise it.
Unlike academic research, works of this nature do not come with a pre-set thesis. The agenda is open-ended and issues are picked up along the way and analysed through interviews with interested parties or by re-reading news reports concerning them. Inevitably, there is a lack of depth. Chakravarti is clearly fascinated with the region and seems well-grounded in its political play. He tries to project hope, but cynicism is writ large.
In some measure, he succeeds in capturing the suffocating wave of resentments that smoulder through the land. The blame is primarily with the State, which is content to “manage” the crises in the region instead of seeking a resolution. As he emphasises, it is official indifference that often catapulted local demands for autonomy or complaints about lack of development to the status of a war with the state. With political will, many of the region’s crises are solvable.
The book chronicles attempts at peacemaking at the community level between the Kukis and Nagas in Manipur. The bloodshed during the 1990s remains a barrier between the two communities. The author records the peace overtures made by the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) to the Naga counterpart, United Naga Council (UNC). “What do you want? Since you people started it, you have to say sorry. Then we will do the same, also say sorry… Solution is not in Geneva or Delhi. Solution is with us only,” he recorded Thangkhosei Haokip, the president of the Kuki Inpi, as saying, sometime in 2010. The response: “Armed group not agree.”
“Armed group” here refers to the NSCN (IM). The shenanigans of the NSCN (IM) take up a major chunk of the book, and not in a flattering way. The group continues to occupy a predominant position in Naga political talks. Yet it still struggles to find popular acceptance in Nagaland. While the Meiteis see them as a major threat to Manipur’s integrity, the Kukis accuse them of genocide, no less. Even among the Zo groups in Manipur, realisation is dawning that it is actually this group that has always
The Eastern Gate: War and Peace in Nagaland, Manipur and India’s Far East
Sudeep Chakravarti
432pp, ~899,
Simon & Schuster India stood in the way of pan-tribal autonomy movements in the state. Yet another body with which the group was at loggerheads was the “oddly named but resolute” Against Corruption and Unabated Taxation (ACAUT). ACAUT, a Nagaland civil body set up in 2013, carried out campaigns against excessive “taxation” or extortion by underground groups in Nagaland and also exposed scams relating to recruitment to government services, the misuse of funds and bogus electoral rolls. The campaign generated widespread support and put the armed groups on the back foot. The relative success of groups such as ACAUT is a rare bright spot in the region’s politics. Chakravarti asks why such campaigns were not replicated in places like Manipur. Why, indeed?
The book discusses the UNC’S demand for what it calls “alternative arrangements” for the Naga areas in Manipur. Another important issue that the book broaches relates to the unaccounted-for wealth of politicians, bureaucrats and underground leaders, visible in expansive farm houses, resorts and high-end apartments in cities across India and abroad. Sadly, the author does not go beyond quoting a few CAG reports of malfeasance and mentioning some locations without details.
I am surprised that the poppy menace figures so little. Poppy is a huge issue and the viral videos of children harvesting it and the Manipur government’s loud attempts to destroy poppy fields testify to the scale of the malaise. College classes run half empty during harvest season.
And how could one writing on political intrigues miss the drama that attended the election of the titular king Sanajaoba to the Rajya Sabha in 2020? There are many stories still waiting to be told. The Naga talks remain in limbo; the poorly written framework agreement of 2015 ended up pulling the two sides further apart. The last dispatch received on the matter, dated 5.10.2020, read: “Muivah has decided he cannot die leaving a legacy of surrender.” Where do we go from here?
Chakravarti should sharpen his pencil and return with a new notebook.
Thangkhanlal Ngaihte teaches political science at Churachandpur College, Lamka, Manipur