Engulfing Flames

Be aware of the engulfing flames. Once we are caught in the flames there is not escaping from the heat. This truism was brought home by the gruesome murder of Elizabeth and the violence that rocked Guwahati, Jamalpur and Katihar over Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) examination. Undoubtedly, a group is very much active in the region to spoil the gains of various peace initiatives. Now who are they is not the question since what they are upto is what is cause for concern and how to thwart their moves is to be our prime occupation. Surely, some people do not want peace to make a comeback in the region. They want the region and its people to suffer from unrest, lack of development, unemployment and poverty. Thus at a time, when the North-Easterners are becoming more and more vocal against violence, killings, kidnappings and extortions, this group of desperados is leaving no stone unturned to create disturbances by indulging in violence and subversive activities. Consider Elizabeth murder. The eight year old was kidnapped and killed at a time when Manipur was limping back to normalcy after a protracted unrest over its territorial integrity. Manipur, which witnessed many violent incidents since the NSCN (IM) proposed the creation of greater Nagland, comprising the hill districts of Manipur and parts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, heaved a sigh of relief when Prime Minister during his recent visit to Nagaland declared that political consensus was must to consider the creation of greater Nagaland. When the troublemakers found that efforts to whip up the sentiments of the Meiteis would not yield any result after the Prime Minister’s categorical statement, they kidnapped a Naga girl and killed her. This barbaric act was simply meant to make the Naga-Meitei divide more wide. Interestingly the Prime Minister said nothing new on the issue of greater Nagaland. As a matter of fact, while in Delhi, NSCN (IM) leader T. Muivah categorically stated that he would personally establish contact with various Meitei groups to ascertain their views on greater Nagaland. But it was the troublemakers who tried to keep this issue alive to keep the fire burning. Similarly, the attack on the job seekers from Bihar and other parts of the country in Guwahati was the handiwork of hooligans instigated by this particular section. No organisation had opposed 'outsiders' from appearing in the RRB examination. Yet, as if on cue, the outsiders were attacked in Guwahati and retaliatory violence took place in Bihar and soon snowballed in to a major crisis. Timely intervention of the administration had managed to defuse the crisis to some extent, which was fast threatening to permanently damage to the social fabric of the country.From these two recent incidents, it has also become clear that the job of bringing back peace in the North-East is only half done. Though the popular support is no longer with the troublemakers, still there is a long way to go before peace finally returns to this trouble-torn region. We might have crossed some stiff hurdles in the last couple of years. But, at the same time, we will have to face many such hurdles in near future as troublemakers will spare no efforts to derail the peace process in the North-East.

|  Headlines  |  Editorial   | From Other Publications  |
|  Travel Column   |   News Briefs  |
| OT Main Page | Nena  Home Page  |