A professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Angomcha Bimol Akoijam’s specialisation is social and political psychology with focus on identity politics and conflict. The 57-year-old academician was among the few from Manipur who were very vocal against the way conflict involving the Meiteis and the Kukis was handled by the Centre as well as the state government. In a tête-à-tête with Sumir Karmakar of DH, the Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Inner Manipur says he suspects politics is involved in the way the Centre has handled the situation.
You are a reputed academician, what led you to contest the elections?
When we do something out of our family, when we write in the newspapers against the government, it’s a political step. That way, I have been into politics for a very long time. I spoke on not only the Manipur situation, but also on national affairs, be it the CAA or other issues. As a citizen and a voter, we all are part of electoral politics, but the manner in which the Government of India acted in the crisis in Manipur in the past 11 months, nowhere in Indian history, we have seen a crisis like when people roam around with guns. This is a civil war situation, there is complete statelessness. This is not the inability of the Indian state, this is their unwillingness to use the state's power to control the crisis. So, I suspect there is something political in the whole thing. Innocent lives lost, houses burnt, people became displaced and have been roaming like refugees. So as a citizen, I have spoken against this but now I think it’s time to voice my views inside the Parliament.
Are you saying the Centre did not control the conflict willingly?
I want to say inside the Parliament House that the Indian state deliberately allowed this to happen. We have not failed as a state, we have reduced Manipur to something like a failed state. India is not Afghanistan, we are not Rwanda. We saw some of us going to meet the prime minister but did not get an appointment. The PM went to Odisha on June 3 and spoke there after a train accident. The PM was on the spot when seven people died after a bridge collapsed in Gujarat. Is he not the prime minister of the entire country? Why did he not come once in this hour of crisis? Manipur has never seen such a crisis. One community cannot come to Imphal, another community can’t go beyond Bishnupur. It is worse than the 1984 violence in Punjab or Gujarat riots.
So what are you telling the voters?
I don’t make promises. I am only telling people that instead of standing and shouting outside, I want to speak inside the Parliament and highlight their issues. If I say the same thing as an MP, there will be a much larger impact. I am telling the people that don’t take this as a regular election. Manipur is going through its worst crisis and the Centre is looking the other way. So, stand for yourself when your prime minister looks the other way.
Meiteis are a majority in the Inner Manipur constituency. What is your take on their major demands such as implementation of the NRC and getting ST status?
It’s not just about being Meitei or not. We must maintain a distinction between citizens and non-citizens. There has been suspicion that there is a large number of illegal immigrants in Manipur. The concept of illegal immigrants is rooted in the concept of citizens, if we do not have the concept of citizens, we will not have the concept of illegal immigrants. So there is a lot of suspicion about the number of new villages close to our borders with Myanmar, especially in the Kuki front. There was a time when Kukis used to have eight MLAs and Nagas used to have 12 MLAs, now it is 10 on both sides. In the next elections, the number may be 12 each. Chandel and Tengnoupal traditionally used to be in the hands of the Nagas. But we can expect Chandel and Tengnoupal to go to the Kukis. There is abnormal growth of population among the Kukis and it is suspected that many have come from the neighbouring Myanmar. But the Kukis did not do anything to dispel that apprehension and fear. All sensible citizens would agree that there should be distinction between a citizen and a non-citizen. Otherwise, they would call all the Bengalis from Bangladesh, Nepalis from Nepal and all Punjabis from Lahore. You have Tamils in Jaffna, do you allow all of them to come to Tamil Nadu? For NRC, there is suffering of people involved, but I think all the nitigrities must be discussed to address the concerns. In principle, I am in favour of a mechanism to distinguish between a citizen and a non-citizen.
There is a demand for ST for the Meiteis as well?
Meiteis have been suffering from this sense of insecurity for a long time. It’s been there at least since the 1970s. Like in Assam, we have a go-back foreigners sentiment here among the Meiteis as well. So, they have been seeking constitutional protection. Also among some sections of the Meiteis, there is a belief that Hinduism has separated us from our hill brothers. The demand for ST can be discussed. At the same time, the state is creating confusion saying that the Centre has asked for a ethnographic and social profile of the Meiteis, whis is not sane. The government is supposed to send that report and based on that it is decided which community does not have representation of ST or not. It is not the call of the state. They are creating confusion and playing politics with it.
In the Kuki hills, there is a growing demand for a separate administration to end the conflict?
Absolutely parochial, regressive idea. If they say give a separate administration for the Dalits and for the Sikh communities, will we do that? In 1956, the State Reorganisation Committee suggested that the states should be formed based on linguistic basis but in the Northeast, they did it on ethnic basis. Khasis and Janitias were given a state (Meghalaya), Nagas and Lushai hills. So, ethnicisation has been part of the government of India’s policy. By giving a separate administration for the Kukis, you will be opening a Pandora’s box not only here in the Northeast but in the entire country. I am all for decentration for the affected communities and empowerment of the local governments, be it the autonomous councils, municipalities and the panchayats.