Centre finds itself in a bind

By Harish Khare

NEW DELHI, JUNE 18. The Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, is believed to have apprised the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, of the worsening situation in Manipur in the wake of the Centre's decision to extend the ceasefire to all Naga- inhabited areas in the northeast. For now the Centre finds itself in a bind. The next step - perhaps a categorical and forceful rejection of the concept of a ``greater Nagaland'' - would be taken only after the Prime Minister returns to the capital on Tuesday.

Mr. Advani also spoke to the Governor, Mr. Ved Prakash Marwah. The absence of a popular government in Manipur is being felt, and there is the realisation that perhaps the situation would not have come to this aggravating pass had there been no political vacuum. The depth of public anger has taken the Home Ministry by surprise. Even the residence of the Union Minister, Mr. Chaoba Singh, has been attacked, though the Minister had taken the unusual step of expressing in writing his dissent over the Centre's decision.

The eruption is being treated as a law and order problem, and not as a return of insurgency. Talking to reporters, Mr. Advani said the ``situation is presently tense but under control. Additional forces have been rushed to the State to restore normalcy.''

There is deep disappointment that the political parties, both at the Centre and in the States in the region, have not adopted a helpful stance. In particular, note has been taken of the Samata Party's role in stoking the fires of public apprehension. After all, it were the machinations of the Samata Party's central leadership that forced the BJP's hands and saw the imposition of President's rule in the State, despite the fact that the majority of legislators wanted a new ministry under a new leader.

There is also the realisation that perhaps there should have been deeper consultation with the Chief Ministers in the region before the Centre agreed to the NSCN(I-M)'s demand to extend the ceasefire beyond Nagaland. The NSCN(I-M) was threatening to call off the ceasefire and was reportedly unappreciative of the Centre's desire, though lukewarm, to consult the newly-elected Government in Assam.

The kind of political communication and interaction that should have preceded the final ceasefire never took place. Mr. Advani's handling of the States and the periphery has been marked by the same insensitivity that characterised the Congress regimes.

For instance, Mr. Advani told newsmen today the Prime Minister had called a meeting of all Chief Ministers in the northeast and they had ``broadly agreed to the proposal''. The fact of the matter, however, is that the only meeting that took place was six months ago, and all the four Chief Ministers had expressed their disapproval of the idea. Thereafter, the Chief Ministers were called to the capital individually and a reluctant acquiescence was extracted. And, since then Assam has a new Chief Minister, who rightly feels unconsulted.

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