Manipur: Militants vs. Development

M. Amarjeet Singh

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Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management ‘Development' has often been touted as a panacea for militancy in various theatres in India, and this is almost a basic article of faith in the bureaucracy and planning establishment. The result is that large financial allocations are made under a range of special schemes for areas afflicted by insurgency and terrorism, and these are duly expended by the Governments in these troubled regions. Outsiders are often mystified, however, that there is little evidence of these enormous ‘developmental' allocations and expenditures having a visible impact on the conditions prevailing in the target areas or on the populations that are supposed secure benefits and relief.

Manipur is a case in point. Between 1993-94 and 2003-04, in addition to its share of central taxes, which amounted to INR 22.7 billion, Manipur received another INR 60.8 billion in Grant-in-Aid from the Central Government under various developmental programmes, special allocations and other provisions intended to secure advancement in the State. Despite this, however, the State remains mired in poverty and backwardness, with avenues for employment chronically stagnant in virtually every sector, with the exception of the militancy itself, which has emerged as the largest ‘employer' in the State, after the Government. The per capita net income of the State at current prices was INR 11,370 for 1999-2000 as against the All India average of INR 16,047. There are more than 400,000 unemployed persons as per the live register of the Employment Exchanges (which represent, at best, an incomplete picture of total unemployment in the State), in a population of under 2.4 million. 76 per cent of a total 774,904 workers in the State are engaged in agricultural activities over a total cultivable area that covers just 9.41 per cent of the total area of the State, suggesting very high levels of disguised rural unemployment. Worse, several large manufacturing industries have shut down, while small enterprises are being progressively crippled.

Why the ‘developmental panacea' does not – cannot – work is evident even on the most cursory study of the circumstances that prevail in a situation of widespread intimidation, disorder and terrorism. In Manipur, large proportions of the State's resources are both directly and indirectly siphoned out by the militants' extortion campaigns, even as the delivery mechanisms for the developmental and relief services of the State collapse, bringing planned developmental activities to a standstill.

Over the years, Government departments in Manipur have regularly paid out a fixed percentage of their revenues to various militant groups. Further, the insurgents also directly interfere in the award of Government contracts and execution of developmental projects, which essentially are reduced to largesse that they come to control, rather than projects to be executed on the ground. On February 8, 2006, employees of the fisheries department went on a general strike at Lamphel in the capital Imphal, in protest against extortion notices issued by unspecified militant outfits. More recently, four officials of the state food and civil supplies department were abducted by suspected United Kuki Liberation Front (UKLF) cadres from different places in Imphal on June 12, 2006, for their failure to meet monetary demands that have been intimidated to their respective offices. One of them was rescued by the Manipur police from a spot near Aimol village in the Thoubal District on June 16. Earlier, unable to cope with such undue interference, the taxation wing of the Manipur Government ceased to function after all the employees, barring the Head of Department, took leave en masse on August 25, 2005, following threats from various militant groups. Media reports indicate that this was the first time in Manipur that an entire office complex was closed down in protest against intimidation by the insurgents.

In such an environment of rampant extortion, compounded by widespread corruption at every level of the State administration, development activities have languished. Basic infrastructure facilities like roads, communications, health care and education, all show visible signs of decline. At a function in Imphal on June 2, 2006, the Chief Minister noted, "No outside firms take interest in working in the State due to huge extortion demands. Underground groups, irrespective of whether they belong to the Hills or Valley, have been demanding their percentage from any development project taken up in the State". Earlier at Khongjom in the Thoubal district on April 23, 2006, the Chief Minister said, "All development projects have been stalled for interference by militant outfits. The construction of a flyover in Imphal is delayed because the militant outfits are demanding a certain percentage of the project fund. The construction of the Assembly complex has also been similarly stalled." Confessing his Government's inability to deal with the situation, the Chief Minister asked ‘public organisations' for help in tackling the situation.

The Public Distribution System (PDS), which is intended to provide essential commodities at affordable prices, particularly to the poorer and more vulnerable sections of the population, has also been among the principal targets of the insurgents, who siphon off rice, sugar, wheat and other essential commodities, selling the bulk of these in the black market, though a small fraction of the total quantities is also distributed to narrowly targeted groups in their areas of domination at reduced prices in order to secure support and legitimacy. At meeting of legislators of the ruling Secular Progressive Front (SPF) held in Imphal on June 7, 2006, apprehensions were expressed regarding the failure of the PDS in the State, largely due to the activities of different militant groups. Some of the legislators who attended the meeting pointed out that at least 85 per cent of the PDS items were ‘diverted' to meet the militants' demands.

