It should be a matter of grave concern for the Modi government that Manipur is not calming down. Violence broke out again recently, in which many people were killed. The way the state government decided to close all schools fearing that the situation will worsen if violence breaks out again shows that it is becoming difficult to control the violence. Violent incidents keep happening every day in this border state.
Due to this, the hope of restoring peace is gradually fading away. Almost all opposition parties including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi have adopted an aggressive stance against the Modi government regarding Manipur and are trying to corner the government in the Parliament as well. Manipur has been in turmoil for more than a year and the events of the last few days do not seem to bring peace easily. The matter of concern is not only that the violent conflict between the Meitei and Kuki groups does not seem to end, but also that now more lethal weapons are being used.
Recently, first it was revealed that attacks were being carried out by drones, then there was news of rocket attacks. It is clear that armed groups are not only being equipped with modern weapons but their courage is also increasing continuously. Now it also seems that the security forces are also having difficulty in dealing with their increased courage. It is not uncommon for armed groups to seize weapons from the security forces and hide in bunkers to avoid retaliation.
The way the situation in Manipur is worsening can be understood from the fact that due to drone and rocket attacks, security forces have to monitor from helicopters. The situation in Manipur shows that to establish peace in the state, the Centre, state government and security forces will have to work on a new strategy. Under this strategy, they will have to try to end the conflict between the Meitei and Kuki groups.
This is not an easy task because both the groups are completely divided. The situation is such that people of both the groups living in each other's area have migrated from there. Along with removing the mistrust between these two groups, it is also very important to break the morale of the mischievous elements and rebels. In this sequence, infiltration from Myanmar in Manipur will also have to be curbed and so will the drug trade. Since Myanmar is also facing instability, the central government will have to be more vigilant. There are good reasons to believe that anti-India forces are also active in Manipur. If Manipur remains disturbed, the Indian government will have difficulty in taking forward its Act East Policy.