The functioning of Manipur's only medical institute, the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) at Imphal, has also been repeatedly affected by undue militant interference. On June 14, 2005, an unidentified militant group served an extortion demand of INR 1.5 millions to its management. Earlier on May 9, 2005, a senior doctor, Yumnam Nandabir Singh, was abducted by the militants and a demand for INR 3 million in ransom was raised. He was ultimately freed on May 14, but it is not clear whether Singh bought his freedom by acceding to the ransom demands. Such developments have compelled at least seven senior doctors and professors to leave the Institute. There have also been several reports of the possibility of the Institute being shifted to Shillong on security grounds. Over 52 per cent of the respondents in an online poll conducted in January 2005 by Kanglaonline – a web portal – felt that "Underground organisations" should be held responsible if RIMS is shifted from Imphal to Shillong – as contemplated by the North Eastern Council, the region's planning body, which funds the Institute. "Even during war, hospitals are not targeted. But here in Manipur, several militant groups are trying to loot the hospital and people in the name of sovereignty. It is very unfortunate," the chief minister declared in the State Assembly on June 24, 2005.

Militant groups have also increased their share of booty from the general population, with extortion targeting almost every segment of the population. This has resulted in both protests and in the stifling of projects in the private sector. Thus, on May 30, 2006, the All Manipur Auto Rickshaw Owners and Drivers Association appealed to an unspecified militant group not to serve monetary demands on auto rickshaws owners and drivers. A statement issued by the Association in Imphal appealed to the group to understand the difficult conditions under which they earned their livelihood. On May 18, 2006, unable to meet the extortion demands served by suspected People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), twelve brick-kilns located at Pangei, Haotal and Waiton areas in the Imphal East District, temporarily closed down. On April 1, 2006, four staff members of a private recording studio were abducted by suspected Kuki National Front (KNF - Zougam faction) from Tuibong for their refusal to pay extortion amount of INR 200,000. They were subsequently released after an unspecified amount of money changed hands.

The road transport sector in the State – Manipur's lifeline, since virtually all goods and commodities have to be brought from the outside – is regularly targeted, and large segments are controlled by various insurgent groups, each of which levies a variety of ‘taxes' on every vehicle. On several occasions, services of passenger and transport vehicles running along the two national highways (NH-39 and 43) were disrupted following the threat from militant outfits to increase the amount of extortion collected from the vehicle owners. There have also been number incidences of attacks on tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas and diesel/ petrol over the years. Militancy has also disrupted road construction and maintenance work on these highways, as militants have hijacked vehicles and abducted and harassed construction workers.

Of late, there have been some isolated incidents of protests against the militant diktats. On June 12, 2006, the entire Sagang Bazar observed a shutdown and local residents staged a dharna (sit-down strike) in protest against excessive monetary demands imposed by the UKLF, on some shopkeepers and other residents of Sagang and Borayangbi villages. Earlier on July 23, 2005, about 500 students took out a ‘peace rally' in Kakching town against illegal demands by militants on school authorities. On July 14, 2005, about 12 village Pradhans (head men) of Langmeidong block submitted mass resignations to the Deputy Commissioner of Thoubal District in protest against the militants' extortion demand. The insurgents had demanded a share out of money allocated to the Pradhans for village development.

Manipur has a vocal ‘civil society' which has dramatically protested against alleged human rights violations by the Security Forces and worked to fight against other social ills, including drug addiction, AIDS, alcoholism, etc. Despite the enveloping and uniformly adverse impact of extortion and militant intimidation on the State's development and on the living conditions of the people, however, otherwise vocal civil society bodies have remained persistently silent, strengthening significant claims that many of these ‘civil society' groups are, in fact, front organizations of militant outfits. That said, the utter incapacity of the State Government to recover even a narrow area of order free from extortion and intimidation at least within the Imphal Valley, indeed, even in State Capital, Imphal, points to a political paralysis and administrative incapacity that shows no signs of diminution.